Students and instructors alike noted that everyone experiences mental health and wellbeing challenges periodically. Openly acknowledging this, and talking about this either as a class or one-on-one appears to promote student wellbeing. From our student focus group interviews, one student mentioned that “everybody experiences crisis at some point in their time, like this is not unusual. So just creating that environment of … talking about mental health is really key for me.” Another student expressed sincere appreciation for an instructor who acknowledged that “if you break up with somebody, or like, you know, if something is really stressing you out … it’s like okay to have these things come up … he was really the only professor that acknowledged that these things are gonna happen” (Student 11). This student described how the instructor invited students to come talk to him/her when they were stressed so that they could find ways to accommodate the student’s situations.
Several of the instructors interviewed during our study openly invited students to come talk with them if they were struggling. Openly discussing mental health and wellbeing in the classroom may make it more likely for a student to approach an instructor if they are struggling with a serious concern. Instructors need to be prepared to respond appropriately. Instructors described how many situations can be responded to at the level of the course. For example, with academic accommodations or simply by being “someone friendly to talk to” (Instructor 7). In more serious situations, “it’s a balance of not trying to become a counselor myself ‘cause I’m not qualified to do that, but … making sure that they don’t feel like I’m rejecting them, in order to sort of pass them off to someone else” (Instructor 3). Demonstrating openness to discussing mental health and wellbeing challenges builds an environment where students feel supported, which contributes to student wellbeing.
Check out the following teaching practices that helps to discuss mental health and wellbeing openly with your students!
- Addressing campus issues that affect multiple students
- Letting students know about campus resources
- Sharing general information about mental health and wellbeing with the students
- Discussing the instructor’s own mental health and wellbeing
- Asking students how they are doing
- Checking in with students who appear to be struggling
Thinking back to the time when you were a student yourself. Have you had an instructor who openly discussed mental health and wellbeing issues with your class? If yes, please share your experience below! If not, what do you think would be the impact of employing this teaching strategy? Let’s start a dialogue about student wellbeing here and now!