1st Edition
Mental Health and Academic Learning in Schools Approaches for Facilitating the Wellbeing of Children and Young People.
Mental Health and Academic Learning in Schools: Approaches for Facilitating the Wellbeing of Children and Young People investigates the many areas impacting on young people’s learning and mental health in a unified manner. Offering a new model for teaching, learning and connecting with young people, it provides compelling evidence about the intertwined nature of students’ academic performance, mental health and behaviour.
The book presents integrated models and strategies that serve to enhance student learning and promote wellbeing. Chapters explore issues relating to classroom management, school culture and leadership, staff wellbeing, pedagogy, inclusion and the curriculum. Placing students at the centre of decision making, the book showcases innovative models and strategies that schools might use for preventing problems, engaging students and identifying and addressing learning or mental health problems that some students might experience.
This book will appeal to academics, researchers and post-graduate students in the fields of mental health and education, and will also be of interest to school counsellors, educational psychologists and those working with young people in schools.
Chapter 1: Alice’s story
Chapter 2: The role of schools in promoting children’s mental health
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The role of schools
2.3 A question of priorities
2.4 Key terms and concepts
2.4.1 Mental illness
2.4.2 Social and emotional wellbeing
2.4.3 Mental health promotion, prevention and intervention
2.5 Why should schools be involved in promoting children’s mental health?
2.5.1 Prevalence of children’s mental illness
2.5.2 Causes of mental illness
2.5.3 Lack of support for children’s mental health concerns
2.5.4 Schools can make a positive difference
2.5.5 Inseparable relationship between school success and mental health
2.5.6 Economic arguments
2.5.7 Equality
2.6 Finally…
2.7 References
Chapter 3 The relationship between mental illness, wellbeing and academic achievement
3.1 What is academic success and failure?
3.2 Why do some children fail at school?
3.3 A sequence of experiences
3.3.1 The adjustment erosion model
3.3.2 The academic incompetence model
3.3.3 Shared risk model
3.4 Socio-economic factors, academic performance and academic achievement
3.5 Influence of schools on mental health and academic achievement
3.6 What does this mean for schools?
3.7 References
Chapter 4 Towards a school wide model for supporting students’ mental health and academic learning
4.1 Programs to support students’ mental health and academic learning
4.1.1 Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs
4.1.2 Academic learning programs
4.1.3 Programs that target student behaviour
4.1.4 Programs to promote a positive school environment
4.2 One to one counselling services
4.3 The evidence base
4.4 The rationale for developing a whole school, integrated approach for supporting children’s academic learning and mental health needs
4.5 Tiered approaches
4.6 Examples of whole school, integrated approaches
4.7 A tiered system of common evidence based practices
4.8 Problems and future opportunities for whole school approaches for supporting children’s academic learning and mental health
4.9 References
Chapter 5 School culture and climate
5.1 School size
5.2 Screening
5.2.1 At risk students
5.3 A help seeking school
5.4 Leadership
5.4.1 Vision and policies
5.5 School connectedness
5.6 Cultural competence and sensitivity
5.7 Safe schools
5.8 Relationships
5.8.1 Student-student relationships
5.8.2 Teacher-student relationships
5.9 References
Chapter 6 Reconceptualising student behaviour
6.1 The relationship between learning, mental health and behaviour
6.2 What is challenging behaviour?
6.3 Models of classroom management: what’s our end goal?
6.4 Teach more, manage less
6.5 Promoting behaviour conducive to learning
6.6 ‘Consequences have consequences’ (Lewis, 2015)
6.7 Motivating students
6.8 An approach based on mutual respect
6.9 References
Chapter 7 Teaching and learning
7.1 How excellent teachers teach
7.2 Feedback and assessment
7.3 Mental health topics
7.4 Teaching social and emotional skills
7.4.1 How to purposefully teach social and emotional skills
7.4.2 Social and emotional learning programs
7.4.3 Criticisms of social and emotional learning programs
7.5 Teachers as role models
7.6 References
Chapter 8 Partnerships
8.1 Professional collaborations
8.2 Models of collaborations
8.2.1 The referral process
8.3 Family partnerships
8.4 Children and youth
8.5 References
Chapter 9 Inclusivity: celebrating diversity
9.1 Why is inclusion important?
9.1.1 Gender diversity
9.2 Inclusive education benefits all students
9.2.1 Attainment grouping
9.3 Basic principles of an inclusive education
9.4 How to be inclusive
9.4.1 Students at the centre
9.4.2 Teachers’ beliefs
9.4.3 Teachers’ knowledge
9.4.4 Teachers’ practices
9.4.5 Policy, school leadership and systems
9.5 References
Chapter 10 Staff wellbeing: school staff have feelings too
10.1 Teacher social and emotional competence
10.2 Teacher and principal stress and wellbeing
10.3 Teachers’ (potentially stressful) role in promoting young people’s mental health and wellbeing
10.4 Promoting the wellbeing of school staff
10.5 References
Chapter 11 Trauma informed schools
11.1 Trauma and its impact on young people
11.2 Schools and trauma
11.3 School based formal programs
11.3.1 Trauma sensitive school environments
11.4 Managing specific traumatic events
11.5 Crisis plans
11.6 Pulling it all together
11.7 References
Chapter 12 Making a difference: Are we there yet?
12.1 What should schools be doing? Evidence based programs and practice based evidence
12.2 The place of monitoring and evaluation
12.3 Action research cycle
12.4 Reflective practice
12.5 Just do it
12.5.1 It’s about attitude
12.5.2 Take home messages
12.3 Student voice
12.3.1 Children and youth: what makes a happy school?
12.4 References
Biography
Andrea Reupert is the Director of Psychology Programs in the Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia.