The Pros and Cons of Teaching Mental Health in Schools.
We discuss evidence based research on the pros and cons of teaching mental health in schools.
What are the pros and cons of teaching mental health in schools?
One of the ways to support pupils’ mental health and wellbeing is to teach them about how to recognise it, how to cope with the challenges they face and how to be resilient through adversity. In England mental wellbeing forms part of the statutory Relationships, (Sex) and Health Education Curriculum.
There are a range of benefits, and also some drawbacks, to delivering mental health as part of the curriculum. We have undertaken a review of some of the pros and cons of teaching mental health in schools.
Whilst this table is not exhaustive, it does give some of the factors to consider in the delivery of teaching a mental health and wellbeing curriculum.
- Improved attendance by increasing understanding of how to manage individuals’ mental health.
- Gives students the opportunity and confidence to express their feelings.
- Student feedback helps us understand how students are feeling and the barriers they need to overcome.
- Creates a reliable data set for creating a whole-school well-being strategy.
- Helps to create a culture of self-awareness and teamwork that hopefully will continue into adulthood.
- Enables the creation of a range of different lesson types to help boost engagement.
- Enables and allows for planning and strategy to support colleagues throughout your setting.
- This type of leadership modeling supports the implementation of performance management.
- Improved wellbeing will support progress and attainment.
- Improves behaviour policies by increasing our understanding of barriers students face and of sudden changes in behavior.
- Recognising symptoms of mental health could lead to students self-diagnosing and may affect their attendance.
- The extra time required to teach understanding and strategies within a tight curriculum.
- Without a pre-existing curriculum, you may have to modify lesson plans to fit the specific needs of children, classes, or cohorts
- The data collected may not be relevant to the specific needs of your school.
- The additional time that must be allocated for staff training, such as INSET days or Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
- The time needed during the school day to allow for reflection, questions, and mindfulness exercises.
- The time it takes to manage mental health issues during and after school hours.
- The extra time it takes to create effective policies.
- Time taken away from learning subjects (i.e history, science etc) in a crammed curriculum.
- The time needed to observe, reflect, and implement changes for individuals or the entire school.
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Summary: Mental health, wellbeing and personal development in schools In Focus Published Thursday, 08 February, 2024
References used for the pros and cons list
Alexander (2021) “Well-being and attainment in Scottish education: a capabilities approach” https://theses.gla.ac.uk/81820/
Anna A. Peycheva a, Anthony F. Guevara b, Mark J.D. Jordans (2023) “Systematic review of strategies for improving attendance in health and mental health interventions for children and adolescents in LMICs: Implications for mental health interventions” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666560323000993)
BA Gueldner, LL Feuerborn, KW Merrell – 2020 Social and emotional learning in the classroom: Promoting mental health and academic success
Dolton A, Adams S, O’Reilly M. In the child’s voice: The experiences of primary school children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2020;25(2):419-434. doi:10.1177/1359104519859923 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1359104519859923
Fisher, P. (2010). Performativity, well‐being, social class and citizenship in English schools. Educational Studies, 37(1), 49–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055691003799073
Freeman, J., Wilkinson, S., Kowitt, J., Kittelman, A., & Brigid Flannery, K. (2018). Research-supported practices for improving attendance in high schools: a review of the literature. Educational Research and Evaluation, 24(8), 481–503. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2019.1602546
Hart, A., & Heaver, B. (2015). Resilience approaches to supporting young people’s mental health: Appraising the evidence base for schools and communities. Brighton; University of Brighton/Boingboing. http://www.boingboing.org.uk/resilience-approaches-guide/
Hornby, G and Atkinson, M (2004) A Framework for Promoting Mental Health in School. Pastoral Care in Education https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0122.00256
Jerusalem, Matthias;Klein Hessling, (2009, Vol. 109, Issue 4, pages 329 – 341) Johannes Mental health promotion in schools by strengthening self-efficacy. Health education, 19 Jun. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09654280910970901/full/html
Korinek, L. (2020). Supporting students with mental health challenges in the classroom. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 65(2), 97–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988X.2020.1837058
Lawrence, D., Dawson, V., Houghton, S., Goodsell, B., & Sawyer, M. G. (2019). Impact of mental disorders on attendance at school. Australian Journal of Education, 63(1), 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004944118823576
Nielsen, L., Meilstrup, C., Nelausen, M.K., Koushede, V. and Holstein, B.E. (2015), “Promotion of social and emotional competence: Experiences from a mental health intervention applying a whole school approach”, Health Education, Vol. 115 No. 3/4, pp. 339-356. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-03-2014-0039
Owens, J.S., Murphy, C.E. Effectiveness Research in the Context of School-Based Mental Health. Clin Child and Fam Psychol Rev 7, 195–209 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-004-6085-x
Parker, J.D.A., Crane, A.G., Wood, L.M. (2018). Educational Leaders and Supporting the Mental Health of Students and Staff: Limited Research but Promising Practices in Preparing School Principals. In: Leschied, A., Saklofske, D., Flett, G. (eds) Handbook of School-Based Mental Health Promotion. The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89842-1_11
Wignall, A., Atkinson, C., & Grace, P. (2023). Facilitators and barriers to implementing a whole-school mental health programme. Pastoral Care in Education, 42(1), 25–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2023.2214903