Nick I.
Moderator Pick
Addressing mental health by centering students' voices
My students have made it clear that educators and schools are not prioritizing their mental health. There are two levels at which we must address this crisis:
Classroom level: Educators/administrators need to center student voice when considering how to support student mental health. The context of what students are experiencing varies so widely by age and background. Students are so often disempowered in the current structure for developing policies and creating action plans. The most insightful, concrete advice I’ve received about how to better support my students’ wellbeing was when I asked students what teachers need to know/believe/do/say to better support their mental health. Students described settings where teachers don’t listen, don’t ask about their wellbeing, and don’t discuss mental health. Some of this is because of pressures from administrators (curriculum pacing, bell-to-bell instruction, lack of support/direction regarding how to support student mental health etc.). This is one area where PD sessions could be useful, but they must center students' perspectives.
School-wide policy level: Based on discussions and feedback offered by students and educators, school policies should be critically examined. This, again, will not look the same in every school or district. We need to consider the effect of policies regarding cellphones, bathrooms, school start times, make-up policies, standardized testing, etc., from the perspective of their impact on student mental health. Ultimately, our goal should be to make school a place where students feel safe, comfortable, and engaged. If they trust the adults in the building and feel safe, they’re more likely to attend. I’ve observed chronically absent students attend school for the first time in two weeks only to get pulled from class to complete MAP testing. They don’t return the next day and later complain about how they always have to test when they attend. Students have described the stress related to attending class in which a teacher only allows them one bathroom pass a week. How are our policies impacting student mental health, and how can we make sure we no longer prioritize academics over mental health? If students’ wellbeing is suffering, so, too, is their academic progress.
Ultimately, the adult culture trickles down to the student and wider school culture. If adults are supported, if discussing mental health among adults is normalized, and if people (administrators, educators) are responsive to people’s needs, then that approach will carry over to what students experience. Some ways we can address this include training regarding how to talk to students about mental health; clear guidance for referring students who might need additional support; sufficient staffing of trained mental health professionals; educating educators and students about mental health; and engaging in regular dialogue. There is a serious need to better support staff and student mental health, and the two go hand-in-hand. But we can’t ignore the impact traditional structures of school and school culture have on student and educator wellbeing.
(1) |
Comments (4)
Thanks, Nick, for another thoughtful response. It breaks my heart to hear a kid feels hopeless and I'm so glad he had you around to talk through that.
I can certainly see the challenges you and other teachers face. We hope to get beyond the personal in this conversation so we can talk about policies that could effect real change.
I almost hate to suggest it when teachers are pressured to show results on so many fronts, but should supporting student mental health be another metric by which teachers are measured (on the assumption that what gets measured gets attention)? Or is there some other more teacher-friendly approach to get everyone on board?
Teacher evaluations are already pretty subjective - I'm not sure adding another category to the educator rubric (one that determines whether teachers are rehired) will increase buy-in. I worry it might have the opposite effect.
If the purpose is to make meaningful change at the policy level, then how policies are developed needs to be reshaped. The people spending the most time in classrooms (teachers and students) are usually the people with the fewest opportunities to interact with those who create policy (legislators, DESE board, superintendents, even principals). Regardless of any work the union does trying to increase participation in policy discussions, the decision-makers (from the governor to the principals) need to take feedback seriously, increase opportunities for participating in these conversations, and then follow through. Otherwise, this is a superficial exercise resulting in another report highlighting an issue that is evident to anyone who spends 20 minutes in a classroom.
I understand what you mean by getting beyond the personal to the policy level, but I think integrating the two might be more effective when developing meaningful policies. There's a book about creating school change, "Street Data," that covers the importance of including stakeholders who are usually relegated to the margins of these conversations. I wonder if some of the disconnect among policymakers and what happens in the classroom is that the policymakers are unaware of the personal/not sufficiently informed.
If this effort results in meaningful change, it will require policymakers to take mental health as seriously as they've taken efforts to confront "learning loss." This means that budgetary decisions, the allocation of resources (financial and human), and the collection/analysis of/response to data will reflect the value they place on mental health.
