Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697751273422.pdf (Ireland)
An Comchoiste um Oideachas agus Scileanna/Committee on Education and Skills Positive Mental Health in Our Schools.

21 February 2017 Covering letter by Shane Martin (Chartered Psychologist and Founder of Moodwatchers) My career as a psychologist started fourteen years ago at the National Training and Development Institute, working with adults with learning and/or mental health difficulties.

Previously, I worked as a secondary teacher for thirteen years.
Over the past ten years I have dedicated myself to teaching the very best self-help psychology to empower people to enhance the quality of their lives.

My ‘Moodwatchers’ self-help psychology course has been delivered at community venues throughout the length and breadth of Ireland.

I have been a keynote speaker at national and international conferences on a range of topics around empowerment, recovery and happiness.
Within the area of education I have visited hundreds of primary and post-primary schools throughout the island of Ireland working with management teams, teachers, students and parents promoting a psychology of well-being, happiness and resilience.

I have been a speaker at national educational conferences by NAPD, ACCS, IPPN, INTO, JMB, PDA, NABSE and NAHTNI.

I have delivered seminars on Well Being and Resilience to principals and deputy principals in all the regions of Ireland.
I have lectured with the School of Human Development in Dublin City University and provided Health and Well Being seminars to various health professionals through their respective governing bodies.

My first self-help psychology book entitled 'Your Precious Life - How to Live it Well' was recently published by Orpen Press.

More information available about me and my work on www.moodwatchers.com An Comchoiste um Oideachas agus Scileanna/Committee on Education and Skills Positive Mental Health in Our Schools.
21 February 2017 Opening Statement by Shane Martin (Chartered Psychologist and Founder of Moodwatchers) Cathaoirleach, Thank you and the members of the Committee for inviting me to meet you today.

It is a privilege to be afforded this opportunity to make a contribution in addressing the critical educational issue of positive mental health in our schools.

As a former secondary teacher I often look back on my career from a psychologist’s perspective.
I am acutely aware that our schools are not realising their maximum potential as hubs for the development of critical life-skills/coping strategies for their students.

The bias is always towards academic achievement and schools are often adjudicated by parents/communities on their academic results.
I have counselled past pupils and know that many students achieve great results in their Leaving Certificate examinations but ‘crumble’ to pieces when faced with their first crisis in university or the workplace.

When it comes to our young people we need to think outside the box and be resourceful about how we engage with them about their mental health.

Schools need to empower their students with a toolbox for coping during the inevitable crises and challenges of life.
In recent years, psychologists are learning more about the people who are resilient, the people who thrive despite adversity, achieve great outcomes despite setbacks and misfortune and sustain their health during the most testing times.

Can this research help us develop initiatives that can foster resilience within school communities?

Developing and implementing interventions to promote resilience within schools is a complex task.

Firstly, there needs to be agreement around how to define resilience.
When there is an agreed definition relevant positive and risk factors can be identified and targeted.

What is vital is that any proposed interventions to promote resilience within schools are reliable, valid and empirically effective.

Resilience cannot be taught through a textbook, a dynamic and talented teacher or a newly designed programme.

It cannot be a subject on the curriculum.

It cannot be ‘brought into schools’.

Resilience has to be cultivated within each unique school community.
It’s a culture within the school.

Working definitions ‘…the ability for a student to be successful despite environment factors that surround that student that would be expected to hamper or block that success’ ‘..the process of, capacity for, or outcome of successful adaption despite challenging or threatening circumstances.
(Masten, 1998) ‘the interaction of external and internal factors that allow someone to thrive despite adversity’ SCHOOLS ARE KEY ENVIRONMENTS FOR DEVELOPING RESILIENCE WITHIN CHILDREN Schools can have a critical influence - for good or bad - on the mental health of their students.

The potential that schools have of fostering their students’ psychological resilience is often not realised.
There is a need to offer professional development / training in this area to teachers and management teams of school communities.

The core principles of resilience need to be embedded in the everyday practices and ethos of each school.

It cannot be a specialised module for students on the curriculum.

Resilience stems from experiences within the school.

