A comprehensive mental health literacy learner resource for pre-service and practicing teachers © This material is under copyright. It cannot be altered, modified or sold. It is meant for educational purposes only and is not a guide to diagnosis or treatment. Permission is granted for printing and distribution of this resource in classroom settings. 1 Course Overview Welcome Welcome to the Teach Mental Health course for educators. This course is designed for teacher candidates currently in Faculties of Education and for educators currently working in schools, including classroom teachers, administrators and other specialized roles such as Resource or Learning Support Teachers, for example. This course is for you. Developed by education and mental health professionals, this seven module (8 to 10 hours) course will give you a foundation of mental health literacy, including effective strategies to use in your educational settings and, in your own life. We sincerely hope that this course will deepen your interest in, and encourage your critical thinking about, mental health. Enjoy the learning! Dr. Stan Kutcher, Dr. Yifeng Wei, Dr. Wendy Carr, Dr. Susan Rodger and Dr. Chris Gilham. Why did we create this resource? National surveys report that about 70% of Canadian teachers identify a need for more knowledge about mental health/mental illness. A national scoping exercise found that a comprehensive mental health literacy curriculum resource is not available in most Canadian Faculties of Education. This online mental health literacy for pre- service teacher education resource has been developed to address that gap. What is the purpose of this educational resource? This resource aims to: • Enhance mental health literacy of teacher candidates in Canadian Faculties of Education. • Provide classroom congruent materials that can be used both during practicum and after graduation to help address mental health literacy of students. This resource does NOT educate how to diagnose or treat mental illnesses. If you are concerned about a student’s mental health, talk to the leadership team in your school and consult with health professionals in your school or at the school district level and provide information they need to better support that student. As part of the school-based team of professionals, determine what your role will be to better support your student. Setting the Stage Let’s set the stage. You are becoming an educator or are already working in schools. Your focus is naturally very much on student success. The question, “How can I best support my students to be successful?” drives much of your work. As you know, your roles as educators can extend beyond the classroom. Your influence is far reaching. It is important for you to understand that what impacts you as a person may impact your students as well. An educator’s role is not only to help children and youth achieve academic success, but also to help foster their growth and development, including their mental health. This perspective is supported by child and youth mental health strategies nationally and internationally. For example, Canada’s recent national child and youth mental health strategy, Evergreen: A Child and Youth Mental Health Framework for Canada, states: 2 Educators, in particular, identified that with the proper information, training and supports, they may be the best positioned to challenge stigma, enhance mental health literacy and raise awareness of child and youth mental health (Kutcher & McLuckie, for the Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2010) Educators’ roles What roles can educators play with regards to student’s mental health? Consistent, trusted adults can have significant positive impacts in the lives of children and youth. Educators often become positive role models (students want to be like them), mentors (who coach and support students) and watchful interveners (identify students in need of additional assistance and help them on the pathway to receive care when they need it). Educators are ideally placed to be watchful interveners for student mental health since most people who will develop a mental disorder can be diagnosed prior to age 25 years. Most students fall within that age range. In addressing student mental health, educators can: ● Teach mental health literacy in the classroom to promote the understanding of mental health and mental illness, decrease stigma about mental illness, enhance the importance of positive mental health among students and help provide them with the tools and competencies to seek appropriate mental health care if they need it. In addition, educators become better informed participants in their own care should they require it. ● Identify students who may be experiencing a mental health problem or mental illness and provide advice on where to seek help and link them with school based resources. ● Provide extra support in the classroom and in the larger school environment to students who are in need. ● Role model how to break down the stigma against people who have a mental illness. What educators are not? It is important to remember that educators are not mental health care providers. Their profession is different from that of counsellors, psychologists, nurses or doctors. Educators cannot, and should not, diagnose mental illness nor should they provide mental health care. However, educators can be an important component of the caring community of professionals and other adults (e.g., coaches and school administrators) who can surround and support the student in need. This Resource Who created this resource? We are a team of educators, researchers and mental health care professionals who have worked together collaboratively over the past five years to develop, evaluate and produce this resource. eW did so based on our research that identified a need to enhance the mental health literacy of educators. Our team consists of Dr. Stan Kutcher (Teenmentalhealth.org and Dalhousie University), Dr. Yifeng Wei (Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University), Dr. Wendy Carr (Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia), Dr. Susan Rodger (Faculty of Education, Western University) and Dr. Chris Gilham (Faculty of Education, St. Francis Xavier University). Key project participants included Vanessa Bruce (Teenmentalhealth. org), Dr. Melanie-Anne Atkins (Western University), Amy MacKay, Mina Hashish, Kate Elliot, Mallory Comeau, Jillian Thorpe and Amanda Higgins (Teenmentalhealth.org). The Educational Technology Support Unit in the 3 Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia created the online version of this material . Funding for this work was provided by a private foundation in western Canada that wishes to remain anonymous. No funds were received from either the pharmacology or psychotherapy industries. Over thirty institutions and national organizations assisted in the role of Participant Observers, reviewing the materials and making suggestions about how to improve them. Field-testing of the materials was conducted in a number of Faculties of Education, and the information obtained was used to improve the materials in the resource. We hope that all educators, including faculty members who teach educators, find this course helpful. What does this resource cover? This resource is composed of seven modules. They are: ● Module 1: Introduction and Background ● Module 2: Stigma and Mental Health ● Module 3: Human Brain Development ● Module 4: Understanding Mental Health, Mental Illness and Related Issues in Young People ● Module 5: What is Treatment? ● Module 6: Seeking Help and Providing Support ● Module 7: Caring for Students and Ourselves Each module includes a Core Materials section that contains a Self-Assessment and a Supplementary Learning Resources component. Course users should complete the self-assessment at the end of each module prior to moving onto other modules. Course users who want to explore the subject matter covered in the modules in more detail can engage with the Supplementary Learning Resources and materials in the Deeper Dive section. Engaging with this resource This resource was designed to be used by teacher candidates and practicing educators alike. School administrators, trustees, board members, policy makers and others involved in education may also find this useful to help inform their work. This resource is presented as Core Material and Deeper Dive material in each module. The core material constitutes the content designed for use by teacher candidates, as part of their academic learning components. This can also be the focus of continuing professional development for certified educators.The Deeper Dive material constitutes a more in-depth treatment of each module topic. It can be used to supplement the core material and as additional learning for those interested. Also, if taken together, the combined Core Materials and Deeper Dive materials can be used in post graduate education courses (for example, MEd programs) or for additional self-directed learning. How to use this resource If you are a faculty member: You are welcome to use this resource as an entire course that can be done by your students online. If so, you may want to develop a method for tracking this and an evaluation format that will provide you with the assessment information you require. Alternatively, you may choose to use various modules to support or supplement different components of courses that you are already teaching. There is no prescribed way to approach this material. Teacher candidates who take