School mental health during the pandemic
Project Aim: work with teachers, parents and children to:
understand how people have been impacted by coronavirus
anticipate some of the future challenges
generate ways to improve mental health in schools
July Update
Our preliminary research suggests the pandemic has increased children’s, parents’ and teachers’ awareness of issues such as class and race. Ideas of class are more prevalent following Lockdown and the closure of schools, with access to work space, the outdoors and technology having an impact on how people see themselves in relation to others. Discussions of race are also more common following the momentum generated by the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.
January Update
Almost a year after the first Lockdown, primary and secondary schools are once again closed. Unfortunately many of the same issues faced before have come up again, particularly:
lack of access to computers and internet connection
stress and confusion related to cancelled exams
food poverty
Although many lessons were learned from the first Lockdown, particularly around online teaching, the interesting thing is why these ones have come up again when anticipating them should have been fairly straight forward. Watch this space…