Secondary school teachers’ experiences of supporting mental health
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-10-2018-0056 |
| Pages | 372-383 |
| Published date | 29 August 2019 |
| Date | 29 August 2019 |
| Author | Lucas Shelemy,Kate Harvey,Polly Waite |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Secondary school teachers’experiences
of supporting mental health
Lucas Shelemy, Kate Harvey and Polly Waite
Abstract
Purpose –Teachers are often the first contact for students with mental health difficulties. They are in an ideal
position to identify students who are struggling and frequently support them using different approaches and
techniques. The purpose of this paper is to investigate secondary school teachers’experiences of supporting
the mental health of their students.
Design/methodology/approach –Seven secondary school teachers from state-funded schools in the UK
participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to
understand and structure the data into themes.
Findings –Five superordinate themes emerged from the data analysis: perceived role of teacher, nature of
relationship, barriers to helping the child, amount of training and resource, and helplessness and satisfaction.
Participants described the lack of training, resource and clarity about their role to be causes of frustration.
Internal and environmental factors often influenced participants’feelings of helplessness.
Research limitations/implications –The findings from this study cannot be readily generalised to the
wider population due to the nature of qualitative interviews.
Practical implications –This study has led to a greater understanding of the experiences of teachers within
a school setting. It is crucial that mental health training for teachers directly meets their needs and abilities.
Originality/value –This paper finds value in recognising the lived experience and difficulties faced by
teachers supporting students’mental health problems. A theoretical model is presented based on this
analysis that can help inform best practice for schools.
Keywords Qualitative, School, Teachers, Mental health, Adolescence,
Interpretative phenomenological analysis
Paper type Research paper
The amount of time teachers spend in contact with students makes them well placed to notice
symptoms and behaviours associated with internalising and externalising difficulties such as
irritability, social withdrawal and changes in concentration (Ginsburg and Drake, 2002; Chatterji
et al., 2004). Teachers working in secondary schools are faced with a high prevalence of mental
health problems in their students. In the UK, two-thirds of adolescents with diagnosable mental
health disorders have spoken to a teacher about their mental health (Newlove-Delgado et al.,
2015). Teachers are in an ideal position to refer and signpost students to mental health care
services (Fazel et al., 2014). They are often the first point of contact for parents who are worried
about their child’s emotional wellbeing (Sax and Kautz, 2003; Ford et al., 2008).
Many teachers acknowledge their ability to identify students who are in difficulty (Rothì et al.,
2008; Andrews et al., 2014) and the link between academic and emotional health outcomes
(Kidger et al., 2009). However without training, teachers have low confidence in their knowledge
and ability to recognise mental health problems, as well as providing support within school
(Roeser and Midgley, 1997; Walter et al., 2006; Moor et al., 2007; Andrews et al., 2014).
Previous studies have found teachers often feel uneasy when discussing mental health with
students and are unsure how to manage emotional difficulties in the classroom (Roeser and
Midgley, 1997; Walter et al., 2006; Cohall et al., 2007; Moor et al., 2007).
There is a demand from governmental bodies in response to public ca mpaigns for
secondary school teachers in the UK to have increased mental health knowledge and training
Received 3 October 2018
Revised 15 February 2019
Accepted 25 June 2019
The PhD of the lead researcher is
funded by The Charlie Waller
Memorial Trust, a charity aiming to
improve mental health in young
people. The Trust had no
involvement in the research
process, from study design to
submission. The authors report no
conflicts of interest. The authors
alone are responsible for the
content and writing of this paper.
The authors would like to thank
the teachers who took part in this
research for their help. The
research materials can be
accessed by contacting the
corresponding author.
Lucas Shelemy, Kate Harvey
and Polly Waite are all based at
the School of Psychology and
Clinical Language Sciences,
University of Reading,
Henley-on-Thames, UK.
PAGE372
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THE JOURNAL OF MENTALHEALTH TRAINING, EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
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VOL. 14 NO. 5 2019, pp.372-383, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1755-6228 DOI 10.1108/JMHTEP-10-2018-0056
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