Co-Constructing a Learning Experience to Approach Mental Illness in the Classroom: A Teaching Micro-Scenario

Abstract

Social distancing, isolation, stress, and fear in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic are factors that trigger or exacerbate mental health conditions. Further to this, mental health literacy is particularly relevant to secondary education as puberty is a common age of onset of mental disorders. Nevertheless, the topic is somewhat overlooked due to teaching challenges that involve potential emotional triggers, the complex and sensitive nature of the issue, as well as a limited pool of educational resources. Here, we propose a teaching micro-scenario that addresses the topic of mental health literacy via an interdisciplinary approach that promotes active learning. First, students are introduced to the neurobiology of mental disorders by means of engaging with interactive audiovisual materials and a 3D brain simulation. Then, students work on their statistics skills by calculating estimates on affected populations including the school community. Finally, art and creativity are employed to explore healing and public health. The evaluation of the proposed learning intervention is achieved in the form of plenary discussion.