Mental Health and Education

I have concerns about the fact that despite all the efforts globally to raise awareness of the importance of the affective domain in the classroom, the changes are still slow to come. I believe that if we examine the issue of mental health in schools from many angles and perspectives it will help us to understand what is happening and what is actually keeping back the progress. Why with all the programs that have been created and all the trainings and workshops being conducted in our schools are we still plagued with dilemmas such as increasing violence in the schools, unhappy and frustrated teachers, overcrowded classroom, unsolvable issues of special education, and such high levels of poor academic performance?

I have identified some of the factors that are impeding the work as follows:

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  In many societies there is not enough value placed on the emotions and emotional work. Emotions are dismissed as frivolous or something to be passed over as quickly as possible; they are ignored, shoved aside, even laughed at sometimes. Emotional work is not seen as crucial to survival as other things in our lives.
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  The length of time required for this work to take effect. Most schools are pressured for time. The process of change is a long term one. Many of us need quick fixes.
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  It is sometimes hard to acknowledge and understand that mental health issues also affect children. There is a false notion that only adults ‘suffer’ from mental issues, such as depression, stress, etc.
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  The notion that our early childhood experiences should have been buried and put behind us as we grow up and go out into the world. We should just ‘get over it’.
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  Lack of proper research and reliable data on most mental health issues and emotional work. What little research has been done has elicited such conflicting responses in the field that it is hard for the average parent or teacher to make an informed decision about the state of mental health in young people and how to cope with it.

Before we successfully address these dilemmas in our schools we do need to understand fully what a mentally healthy mind means, what internal and external factors affect that health, and the real connection between a healthy mind, a healthy body and intelligent functioning.