What are some innovative ways to promote mental health in education?

Mindfulness and meditation are evidence-based practices that can be incorporated throughout the school day to support overall wellness. When working with children and teens, I often teach these practices through breathing and coloring exercises. Because it can help reduce stress and anxiety, incorporating a mindfulness activity, like a short meditation, before a test may reduce text anxiety and allow for the student to have better recall during the test.

Mindfulness and meditation can be introduced to even the youngest of children as a part of the daily classroom routine. This normalises being mindful, increases compassion and empathy in the classroom, and lays a foundation for students for life. Implementing it as a whole school, with mindfulness training for teachers, helps enormously in how students accept it. If a whole school approach isn’t possible, you can implement it as a classroom teacher, using simple guided meditations, checking in regularly with students, and giving language to how they are feeling, here and now.

A good example of this is promoting positive self-esteem. This involves providing students with the tools and skills necessary to resolve conflict and the inevitable setbacks they’ll face. We can boost their self-confidence by supporting good decision making, assertiveness, perseverance, and self-determination.

Las tutorías son necesarias pero insuficientes. Diferenciar tutorías y mentorías del acompa?amiento educativo integral es clave si lo que se busca es desarrollar salud mental y prevención. El acompa?amiento educativo como tal no es formativo, es un espacio de escucha donde se aloja al alumno en virtud de lo que le sucede. Espacios donde se construyen encuentros donde se de paso a la subjetividad pura y llana del alumno, sin preceptos. En el acompa?amiento integral del alumno las temáticas que emergen son del orden de la pedagogía, la salud mental, de dimensiones antropológicas, con objetivos específicos y claros. Las escuelas deben tener dispositivos de acompa?amiento que han demostrado ser eficaces en la prevention de salud mental

Peer support and mentoring can be profoundly impactful experiences, shaping individuals' lives in meaningful ways. My high school experience as a peer mentor exemplifies the transformative power of these connections. As a high school student, I volunteered as a peer mentor in our school's support program. This role allowed me to connect with younger students, providing guidance, support, and encouragement as they navigated the challenges of adolescence. I vividly recall the initial apprehension I felt, unsure of my ability to make a positive difference. However, as I engaged with my mentees, I discovered a profound sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Peer support and mentoring can be incredibly helpful in promoting mindfulness and wellbeing in schools. Using a whole-school approach works best for this kind of program, with appropriate support for the peer-mentors needing to be in place. Recognising the peers’ contributions and the importance of their role is equally as important as recognising and acknowledging that mental health issues occur.

Peer support teams, psycho-social education in the classrooms, and a safe place for students to learn offer an opportunity to promote a greater understanding of mental health awareness in academia.

A very underrated yet effective intervention to enhance the socio-emotional well-being of students in educational institutions. Although coming up as structured spaces in K-12 models, there's a scope for improvement in effectively utilising creative ways to support the students with their emotional well-being. Had the opportunity to launch a theatre society in our social work institution as a means to create a safe space for student expressions, and it has been a massive gamechanger in getting a peek into the authentic sides of my students.

This is a really useful way to help students with an outlet for their feelings. Art rooms can often be a place of refuge for some students, particularly in high school. In terms of the therapeutic benefits, most schools don’t have the budget to employ people trained in art or music therapy. I’ve worked in only one school where they employed a psychologist. Others have counsellors but most haven’t been trained in art or music therapy. For some students, just having the opportunity to be involved in the music program (bands, choirs) or a wide and varied art program helps mental health issues enormously.

An underrated yet effective education tool. Credits to B.F Skinner for promoting operant conditioning, which is the basis of gamification. Our innate need of incentives for good behaviour goes to show how impactful this strategy is. Digital storytelling in this era is simply a gem. Applied in various forms like; video games, movies, songs and articles, it's only bound to increase as technology and the acknowledgement of mental health awareness advances.

This kind of program requires a whole school approach. It’s important to have support - training, time - for teachers to implement such a program. To fully implement such a program it takes several years, as both teachers and students learn new ways of thinking, communicating and supporting each other.

Schools, through their education models must make students realize that each of them is unique. Most mental health issues amongst school going students is due to the generalized definitions of 'success', 'knowledge' and 'achievements'. Students should be given the opportunity to design their own life journeys and create their own parameters and definitions.

One innovative way to promote mental health in education is through the implementation of a collaborative multi-disciplinary team (MDT) framework. This approach involves integrating the expertise of various professionals, such as psychologists, social workers, counsellors, and educators, to address the diverse mental health concerns of students in an educational setting. In addition, a stress management workshop can be a valuable tool for promoting mental health in education. The workshop can be designed to equip students with practical skills and strategies to effectively manage stress, build resilience, and maintain emotional well-being.

Implement mindfulness programs, integrating short daily exercises to enhance focus and reduce stress. Foster open dialogues about mental health, normalizing discussions and reducing stigma. Introduce stress-reducing activities like art, music, or physical exercises into the curriculum. Provide accessible mental health resources and counseling services. Encourage peer support programs to create a sense of community. Integrate mental health education into regular coursework, promoting self-awareness and coping skills. Utilize technology for virtual mental health resources and support. Overall, a holistic approach that combines awareness, support systems, and proactive strategies can significantly promote mental well-being in education.

Implementing innovative mental health initiatives in elementary schools is crucial. By embracing mental health and innovative approaches, elementary schools can cultivate a culture of understanding mental health in a way that empowers students to manage stress, navigate emotions, and build resilience for lifelong success.

Implementing mindfulness and meditation into the classroom or schools is a wonderful way to add to a young person’s toolbox of skills needed to be a fabulous human being. A whole-school approach is ideal, with teachers getting the support they need, but it can be successfully done at a classroom level, even as a subject teacher with teens.

Ideally schools would all have a registered mental health professional based full time to support pupils directly and impact whole school initiatives. Perhaps I’m bias as I’m in such a role however I struggle to see how education settings function fully without this. My teaching colleagues from other schools seem to be drowning and the impact of one professional such as a therapist, rmn or psychologist seems to be huge.