In terms of concrete policies, I wonder if the state can mandate staffing levels within individual school buildings for social workers, adjustment counselors, and school psychologists? At the moment, my school lacks the human resources to address the challenge we're facing related to student mental health. If there is a current staffing level required, it's insufficient. What about requiring schools to create protocols for referring students to counselors and auditing whether they're followed? I just read an article about school-based health clinics and the positive impact they have on student mental health. (https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/6/8/23747266/school-based-health-clinics-youth-mental-health) Why not require districts to establish at least one within their district, or provide the necessary financial support to establish them? School- and district-level PD time reflects what those schools and districts value. Why not require X amount of hours dedicated to trainings about trauma-informed education and supporting student mental health?
Until policymakers' decisions demonstrate the value they purportedly place on this issue, any meaningful work will be confined to individual classrooms based on a teachers' comfort level/capacity to address the problem. We need to increase teachers' capacity to support student mental health, as well as administrators and district/state education leaders' understanding of what students, families, and teachers are experiencing.
Hi Nick:
Thanks for joining our conversation. You have obviously thought deeply about this problem.
Where do you see the biggest hurdles to achieving a student-centered approach to mental wellness? How have you overcome them in your classroom? How can we all work to overcome them beyond the classroom -- at the school level, district level and state level?
Hi Cindy - I think some of the biggest hurdles to achieving a student-centered approach in the classroom include the various responsibilities teachers have: we need to move through lessons and our curriculum at a certain pace, we need to track student progress, create and implement interventions for students who need more support, differentiate, etc. When you're seeing ~20 students per class and see four or five classes per day, there's so much to keep track of that dedicating time to anything else can be difficult. (Especially when we're aware of our evaluations and what evaluators are looking for, too.) The same challenges to elevating student voice are also the same in terms of centering students' perspectives in approaching mental health: doing so involves vulnerability among educators, relinquishing some control, and a willingness to adjust one's practices based on student input.
I also imagine a teacher's comfort level discussing mental health with students could present a barrier. This is why it's so important to educate people (staff and students alike) about mental health, how to navigate situations, resources that are available (in school-specific contexts), and ensuring everyone knows who the trained professionals are in the building. We've received one training on this topic all year, but I've approached one of our adjustment counselors and another staff member individually to support in specific situations.
When I asked students what teachers need to do to better support student mental health, many students expressed a desire for daily check-ins. I started incorporating a Mood Meter into my do-nows earlier this year, and it's helped me gauge whether any students might need 1-on-1 check-ins or additional emotional support. Students select at least two emotions they're feeling and have the option of explaining why they feel that way. Today, one student's response (hopeless) last block resulted in a 20-minute conversation after school about how he feels socially isolated.
Talking to students is the best way to know what they need. I have lamps instead of using the overhead lights because it creates a more calming vibe; students know where to find a stress ball or pop-it in my classroom; I (usually) have flexible deadlines; I regularly survey students about how they're doing (both in and outside of school), whether I'm providing the right types of support, and asking what they need.
My students and I talk a lot about the impact of school/district (and some state) policies on student mental health. They feel voiceless, and I feel limited in my ability to advocate for them at a more macro-level. That's why it's important that all adults within the field of education (educators, administrators, school committee members, district and state-level administrators, etc.) are educated about mental health, that adults include students in the creation of policies and decisions (beyond surface-level surveys), and that we consider the impact policies have on students emotionally as well as academically (it often feels like the latter is the sole focus). Adults need to get comfortable discussing mental health with other adults, too. I've encountered administrators and educators who treat mental health challenges as a sign of weakness. The only way to confront that mindset is by educating people and providing adults with the space to discuss mental health. Otherwise, those adults are only causing students harm.
We know that people's emotional wellbeing impacts their ability to learn, but so many of our policies, initiatives, and buzzwords neglect students' emotional wellbeing.
Sorry for the long response - hope this makes sense!