I am not as familiar with mental
health literacy compared to other types of literacies. I first learned about
mental health disorders and stigma when I was Grade 11 and continue to learn
about mental health in many of my courses at Brock University. From the jigsaw
activity in lecture, where students became “experts” on a type of literacy and shared
their knowledge, I began to understand that media health literacy is knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders
to assist students in recognition, management, and prevention. From my
previous blog post, I wrote about how children need to know how to make sense
of the world and succeed in our ever-changing society. There is an increasing
need for mental health services for children with mental, emotional, and
behavioral problems (Reinke et al, 2011).
 |
| Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/17/how-to-improve-children-mental-health-services |
As a future educator, I believe that students
need to learn about mental health earlier to increase awareness and help break
the stigma surrounding mental health to encourage students to seek support. Unfortunately,
many teachers express concerns regarding lacking knowledge and/or skills to
support students displaying behavioral, social, and emotional difficulties as
well as effective classroom management (Reinke et al, 2011).
In lecture, we learned about “curriculum
as lived”, which refers to lived experiences and social, cultural, political
values and attitudes that influences how teachers interpret and implement the
curriculum as well as how students interpret what is taught (L. Lane, personal
communication, January 27, 2016). Teachers
bring their values and biases into the classroom, which influences how and what
is taught. Teachers must be aware of their own biases and incorporate mental
health literacy in the curriculum using ways that will promote a supportive and
accepting environment to reduce the stigma. In lecture, we also discussed that
literacy can promote social justice by having students think critically about
their lives and the world around them. Throughout the course so far, I have
been able to see how different literacies are connected and interrelated with
each other. Mental health literacy goes beyond knowledge and beliefs of mental
disorders by challenging what is “normal” and accepted. It involves acknowledging that people have different needs and taking action to become more open to diversity.For example, teachers
can assist students in analyzing how mental disorders are portrayed in various
media texts and potential biases (media literacy) as well as examining power
relations, labels, and instances of social injustices (moral literacy and critical
literacy).
Aside from teaching about mental disorders, how can mental health
literacy be implemented into the curriculum, especially for younger students?
The study by Reinke et al. (2011)
found that teachers perceived themselves as being responsible for implementing
classroom-based interventions and believed school psychologists as primarily
responsible for delivering mental health services in schools. Furthermore, teachers
believed that school psychologists should also be responsible for teaching
social-emotional lessons in the classroom. These findings emphasize the
importance of teachers’ perspectives in how mental health is addressed and the implementation
of mental health literacy. However, I think that teachers should also be responsible for incorporating
social and emotional learning in the classroom to promote positive outcomes for
students. Social and emotional well-being is important for all aspects of
healthy development and plays an important role in positive mental health. This
article emphasizes the importance of social and emotional learning in students starting
in Preschool and Kindergarten. Singh (2014) discusses a program called Promoting
Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) that uses stories as a way to teach
young children how to recognize and express different emotions they feel. These
skills help develop emotional regulation and social skills early and will help
students further develop skills to be able to become successful later on. For
example, healthy self-expression of emotions can foster conflict resolution
skills, promote respect for others, and prevent developing problems later on.
Recently, I watched the movie
“Inside Out”, which can be used to help children become aware of their own emotions
and why students might be feeling a certain way. Inside Out can be used to open up discussions and teach about mental health by explaining the emotions and how they signal people to behave in various ways. The movie emphasizes the importance of feeling all of the emotions for positive mental health and demonstrate acceptance towards feeling and displaying different emotions, especially since people do not always feel the way that their parents, friends, or society wants or expects them to. Students need to be able to manage their emotions and be provided support
when facing challenges in doing so.
TheMadagascarqueen. (2015, May 28). Inside out = Know your
emotions crossover [video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIZ-fR1Y3xM
I hope to learn more about mental
health literacy throughout the course. Although mental health is often
disregarded, teachers need to share knowledge about mental health and help foster
skills in students that will promote positive well-being and encourage them to
take part in social change. In addition, teachers need to be aware of various
experiences their students may have and be proactive in recognizing mental
health difficulties and providing appropriate support. By doing so early, it
can prevent potential social, emotional, and behavioral challenges.
 |
| Retrieved from: http://www.superfriend.com.au/employers/workplace-programs/mental-health-literacy |
References
Reinke, W. M., Stormont, M., Herman, K. C., Puri, R., &
Goel, N. (2011). Supporting children's mental health in schools: Teacher
perceptions of needs, roles, and barriers. School Psychology Quarterly, 26(1),
1-13.
Singh, M. (2014, Dec 31). Why emotional learning may be as
important as the ABCs. Npr. Retrieved
from http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/12/31/356187871/why-emotional-literacy-may-be-as-important-as-learning-the-a-b-c-s
TheMadagascarqueen. (2015, May 28). Inside out = Know your
emotions crossover [video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIZ-fR1Y3xM
