UDC 37.01:37.015.3

Kulikovskaya I.E.¹ (Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation)- iekulikovskaya@sfedu.ru; Goryunova L.V.¹ (Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation) – lvgoryunova@sfedu.ru; Chumicheva R.M.¹ (Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation) – rmchumicheva@sfedu.ru; Kudinova L.E.¹ (Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation) – lkudinova@sfedu.ru

¹Southern Federal University

Abstract. In contemporary pedagogical discourse, the concept of well-being is widely used but is predominantly borrowed from psychology, economics, and sociology. This leads to a blurring of its conceptual boundaries and a reduction either to emotional comfort (hedonistic approach) or to a deferred academic outcome. There is no theoretical understanding of well-being as a genuinely pedagogical category that expresses the internal qualitative determinacy of the educational process, its procedural and resultative specificity. The aim of this study is to provide a theoretical substantiation of well-being as a fundamental pedagogical concept, to identify its place in the categorical apparatus of pedagogical science, and to determine the principles of its pedagogical interpretation. The research is based on interdisciplinary theoretical analysis, including a historical-genetic approach to the evolution of pedagogical categories, a comparative analysis of philosophical and psychological theories of well-being (hedonism, eudaimonism, preferentism, objectivism), as well as a systems approach. For the first time, well-being is considered neither as an external goal of education (a deferred outcome) nor as psychological support for the learning process, but rather as an immanent characteristic of the pedagogical process itself – its internal qualitative determinacy. The authors introduce the original concept of “pedagogy of well-being” – a field of pedagogical knowledge that explores the patterns of developing a person’s ability for a flourishing life through educational means. A definition of well-being as a pedagogical concept is proposed, integrating three dimensions: the current state of educational subjects, the quality of the educational environment, and a specific type of educational outcome (the ability for a flourishing life). The principles of designing education systems oriented toward well-being are formulated (subjectness, holism, relationality, pedagogical instrumentality). The pedagogical conceptualization of well-being makes it possible to overcome both disciplinary reduction (narrowing to a psychological or economic dimension) and the declarative nature of educational policy. Well-being in education is not reducible to comfort or academic performance; rather, it requires systematic consideration of subjective, environmental, and resultative aspects in their unity.

Keywords: well-being, pedagogical concept, philosophy of education, positive pedagogy, eudaimonism, educational environment, quality of education, pedagogical goal-setting.

References:

1. Volkova, E. N., & Sorokoumova, G. V. (2025). Screen time, digital literacy and psychological well-being of modern adolescents. World of Psychology, 3, 98–110. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.51944/20738528_2025_3_98
2. Nikolaeva, T. A. (2025). The influence of the emotional state of single parents on the social well-being of single-parent families. Social and Humanitarian Knowledge, 2, 148–151. (In Russian). https://www.elibrary.ru/sbrfnn
3. Serafimovich, I. V., Salova, M. I., & Salova, A. I. (2025). Features of relationships with parents and subjective well-being in adolescence. Methodology of Modern Psychology, 26, 384–392. (In Russian). https://www.elibrary.ru/aujmcg
4. Serova, A. V., & Filimonov, Yu. V. (2026). Childhood well-being in Russian regions: Development of a monitoring methodology and index construction to assess the effectiveness of national projects. In Current problems of legal science in the era of digitalization (pp. 111–118). Yekaterinburg: Ural State Law University. (In Russian). https://www.elibrary.ru/ctcraq
5. Strukova, A. S., & Polivanova, K. N. (2023). Well-being in education: Modern theories of well-being, historical context and empirical research. Modern Foreign Psychology, 12(3), 137–148. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.17759/jmfp.2023120313
6. Chigarkova, S. V., & Soldatova, G. U. (2026). The formula of digital well-being of personality. National Psychological Journal, 21(1), 44–53. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.11621/npj.2026.0104
7. Shamionov, R. M., & Bakaeva, I. A. (2025). The role of the visual environment of housing in the experience of subjective well-being of personality. Bulletin of Udmurt University. Series Philosophy. Psychology. Pedagogy, 35(3), 254–263. https://doi.org/10.11621/npj.2026.0104
8. Borbáth, K., & Czabaji Horváth, A. (2024). Conceptual and applied changes in the approach to well-being at school – Systematic literature review. Journal of Educational Sciences, 25(2), 219–234.
9. Filatova, S. I., & Byzova, V. M. (2025). Psychological well-being among respondents with different resilience and anxiety levels. Natural Systems of Mind, 5(3), 32–37. https://doi.org/10.38098/nsom_2025_05_03_03 
10. Gilyazova, O. S., Zamoshchansky, I. I., & Zamoshchanskaya, A. N. (2024). Education and happiness: Strategies for achieving happiness in the context of educational policy. Perspectives of Science and Education, 72(6), 10–22. https://doi.org/10.32744/pse.2024.6.1
11. Mäkelä, T., Sinnemäki, J., Kankaanranta, M. H., Fenyvesi, K., Meyers, C., & Kreis, Y. (2025). Towards a framework for conceptualising holistic wellbeing in schools. International Journal of Wellbeing, 15(2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v15i2.4473
12. Nussbaum, M. C. (2000). Women and human development: The capabilities approach. Cambridge University Press.
13. Selioti, K. (2025). The role of extracurricular involvement in academic success and subjective well-being at school. New Psychological Research, 5(4), 255–282. https://doi.org/10.51217/npsyresearch_2025_05_04_13
14. Starodubets, N., & Turgel, I. (2025). The determinants of subjective wellbeing: An assessment for Russian cities based on new data. Terra Economicus, 23(1), 51–65. https://doi.org/10.18522/2073-6606-2025-23-1-51-65
15. White, M. A., McCallum, F., & Boyle, C. (Eds.). (2023). New research and possibilities in wellbeing education. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-5609-8

For citation: Kulikovskaya, I. E., Goryunova, L. V., Chumicheva, R. M., & Kudinova, L. E. (2026). Well-being as a pedagogical concept: From a characteristic to a category of educational goal setting. CITISE, 2, 372–393. (In Russian).