Abstract/Summary

Pupils’ wellbeing in school can impact their learning, yet research into this topic is often from the adults’ perspectives. From a constructivist approach (where knowledge is shaped by human experience), the lack of child view on their wellbeing in schools is a significant gap in the literature, particularly from underrepresented groups including autistic pupils. This article is a small-scale case study with three child participants aged 7-8. To capture child voice, research tools were created by the participants followed by discussions to understand the student’s intention. Two key themes emerged as important to wellbeing: social and school environment. This study demonstrates how child-created tools can be implemented in practice to truly ‘hear’ the voices of underrepresented groups. By empowering child voice in educational research, actions/implications for schools and their staff originate from the very individuals most affected, thus enabling child and school priorities to be better met.