Session Information
08 SES 04, Empirical Studies from Croatia, Spain and Finland
Paper Session
Contribution
It is very important to detect and react to school children’s mental health problems without loss of time, as without attendance these difficulties may impair the pupils’ school performance for years and predict future problems in adolescence and even in adulthood (Honkanen et al. 2010, Kaltiala-Heino et al. 2010).
More specifically, neuropsychiatric disorders like ADHD and Asperger syndrome may hamper schooling also by influencing social interaction with others (Kaltiala-Heino et al. 2010). On the other hand, learning problems, weak academic achievement and other school-related issues may pose a risk to the mental well-being of pupils.
Teachers and schools in general have a big role in promoting mental health and wellbeing of school-age children. In addition to preventing “ill-being” caused by bullying and other negative behaviors, teachers may support pupils’ mental health by encouraging, giving positive feedback and creating a safe school atmosphere. The class teachers spend a lot of time with their pupils and possess valuable information about their mental states, which allows them to detect the pupils’ needs for special support and treatment even better than the school nurses, who sometimes meet the child only once a year. However, the teachers do not always know what measures to take when encountered with mental health problems in schoolchildren, and would therefore need more information and clear instructions for action. (Honkanen et al. 2010). The list may be complemented with the courage to intervene when necessary. However, as Kaltiala-Heino et al. (2010) point out, treating the disorders is not the teacher’s duty, but providing for learning despite the disorder is.
Noticing pupils’ mental problems in school context requires that adults working there have enough resources, mainly time, for applying individual approach to each pupil. During the last years most countries in Europe have suffered from the economic crisis, which has affected negatively the resources for public service provision, including education. For example, in many municipalities in Finland, the educational sector is facing a difficult economic situation, leading to, for example, fewer school staff available. In addition to scarce resources, also territorial inequity in school healthcare, too big classes and teachers’ overload inhibit effective mental health promotion in schools (Honkanen et al. 2010).
In Finnish comprehensive schools it has been quite usual, especially on lower class levels and with big classes that the teacher is accompanied by a school assistant, the duty of which is to help the weakest pupils or pupils with special needs in the class. If the number of school assistants is decreased due to financial restraints, the children with neuropsychiatric conditions are denied the extra support needed for coping with learning and school life in general. Without attendance, the difficulties easily escalate and may lead to more serious situations, when referral to specialist child psychiatric care for research, diagnosis and treatment is unavoidable, causing substantial expenses. Thus, savings in some sector, for example, in hiring enough of school assistants, may lead to greater costs elsewhere in the society for repairing the damage. The principle that health promotion and prevention of diseases is more cost-efficient than treatment is widely accepted, but not always followed in practice.
In our study we want to find out how the school teachers can promote the mental health of children with neuropsychiatric disorders and preventively support them in school. The study questions are:
- What kind of competencies and possibilities do the teachers have to support pupils with childhood neuropsychiatric disorders in the school context?
- What kind of new skills, capabilities, support or further training would they need?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Alava School. https://peda.net/kuopio/p/alava/hankkeet, referred 13.1.2016. Honkanen Mari, Moilanen Irma, Taanila Anja, Hurtig Tuula & Koivumaa-Honkanen Heli (2010) Luokanopettaja lapsen mielenterveyden edistäjänä ja ennustajana [Class teacher as promoter and predictor of a child’s mental health]. Duodecim. 2010; 126(3): 277-82. http://www.terveysportti.fi/xmedia/duo/duo98606.pdf, referred 12.01.2016 Kaltiala-Heino Riittakerttu, Ranta Klaus & Fröjd Sari (2010) Nuorten mielenterveys koulumaailmassa [Adolescent mental health promotion in school context]. Duodecim. 2010; 126:2033-9. http://www.terveysportti.fi/xmedia/duo/duo99043.pdf, referred 12.01.2016. Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme 2014-2020 (NPA). http://www.interreg-npa.eu/, referred 12.01.2016. Regional Council of Pohjois-Savo (2016) Pohjois-Savo in a Nutshell. http://www.pohjois-savo.fi/tietopalvelut/tietoa-pohjois-savosta/tilastot.html, referred 12.01.2016 Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Pre-primary and comprehensive school education [e-publication]. ISSN=1799-3725. 2015, Appendix table 1. Pupils in comprehensive schools and with leaving certificates from comprehensive schools by region 2015 . Helsinki: Statistics Finland. http://www.stat.fi/til/pop/2015/pop_2015_2015-11-13_tau_001_en.html, referred 13.1.2016.
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