(Photo Credit: UBC Public Affairs)
16 semi-structured interviews were conducted over the 2015/16 academic year with instructors from the faculties of Arts and Science whom students identified as promoting their mental health and wellbeing. These 16 instructors were asked about the teaching practices they use in their classes and their motivation for doing so. Our analysis identified five ways in which these instructors appear to support student mental health and wellbeing:
1. The instructor cares about student learning
The majority of instructors interviewed indicated that they care about student learning. Several instructors interviewed indicated that they had never thought about their teaching from a wellness perspective, instead, they had only thought about the teaching practices they used from a learning perspective. The instructors demonstrated this care for student learning by putting effort into ensuring that the course is interesting and relevant to students, providing extra learning support to students, and enhancing student skill and desire to learn.
2. The instructor cares about student mental health and wellbeing
Most instructors indicated that they care about the overall success and wellbeing of their students. The instructors recognize that students are people and that they have lives outside of academics. Instructors demonstrated this by being aware of student stressors, opening discussing mental health and wellbing in class, connecting students to campus resources, setting grading practices to accommodate non-academic needs. The instructors also noted that student wellbeing is associated with faculty wellbeing.
3. The instructor trusts and respects students
Instructors expressed their opinions on how they relate to students. These included comments such as trusting and respecting their students, respecting the students’ autonomy, treating the students as adults, and getting the students to start thinking about who they are and who they want to be in the world.
4. The instructor fosters a safe classroom environment
Several instructors described how they foster a safe classroom environment. A safe classroom environment is one where students feel safe sharing their thoughts and feelings (i.e. are not worried about being judged for making a mistake or for having a different opinion from the instructor/a classmate). A safe classroom environment also includes being culturally sensitive. Having trust and respect between the student and instructor seems to be an important foundation for establishing a safe classroom environment.
5. The instructor fosters peer connections
Several instructors described teaching practices they use in class to help students develop social connections with one another. Group work and in-class discussions were the primary methods instructors use to foster peer connections. Instructors described two benefits of fostering peer connections within the classroom. First, students often feel more comfortable asking questions and opening up to each other rather than faculty, so by encouraging peer interaction many professors are promoting wellbeing. Second, students feel more comfortable if they know they have their peers to rely on if they are not solid on the material.
Have you tried any of the above strategies in your classes to help promote student learning and wellbeing? Did you notice any difference in student learning? If you are a student – do you agree that these strategies would improve your mental wellbeing? We would love to hear your thoughts!