Difficulties in well-being and belonging in modularized education – from the students’ perspectives

Research topic/aim: Well-being problems and study-related stress are growing phenomena among Danish students in higher education (EVA 2023, Katznelson et al. 2022). Students' feelings of loneliness, stress, and social exhaustion are negatively affecting their well-being and sense of belonging in education. These trends are also observed among students enrolled in the Bachelor’s Degree Program in Social Education (Social Education). Through several analytical cases from the Social Education program, this paper explores how various aspects of the educational organizational design challenge or disrupt students' well-being and sense of belonging to their studies.
Theory: The paper draws on studies that adopt a relational approach to well-being, viewing it as a complex phenomenon that emerges through the interplay with one's surroundings. Well-being is understood as something students actively engage in, rather than merely a static state (Smith & Reid 2017). A relational and conflictual approach to well-being includes societal logics, dynamics, and structures (Lind 2019). Additionally, the paper is situated within higher education research that emphasize the importance of students belonging as it relates to students' learning processes. Belonging is in this research conceptualized as situated processes that are continuously renegotiated depending on context, situations, and relationships (Gravett & Ajjawi 2021, Guyotte et al. 2021, Falkenberg 2024 [in preparation]).
Methodology: The analytical cases are based on qualitative data generated from a longitudinal study (Holmegaard 2018) focusing on students' participation and sense of belonging in The Bachelor’s Degree Program in Social Education, which lasts 3.5 years. The longitudinal study is being conducted at University College Copenhagen from 2022 to 2026 and combines ethnographic classroom studies and qualitative interviews with a survey study and an intervention study.
Findings: The analytical cases highlight how the political governance of education, through standardization and modularization of the Social Education into multiple academic modules, affects students' well-being. A consequence of modularization is an acceleration in the number of assignments and tests, as well as an increased convergence of assignments and tests, which are troubling students' well-being and sense of cohesion. The cases foreground students' voices and narratives about for instance breakdowns when the overlapping assignments create stress and anxiety, and narratives about how the lack of cohesion in academic modules leads to feelings of frustration and confusion. Additionally, the cases highlight students' narratives about how they withdrawal from academic activities due to fears of becoming socially exhausted.
Relevance to Nordic educational research: Since the standardization of education through modularization is an international phenomenon, the findings, which highlight students' voices regarding the impact of these organizational designs, are highly relevant to Nordic education research