top of page

Recent Posts

Archive

Tags

Navigating the Narrative: Adopting the Wellness Philosophy

By: Caroline Knight


(Image Source: LearnSafe)


In order to deconstruct the individualist narrative embedded in the traditional American education system, it is critical that all community members evaluate how they can best engage with students in social, academic and extracurricular contexts. An adoption of the wellness focus can provide educators, parents and policymakers with a holistic examination of students’ experiences as both learners and children developing their interpersonal skills. 


This framework can additionally address certain stereotypes that stifle or inhibit the growth of young scholars. Some of these examples include the adultification process, particularly amongst students of color, the SRO to counselor ratio and the presence of police violence across public schools. Chief Healthcare Executive reports that hospital admissions for young kids and adolescents doubled between 2016 and 2022. During this period, the number of hospitalizations due to anxiety and fear-related illnesses rose 250%. Prioritizing mental health should encourage educators to view wellness as an interdisciplinary concept that should embrace each student’s discovery of their sense of self alongside their academic interests.


The usage of Artificial Intelligence and other online platforms in a child’s education should serve to inspire kids’ emotional intelligence and highlight mental health awareness. All of the activities within the software should exhibit co-functionality features, acknowledging both the teachers’ and students’ social-emotional well-being while stimulating their pursuit for knowledge and catering to a variety of learning styles, including visual representation, trauma-informed exercises and community engagement. It is through this resource that young scholars can gauger their wellness in social circumstances and bridge the gap between mental health recognition and academic achievement. 


The Educational Records Bureau states that the three components of student well-being–emotional well-being, academic engagement, and fairness and belonging–collectively assess how each individual child perceives themself within an institutional context. Consequently, it allows for the child to develop their perception of identity while simultaneously indulging in and improving their socialization skills and unconsciously studying information about mental well-being.


Wellness and the transition towards concentrating on well-being functions as an overall adaptive approach for education policy reform to materialize in schools as well as enhance comprehensive analyses of each student’s well-being. Furthermore, this method of data collection can interpret how each community member responds to course material or the manner in which they are taught. This transition has the capacity to boost the overall perception of education and educate students about the resources that are available to them. Providing schools with online platforms gives them a level of accessibility that typically appears absent in the education system. This could consequently increase the number of counselors that can meet with students individually. 


As discussed in the Professional Counseling Journal, the majority of student counselors tend to display minimal involvement in students’ lives. However, one-fourth of children are diagnosed with mental health disorders and over 75% of children are in need of mental health services but do not receive them. If young learners are to exhibit their full potential and thrive in their academic pursuits, it is crucial that students and counselors alike are given the mediums to directly engage with one another and not rely on traditional methods such as in-person sessions.


Allowing these professionals to work through the use of an electronic program can improve the student-to-counselor ratio, although not close the gap entirely. It is necessary for the role of a school counselor to change over time so they may be adaptable to the type of support each student requires. They must be able to provide students with the social-emotional knowledge they do not receive from educators in the classroom. 


Wellness should not be addressed as a censored topic; society must be willing to perceive wellness as a universal subject, applicable especially in the education system. The more that schools avoid mental health and wellness education, the more difficult it will become to implement restorative practices that can better assist each respective institution. The education system must foster an environment where students particularly from marginalized backgrounds are in possession of the same resources as their peers. Adopting this philosophy and focusing on the well-being of students in addition to their studies will better acclimate them into society and provide each of them with a sense of confidence, belonging, and self-acceptance.  


Works Cited: 

DeKruyf, Lorraine, Richard W. Auger, and Shannon Trice-Black. “The Role of School Counselors in Meeting Students’ Mental Health Needs: Examining Issues of Professional Identity.” Professional School Counseling 16, no. 5 (2013): 271–82. http://www.jstor.org/stable/profschocoun.16.5.271


“How ERB Collects Data to Measure Student Well-Being in the School Community,” Educational Records Bureau, https://www.erblearn.org/blog/measure-student-well-being/


Kaffenberger, Carol J., and Judith O’Rorke-Trigiani. “Addressing Student Mental Health Needs by Providing Direct and Indirect Services and Building Alliances in the Community.” Professional School Counseling 16, no. 5 (2013): 323–32. http://www.jstor.org/stable/profschocoun.16.5.323


Ron Southwick, “Mental health crisis: Hospital Admissions for kids and young adults have doubled since 2016,” Chief Healthcare Executive, May 19, 2023, https://www.chiefhealthcareexecutive.com/view/mental-health-crisis-hospital-admissions-for-kids-and-young-adults-have-doubled-since-2016


Comentários


©2024-2030 Effective to Great Education, LLC

  • Instagram
  • Twitter
bottom of page