Training-of-Trainers Neuroscience and Mental Health Teacher Education in Liberia Improves Self-Reported Support for Students

Abstract

Education programs have been central to reestablishing social norms, rebuilding public educational institutions, and addressing public attitudes toward mental illness in Liberia following a protracted civil war and the Ebola epidemic. The aim of this study was to determine if a program combining an understanding of neuroscience with mental health literacy content could increase teachers’ awareness of students’ mental health issues and produce changes in teacher attitudes and classroom practices. A tiered Training-of-Trainers approach was employed. The first workshop trained 24 Liberian secondary science teachers in the neurobiology of learning, memory, emotions, stress and adolescent brain development. A Leadership Team formed from eight of the Tier I participants then adapted the curriculum, added in more mental health literacy content and led four Tier II workshops and four follow-up Refresher sessions. Participants completed a neuroscience knowledge test and surveys assessing stigma, general perceptions of people with mental illness, and burnout. A subset of Tier II teachers participated in a structured interview at the Refresher time point. Teachers in both tiers acquired basic neuroscience knowledge. Tier I, but not Tier II teachers significantly improved their surveyed attitudes toward people with mental illness. No changes were found in overall teacher burnout. Despite these survey results, the interviewed Tier II teachers self-reported behavioral changes in how they approached their teaching and students in their classrooms. Interviewees described how they now understood social and emotional challenges students might be experiencing and recognized abnormal behaviors as having a biopsychosocial basis. Teachers reported reduced use of verbal and corporal punishment and increased positive rewards systems, such as social and emotional support for students through building relationships. Refresher discussions concurred with the interviewees. In contrast to previous teacher mental health literacy programs which did not bring about a change in helping behaviors, this pilot program may have been successful in changing teacher knowledge and self-reported behaviors, improving teacher–student relationships and decreasing harsh discipline. The combination of basic neuroscience concepts with training on how to recognize mental health issues and refer students should be investigated further as a strategy to promote teacher mental health literacy.

A Place for Neuroscience in Teacher Knowledge and Education

“…Neuroscience PD has also been successfully implemented in a tiered manner, with initial participants (Tier I) running workshops for additional teachers (Tier II) (Brick et al, 2021a(Brick et al, , 2021b. Teachers in both tiers reported increased self-efficacy, motivation, and self-responsibility, measures considered as important components of teacher competency (Brick et al, 2021a).…”

“…Indeed, recent studies have demonstrated that neuroscience knowledge is useful for teachers, justifying its application in education (Dubinsky et al, 2013; Owens & Tanner, 2017). Teachers utilized neuroscience as a framework to guide both planned and in‐the‐moment pedagogical decisions and as a lens on student capabilities (Brick et al, 2021b; Chang, Schwartz, Hinesley, & Dubinsky, 2021; Friedman, Grobgeld, & Teichman‐Weinberg, 2019; Tan & Amiel, 2019). PD experiences around neuroscience also improve teacher competencies of self‐efficacy, motivation, self‐regulation, and self‐responsibility for student outcomes (Brick et al, 2021b), as well as positively impacting teachers' student‐centered pedagogical practices (MacNabb et al, 2006; Roehrig, Michlin, Schmitt, MacNabb, & Dubinsky, 2012; Schwartz, Hinesley, Chang, & Dubinsky, 2019).…”

Neuroscience in the system of vocational education

“…Между тем работы зарубежных коллег показывают, что после магистерского курса, посвященного нейробиологии обучения и памяти, преподаватели, не имеющие отношения к естественным наукам, изменяют методические подходы к обучению, используя идеи нейробиологии . Понимая как стресс и психологическое травмирование могут негативно сказываться на обучении, педагоги в меньшей степени используют подавляющие и авторитарные способы влияния и оказывают большую социальную и эмоциональную поддержку обучающимся (Brick et al, 2021).…”

Higher-Order Executive Function in Middle School: Training Teachers to Enhance Cognition in Young Adolescents

“…Alternatively, research demonstrates that neuroscience concepts can be used to directly improve teachers’ understanding of student learning and teachers’ need to increase metacognition ( Blackwell et al, 2007 ). Recent evidence suggests that professional developments that focus on neuroscience have the capacity to build education self-efficacy, motivation, and personal responsibility ( Brick et al, 2021b ). Chang and colleagues demonstrated that teachers who participated in a graduate-level professional development course that explored educational neuroscience concepts, shifted their focus from content and classroom management issues to their students’ needs, recognizing the importance of their students’ experiences and desire to be agents of their own learning ( Chang et al, 2021 ).…”