Pupil mental health has always been a concern for teachers. We’ve always wanted our pupils to be happy and mentally healthy. Sadly, these days this seems a stretch. We’re now in a full-blown pupil mental health crisis.
Alongside this is a full-blown crisis in teacher mental health, too. There’s not doubting that. But my question is: can one be examined without considering the other? Is it not time to consider that the mental health needs of children and teachers is intimately linked?
Research shows that staff cite difficulties such as increased workload, poor working environments and the lack of influence and impact they have on their own role. Teaching has been squeezed into some kind of working straitjacket: staff are not able to wriggle out of it and demonstrate individual flair. Their every interaction and contact with children is controlled, managed and scrutinised. Their teaching methods and adjustments made in order to support the learning of children are examined and vetted. Their approaches are critiqued and constantly changed, leaving them no time to actually interact with children on a one-to-one level.
This all leads to staff burning out, and leaving the profession in unprecedented numbers. So, what impact does this have on the “clients” themselves: the children?
Teacher and pupil mental health
When I was an early years teacher, we would joke that if a teacher felt under the weather and just needed to “get by” that day, you could bet your house on the children being extra needy.
Just like young developing animals, the children sensed weakness and it made them jittery, unsure, unsteady and in need of further reassurance. We see it all the time in the animal kingdom: when the pack senses potential danger or threat, their sense of self or wellbeing is weakened.
It’s inevitable that when an adult who has a head full of stress and worries, this feeling of insecurity will be transferred to the children. We work in a results-driven culture. Panic about the progress of Abdul or Johnny cannot fail to in some way, even subconsciously, be projected on to the child themselves.
Is it any wonder that our children are displaying signs of mental distress linked to school performance? How are teachers able to nourish the mental health of their pupils when under tremendous pressure themselves to produce results and to adhere to ever-changing targets?
Wellbeing should be at the heart of every school
And what about those children who arrive at school already dealing with trauma? We know that “social buffering”, whereby children are given the time to talk and be listened to, can have a hugely positive impact on those dealing with bereavement, parent separation, family and other social issues. But where’s the time in the school day? How can a stressed adult, pressed for time, bubbling with their own mental health trauma, provide this level of care?
The obvious conclusion to draw here is that they cannot.
The impact that these pressures have on wellbeing, behaviour and results is immeasurable and completely counterproductive to what we are all striving for.
Wellbeing is an organic force that should absolutely be put at the heart of every single school. The benefits of fostering and looking after everyone’s wellbeing are long-term and have an impact on society as a whole.
And yet, we’re consistently short-sighted in our education culture: we all look to “quick wins” instead of long-term growth, policy, culture and strategy. The health and wellbeing of all need to be integrated into the fabric of our schools.
Multi-academy trusts are in the perfect position to ensure that health and wellbeing are integrated into the fabric of schools. How? Well for starters, we must realise that any strategies we put in place should be available for all: staff AND children. For example, if we’re urgently trying to understand how factors such as neurochemicals affect our children, then we should look at how they affect teachers, too.
Trusts should adopt a wellbeing strategy - with every single member of staff receiving training on it. It should be bold, be a key objective in the school development plan (SDP) and be entwined within all aspects of the SDP in order to ensure lasting change.
It won’t be easy, but it will reap long-term rewards for both adults and children alike. It will raise achievement, improve behaviour, support recruitment and retention and make for a more positive education system.
Come on, academies, it’s time to take the bull by the horns and the SDP by its britches. Make your staff and children’s combined and inextricably linked wellbeing a key USP to your brand.
Samantha Shearer is a deputy head in England. She tweets @educationisthe1
