CONNECTIONS: The Mental Health Crisis in Our Schools
(Our newsletter post this week comes from our newest authors, Charle Peck and Dr. Cameron Caswell. Learn more about their new release below!)
There is a mental health crisis within the education system.
Educators are burned out.
Students are stressed out.
Parents are checked out.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicidality skyrocketed. Although isolation, fear, and uncertainty exacerbated these mental health concerns, this crisis has been a serious problem for decades. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics has declared child and adolescent mental health a national emergency.1
Forty percent of students sitting in your building report having persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.2 40%! Yet an astounding 88% of schools are not confident they can support their students’ mental health. So kids are spending a large portion of their time thinking about, stressing over, and going to school, but the people, the practices, and the processes within this system remain ill-equipped to respond to their needs. The system is failing them.
Schools have been trying to address this ubiquitous problem for decades, yet the mental health of students, educators, and parents alike remain a major concern. Why? Although school districts collect an ample amount of data that show us where the gaps are, many don’t have the time or bandwidth to figure out how to convert the abundance of information into actionable solutions.
Fortunately, there is a window of opportunity to make a cultural shift in our school communities—right now. Local, state, and federal governments are prioritizing spending to build up mental health support. We can either continue to spend our time, energy, and resources on more of what we’ve been doing for the past 30 years (without getting the outcome we’d hoped for3), OR we can do something different.
We believe it’s time to do something different.
For the past two years we’ve debated, shared our experiences, talked with educators, students, and parents, and tested our concepts and strategies through our individual practices to determine what really works. We kept in mind that a feasible solution could not require overtaxed teachers and staff to do MORE than they were already doing. We refined and simplified until we landed on a sustainable plan to improve student behaviors, well-being, and academic outcomes leveraging the power of the school community.
Educators tell us that this approach helps them feel “energized” and “better equipped.” Parents tell us they believe if they had learned our solutions earlier it would have saved them a lot of heartache and frustration. Almost everyone told us they wanted to learn more.
We wrote this book to outline the framework for the Thriving School Community (TSC) solution. TSC is a comprehensive yet easy-to-implement approach to effectively restore, strengthen, and sustain the mental health of staff and students without adding MORE to do. The TSC mission is to:
Energize Educators
Empower Students
Engage Parents
Using the framework in this book, academic and wellness outcomes for kids of all backgrounds will improve when the nine skills are embedded in their school culture, and schools can become a place of respite. Everyone has a chance to thrive, and barriers will break down so there is constant healthy interaction. The goal of TSC is to ignite a systemic mental health transformation by fostering positive, cooperative partnerships among educators, parents, and students. Ultimately, this will create an immersive experience for students that fosters well-being at school and at home.
1 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2022)
2 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2022)
3 APA, 2009
Thanks to our authors, Dr. Cam and Charle for this and thanks to all educators reading this and for the amazing work you are doing during these challenging times. As always, Teach and Lead with Passion...
DAILY INSPIRATION EDUCATOR
(Please let us know about an inspiring educator you think we should highlight in a future newsletter by completing this brief form!)
NEW BOOK! (ebook Format)
The Educator’s ATLAS: Your Roadmap to Engagement by Weston Kieschnick (Twitter: @Wes_Kieschnick)
Think back to your most engaging experience as a student. What made it so exhilarating and memorable? What made it so effective?
Such questions about student engagement obsessed Weston Kieschnick from his earliest days as a teacher. Today, Kieschnick travels the globe to keynote and coach educators on the topics most relevant to student success. In the intervening decades, Kieschnick refined his teaching craft, observed the most captivating teachers, and studied the best speakers to reverse engineer a student engagement formula. The result is his ATLAS model—a simple, five-point roadmap for capturing student engagement in the first moments of class sustaining it all the way to the last.
ATLAS holds both learner needs and teacher wisdom in equal importance. Central to this is a definition of student engagement that—once and for all—clarifies the teacher’s actionable role. Teachers will finish this book with a plan in hand and the full confidence that they are ready to be engagement pros. And as is always the case with Kieschnick’s books, readers will laugh and have a lot of fun along the way.
We are so honored to partner with Weston on this important book. This book is now available on Amazon and via our website.
The Educator’s ATLAS is now available in an ebook version via our website and Amazon. Click here for more information.
NEW BOOK!
Improving School Mental Health: The Thriving School Community Solution
by Dr. Cameron Caswell and Charle Peck
There is a mental health crisis within the education system.
Teachers are burned out. Students are stressed out. Parents are checked out.
Leaders are left picking up the pieces. We’ve been trying to address the state of well-being in our schools for decades, but the system is overwhelmed.
We can either continue to spend our time, energy and resources on more of what we’ve been doing for the past thirty years (without the impact we had hoped for) OR we can do something different. Improving School Mental Health makes the case that it is time to do something different.
Integrating their shared experiences as teachers, mental health experts, and parents, the authors have developed a revolutionary approach that is comprehensive, yet easy to implement. It will not only improve student mental health, but it will also energize teachers and alleviate the strain they’re feeling. Schools are uniquely positioned to make a significant impact on the state of mental health, but the last thing educators and families need is MORE to do. That is why the Thriving School Community solution empowers everyone involved with our nation's young people to make a positive and lasting difference! Learn more here
CONNECTEDD’S TAKEAWAYS:
Thought for the Day: “The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it.” John Ruskin
Teaching Technique to Try: Establishing Opening and Closing Routines: Routines can be a key component of a brave and reflective classroom community, especially at a time when students’ lives and learning have been disrupted by public health crises, racial injustice and violence, social protest, and a continuously unpredictable news cycle.
Setting aside five to ten minutes at the beginning and/or end of class to welcome students to the learning space, gauge their emotional well-being, and nurture community can help students experience school as a crucial part of their day that is predictable, meaningful, and supportive. Check out this link from Facing History and Ourselves for a collection of opening and closing routines.
Eyes On Culture: We believe that culture is a true difference-maker in any classroom, school, district, or organization. As a result, we focus much of the work we do on creating and maintaining positive and productive cultures. Culture Focus: Confidence. High-performing schools with strong cultures are places in which both adults and students are confident in their abilities and have confidence in each other. Perhaps the greatest single gift any staff member can give to a student they are teaching is the gift of confidence. Our students’ belief in themselves is based largely on the extent to which we believe in them. Likewise, one of the greatest gifts administrators can give teachers is also the gift of confidence, letting them know–not only by their words but also through their actions–that they believe in teachers’ abilities to accomplish the mission. They provide support as needed, but also the autonomy to get the job done, making the most of their unique talents and gifts. There are established non-negotiables in place for the collective whole, but individuals are encouraged to work within this framework while also allowing significant latitude in how the goals will be accomplished. In school cultures with confident kids and staff members, both are more likely to take risks, embrace change, and achieve their goals and dreams. Give the gift of confidence to the people you are serving in your district, school, or classroom by constantly communicating these three critical messages:
The work we are doing is important.
You can do it.
I will not give up on you.
Why is a belief in our collective ability to achieve goals so important? What are some ways we can instill confidence within and among the people we serve and lead? Join the conversation by sharing your thoughts on social media using the #CraftingTheCulture hashtag and tagging us on Twitter @ConnectEDDBooks We would love to hear from you!