Recognising and managing pupils with mental health difficulties: teachers' views and experiences on working with educational psychologists in schools

Abstract

The role and future directions of the educational psychology services are being reexamined and there is a drive to build a more integrated system of services for children and young people that incorporates education, health and social care. This qualitative study examines teacher's perspectives on their professional involvement with educational psychology services. The results indicate that while it was clear that educational psychologists are highly valued by teachers, there are a number of issues that teachers believe constrain service provision. We suggest that greater cross-system consultation is needed in order to more closely examine how the roles of professionals working in education, health and social care services impact on each other.

Social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) for secondary schools: implementation difficulties and their implications for school‐based mental health promotion

“…Even among those staff who showed the ‘will’ to implement SEAL, the lack of guidance appeared to result in uncertainty about how to proceed, suggesting that there should be greater emphasis on developing skills, confidence and competence. This is not an isolated finding; several studies have shown that teachers often feel inadequately prepared to manage the needs of pupils with mental health difficulties and would benefit from more training (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services, ; Kidger, Gunnell, Biddle, Campbell & Donovan, ; Loades & Mastroyannopoulou, ; Rose, Howley, Fergusson & Jament, ; Rothi, Leavey & Best, ). The failure to develop staff understanding and skills may present one of the biggest barriers to the successful implementation of school‐based MH prevention and promotion programmes.…”

The Role of Schools in Identifying and Referring Refugee Background Young People Who Are Experiencing Mental Health Issues

“…Difficulties can arise when teachers do not feel competent in recognizing symptoms of mental health issues, particularly in students with refugee experience . This can occur because of a lack of relevant training, difficulties distinguishing between typical adolescent behaviors and mental health issues, fear of labeling or identifying students, and a lack of specific screening tools . In addition, referral processes are not always effective due to other resettlement challenges, cultural or linguistic barriers, or stigma…”

Are children with unrecognised psychiatric disorders being excluded from school? A secondary analysis of the British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Surveys 2004 and 2007

“…The role of schools in children's mental health is a current policy focus in the UK (Frith, 2016; Department of Health and Social Care, and Department for Education, 2018). Teachers, however, often report that they lack the necessary training, skills, and support to work effectively with children who have increasingly complex needs (Rothi, Leavey and Best, 2008; Association of Teachers and Lecturers, 2015). Teachers are the most commonly consulted professional regarding children's mental health and they often initiate referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS, Ford et al ., 2007; Patalay et al ., 2016; Mellin et al ., 2017).…”