What do we mean by the “whole student”? By using this phrase we would like to introduce the concept of viewing the student as a holistic individual with lives outside of the classroom, rather than another student number on the roster. Outside of the classroom, students may play intramural sports, experience mental health challenges, go through a breakup, or be integrating into Canadian culture. From the findings of our study, we found the following three themes that students and instructors identified as being influential insupporting students holistically, and thereby positively promoting their wellbeing:
- Recognizing that students have lives outside of academics
By recognizing and acknowledging the complexity and business of a student’s life, faculty are also supporting a student’s wellbeing. For example …
- Openly discussing mental health and wellbeing
Faculty can discuss wellbeing in multiple ways – sharing information about wellbeing (e.g.,how stress or sleep affect learning), sharing personal experiences (e.g., talking about their own wellness), inviting students to approach them if they non-course related topics (e.g., need help), or connecting students with resources (e.g., Counselling or Student Health Services). Faculty indicated that it is important to know their own level of comfort before opening the invitation to students.
- Creating a safe classroom environment
A safe classroom environment helps students engage with the material, the faculty and their peers. Students reported a safe classroom environment as one where they could make a mistake or hold a different opinion without feeling judged. Students also described a safe classroom environment as one where they could participate in a way that they were comfortable.
As always, our goal is to create dialogue around teaching practices and how they affect student wellbeing, and how we can do so in bigger and better ways. We hope this is not a boring lecture to you… tell us your thoughts! We’d love to hear them!