Teachers' Knowledge and Confidence for Promoting Positive Mental Health in Primary School Communities

Y

18

Foreign Countries; Elementary School Teachers; Interviews; Mental Health; Health Promotion; Teacher Role; Knowledge Level; Teacher Competencies; Teacher Attitudes; Program Effectiveness; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Self Efficacy; Well Being; Elementary School Students; At Risk Students; Questionnaires; Scores; Comparative Analysis; Teacher Characteristics; Institutional Characteristics; Parent Attitudes

10.1080/1359866X.2013.777023

1359-866X

This paper reports an investigation into Australian primary school teachers' knowledge and confidence for mental health promotion. Questionnaires were delivered to 1397 teachers. In-depth interviews were held with 37 teachers. Quantitative results showed that half to two thirds of teachers felt efficacious and knowledgeable about selected components of mental health promotion. Independent judgments by staff about students' mental health status concurred with students' scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in about 75% of cases, indicating a good level of staff awareness about students' mental health status. Exposure to the KidsMatter Primary mental health promotion initiative was associated with improvements in teachers' efficacy, knowledge and pedagogy, with small to medium effect sizes. Qualitative analysis indicated that teachers' subject-matter and pedagogical knowledge were heavily reliant on curriculum resources. Implications of the findings for the implementation of school-based mental health promotion initiatives are discussed. (Contains 5 tables and 3 notes.)

As Provided

56

2014

EJ1009231