Curioversing wellness through the cyberstructure - A Classic Grounded Theory of Young People’s Experiences of Online Educational Spaces

This study explores how young people (YP) experience fully online educational spaces. Using Classic Grounded Theory (Classic GT) methodology, the research generated an emergent theory based directly on YP 's voices, without imposing adult assumptions. Six participants aged between eight and seventeen from a private, fee-paying online United Kingdom based school contributed through creative and conversational methods, including photovoice, diary writing, essays, and participant-led discussions.
The theory generated suggests that YP actively navigate their online education by a dynamic process called curioversing (the combining of curiosity and universe), which helps them build emotional and academic wellness. This process supports their cyberstructural wellness (a sense of balance and thriving within online environments).
YP’s experiences of online education are shaped by relationships with teachers, access to virtual tools, their own agency, and wider social inequalities, such as access to the internet (digital divide). These findings are drawn directly from the empirical data, which highlighted disparities in access and support across different home and school contexts. The study critiques dominant adult-centred models of online education that assume YP are passive recipients of technology. Instead, it presents a person-centred emergent theory that shows YP as meaning-makers who negotiate complex online spaces with creativity and resilience.
This research challenges neoliberal, one-size-fits-all models of online education. It calls for relational, flexible, and socially just approaches that centre YP’s lived realities. It also contributes to wider debates about online education, epistemic justice (fair recognition of YP's knowledge), and relational pedagogy. The study provides practical recommendations for policy and practice aimed at creating online educational environments that nurture connection, equity, and well-being.