A teacher comes across a myriad of students during their journey of teaching. Students are at school for a longer period of time than they are at home, giving teachers greater opportunities to identify the physical and mental challenges of children. Any untoward behaviour of the student comes to the attention of the teacher. I have heard parents saying, “If anything is wrong with my child the teacher will tell me”.
Although teachers may be in an advantageous position to identify mental health difficulties, it can be a challenge for teachers to reach out to all the students. They have their own shortcomings. The portion to finish, administrative work, cultural activities to conduct, set question papers and evaluate them. Often teachers have a dual role of being a homemaker which can be a juggling act for many working women.
From my experience in teaching, there are a few important steps that teachers can take to support students that can go a long way in serving the needs of the student and the community at large:
• Building awareness of commonly seen conditions, like ‘Specific Learning Disability’, ‘Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder’, ‘Intellectual Disabilities’, ‘Autism’. By being aware, one can know what signs to look for in students who might be struggling in the classroom and be able to refer them for an assessment. Information can be obtained from trusted websites such as, ‘Nayi Disha’, ‘LDOnline’, ‘Additude’, ‘Understood’.
• When you have a student who has been diagnosed with a disability or mental health difficulty, remember to use non blaming and respectful language. Avoid terms such as lazy, unmotivated or aggressive to describe any children when communicating with them or their parents.
• Strengthen the teacher-parent partnership to build a support system around each student and strengthen communication. Teachers can send parents a message about their child’s strengths, encourage family-oriented projects and invite parents into the classroom. Seeing their parents involved can boost the self-esteem of the children.
• Create a space in the class for students who are finding it hard to concentrate or if they need a break from giving continuous attention to the subject being taught. While teaching you may get so engrossed in teaching the class as a whole it is possible to miss out on noticing the stress of a student, so be aware.
The need of the hour is to have a counsellor in every school, at least part-time. This can provide excellent support for teachers as well as students to address and promote mental wellbeing. It is time we made all schools inclusive, so all children feel a part of society and are accepted well.
IRENE DELANEY
A retired teacher and Sethu volunteer
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