M is for Mental Health Literacy

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