Session Information
99 ERC SES 04 L, Health and Wellbeing Education
Paper Session
Contribution
There is a growing global concern over the issues of promoting and sustaining mental health and well-being in education, in which the mental health implications in the classroom continue to pose a significant public challenge worldwide, affecting children, adolescents, and teachers/new teachers, with an increasing economic cost (Purser, 2022). According to recent World Health Organization estimates, between 10% and 20% of children worldwide have a diagnosable mental health problem (WHO, 2021b). There is also an upward trend in adolescents’ mental illness in many countries (Seven, et al., 2020), with approximately 20% of the world’s adolescents experiencing mental health issues (United Nationals International Children’s Emergency Fund [UNICEF] Data, 2021). Schools are often recognized in research and policy as appropriate key settings to enhance and protect children’s and adolescents’ physical and mental well-being (Lahti et al., 2023; Hattersley, 2023). Teachers, therefore, play a crucial role in effective mental health provision in schools, as they are expected to be knowledgeable in identifying children’s and adolescents’ mental health problems and intervening early to support their students (DoH, 2011; Purser, 2022).
Nevertheless, teachers consistently report that they often feel ill-prepared and lack experience and training to support children with emotional, behavioural, and social difficulties. They also feel vulnerable and psychologically distressed when meeting the mental health needs of their students in school settings (Rothi et al., 2008; Lahti et al., 2023; Nygaard et al., 2023). Meanwhile, teachers’ mental health must also be considered as their psychological well-being has been associated with students’ mental health and wellness. The teaching profession is generally recognized as an emotionally intense and stressful occupation, in which low career satisfaction, substantial workloads, and multiple role requirements all can have a deleterious effect on teachers’ mental health and place them at increased risk of common mental health disorders (Hattersley, 2023). Since teachers’ experiences of occupational stress are highly likely to be linked with their capacity to support students’ mental health, it is imperative to prepare and encourage teachers to seek guidance and support for their own mental health (Kush et al., 2021).
Insufficient attention and training are currently given to the development and provision of required competences (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and effective methods for mental health promotion in initial teacher training programmes (ITT/ITE). Although mental health providers, such as school psychologists and school counselors, are known as experts in delivering school-based mental health services, teachers are the first line of defense in providing prevention strategies to students in need of support. Against this background, the study sets out to explore teacher educators’ and student teachers’ perspectives and experiences related to mental health training and provision in Initial Teacher Training Programmes (ITT/ITE) in China and the UK. Given that educational systems, social and cultural backgrounds, and professional qualifications differ across countries, the challenges related to promoting students' and teachers’ mental health and well-being, nevertheless, are similar.
The research design is a Delphi survey, in which it attempts to identify the threshold concepts in mental health and well-being and to provide a framework for developing a curriculum to build the knowledge and capacity of the future teacher workforce. It intends to answer the following two questions: What key knowledge and pedagogical approaches should be included in a comprehensive mental health training curriculum for Initial Teacher Training Programmes? What main competencies (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) should student teachers acquire during the ITT/ITE programme to promote their own mental health and that of others?
Method
The Delphi survey has been used in several research done in higher educational settings, and it aims to achieve reliable consensus among a group of experts which is invaluable and critical to the identification of threshold concepts in any field or discipline (Barradell, 2013). As the extensive involvement of the researcher in the decision process, transparency is essential to demonstrate rigor in the procedures selected (Smith, et al., 2016). This research will follow three major phases of a Delphi-based research project: preparing, conducting, and analyzing. It intends to utilize an effective qualitative technique at each stage and to reveal the situated, contextual meaning participants generate and ascribe to social phenomena (May, 2011). In the preparation stage, the subject under discussion (a. knowledge of mental health and well-being; b. individual competences) will be explored and two creative workshops will be used to define the Delphi format. Followed by a thorough literature review to get a first idea for potential Delphi statements and to obtain a list of knowledge and competenceies that student teachers should acquire in a comprehensive mental health curriculum. Once the framework for developing a mental health curriculum has been identified, another two Delphi rounds will be conducted at the second conducting stage. A semi-structured approach will be carried out with a panel of experts before the results become stable or consensus is achieved. It is advisable to have at least 15 to 20 experts in a group and the Delphi survey typically uses one panel with a number of rounds (Amos and Pearse, 2008),
Expected Outcomes
It is believed that the acquisition of mental health knowledge and relevant professional skill packages is extremely important for students who intend to enter the teaching profession. By conducting a Delphi survey and semi-structured group interviews with experts and subject specialists, this research aims to provide a framework for developing an integrated and comprehensive mental health curriculum for ITE student teachers. Teachers and potential teachers’ mental health matters. Teachers play a pivotal role in daily interactions with students, they frequently influence the social and emotional development of our youth beyond academic needs. It is, therefore, essential to provide significant input for student teachers through ITE to meet the required skills and competencies to be effective educators.
References
Amos, T., and Pearse, N. (2008). Pragmatic research design: An illustration of the use of the Delphi technique. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 6 (2), 95 – 102. Barradell, S. (2013). The identification of threshold concepts: A review of theoretical complexities and methodological challenges. Higher Education, 65 (2), 265 – 276. Department of Health. (2011). No health without mental health: A cross-government mental health outcomes strategy for people of all ages. UK: Department of Health. Hattersley, E. (2023). “When I feel like I can make a difference, it’s amazing”: using IPA to explore primary school teachers’ experiences of children’s mental health in the United Kingdom. Educational Psychology in Practice, 39 (2), 235 – 251. Kush, J.M., Badillo-Giocoechea, E., Musci, R.J., and Stuart, E.A. (2021). Teacher mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Informing policies to support teacher well-being and effective teaching practices. John Hopkins School of Public Health. Lahti, M., Korhonen, J., Sakellari, E., Notara, V., Lagiou, A., Istomina, N., Grubliauskiene, J., Makutiene, M., Sukyte, D., Erjavec, K., Petrova, G., Lalova, V., Ivanoa, S., and Laaksonen, C. (2023). “Competences for promoting mental health in primary school’. Health Education Journal, 82 (5), 529 – 541. May, T. (2011). Social research: issues, methods and process. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Purser, L. (2022) ‘What do we need to teach new teachers about child mental health?”, Buckingham Journal of Education, 3, pp47 – 77. Rothi DM., Uphoff, E., and Best R. (2008) “On the front-line: Teachers as active observers of pupils’ mental health. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24 (5): 1217. Seven, U.S., Stoll, M., Dubbert, D., Kohls, C., Werner, P., Kalbe, E. “Perception, Attitudes, and Experiences Regarding Mental Health Problems and Web Based Mental Health Information Amongst Young People with and without Migration Background in Germany. A Qualitative Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 18, 81. Smith, C. F., Finn, G. M., Stewart, J., & McHanwell, S. (2016). Anatomical Society core regional anatomy syllabus for undergraduate medicine: the Delphi process. Journal of Anatomy, 228 (1), 2 – 14. United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. Available online: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-health/mental-health/#_ednref1. (accessed on 28th, December, 2023). World Health Organization (WHO) (2021b) Maternal and child mental health. Available at: http://www.who.int/mental_health/maternal-child/en/ (accessed on 28th December, 2023).
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