Embedding wellbeing in the curriculum: using a wellbeing lens to consider blended and online learning

University student wellbeing has been of growing concern to the higher education sector; heightened in the last year in the context of a global pandemic and widespread adoption of blended and online models of teaching by campus-based universities. Over the last six years or so, international and UK-based literature has increasingly directed attention to ‘whole-university’ approaches to student wellbeing, and the need for us to consider the relationship between wellbeing and learning, teaching and assessment. This approach is supported in the UK-based University Mental Health Charter (Hughes and Spanner, 2019). But what does this mean for those of us teaching University students in blended and online environments? How can our teaching practice positively shape student wellbeing? This Winter Sandbox will: explore ways of thinking about embedding wellbeing in the curriculum; the relationship between wellbeing and academic practice; and provide the space to explore practical ways in which we can embed wellbeing in our curriculum, having taken a wellbeing lens on our practice