It needs to be at the heart of a school’s functioning and apply to every member of that community.
Teachers do not have to become experts in psychology or mental health professionals to promote resiliency in schools.

It should be a key module in any training degree for future teachers.

Teachers in schools today can still learn more about this key area through professional development.

Research highlights some key principles involved: 1.

CARING RELATIONSHIPS Every teacher-child interaction presents an opportunity to promote resiliency .
‘Teachers can be highly significant people in the life of a child, providing positive role modelling, caring and support for their students.
(Geary, 1988; Benard, 1995) Some aspects of this caring relationship include: connecting with students, genuine concern for the welfare/progress of all students, a listening ear for the concern of students and empathy/understanding, recognising strengths in students, nurturing strengths, providing encouragement, being positive, being hopeful - fostering hope According to My World survey which was a collaboration between Headstrong and U.C.D., 70% of 12-25 year olds say that with ‘one good adult’ in their lives they are ‘connected, self- confident, future looking and can cope with problems’.
A caring teacher may be a lot more important than they will ever know or be thanked for.

Often such teacher(s) are the ‘significant’ adult that ensure positive outcomes for the most disadvantaged students.

In many instances that teacher(s) is the ‘significant’ adult that research has confirmed as a critical ingredient in buffering students against the development of mental illness.

2.

HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL STUDENTS The reality is that academic achievement is a key requirement of school experience.
The importance of academic achievement for resilience is well established (Howard & Johnston, 1998).

We know that not all students are equally academically gifted or inclined.

However, all students need to be encouraged to achieve their true potential.

A student trying for 200 points in his Leaving Certificate needs to know that his progress towards this target is as cherished as a student in the same school aiming for over 500 points.

Other factors impact on a child’s motivation i.e.


home environment, parental attitudes to study, and children’s beliefs about their own ability.

While schools and teachers cannot necessarily impact on areas like these, they can play a role in the building of a child’s motivation to do well and promote his or her self-confidence.
In a study of schools (Rutter, 1996) in economically disadvantaged areas of London, it was found that the schools that consistently showed better academic results and lower rates of delinquency and non-attendance were schools that ‘stretched’ their students.

Students had clear expectations and high levels of participation.

Many varied resources were made available to help children reach their true potential.
Each student (those struggling academically and those academically gifted) had their progress monitored with the same dedication by teachers and management.

If a teacher ‘gives up’ on a student that student will ‘give up’ on themselves.

Their parents may have already given up on them.

Several students in this study said that the fact that ‘someone believed I could do it’ was the major factor in their decision to continue their education (Benard, 1991).
Setting goals in terms of a minimally acceptable standard works better than setting performance ceilings beyond the ability of student.

Students who feel ‘that they can do it’ will have better self-esteem and greater belief in their own ability to succeed.

3.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPATION AND DEVELOPING A SENSE OF BELONGING IN SCHOOL Schools need to offer many and varied opportunities for meaningful participation to all students.
They need to allow students to take on responsibilities and bring their talents/strengths to fruition.

By offering students multiple avenues for involvement students will potentially find something that suits them, which they are good at, and which provides a sense of meaningful participation in schools.

For example, rather than appointing ‘leaders’ as prefects schools need to teach ‘leadership’ to students to allow them to become leaders.
When schools ‘involve’ students at risk in the school community they in essence provide inoculation against anti-academic attitudes and the sense of alienation that is a characteristic of many antisocial youth ( i.e.

a belief that school is rigged for the benefit of the brainy and wealthy children) Cooperative learning where students rely on each other and collaborate in order to solve problems/achieve goals allow students learn positive interdependence, cooperation and social skills.

4.
4.

SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY Science has emphatically shown that social relationships – both quality and quantity – affect mental health, health behaviour, physical health and mortality risk.

The most striking evidence comes from prospective studies of mortality across industrialised nations.

James S. House and colleagues have shown that the people with the lowest level of involvement in social relationships are more likely to die than those with the greatest level.
Julianne Holt-Lunstad and colleagues, in their meta-analytic review 2010, confirmed that the influence of social relationships on risk for mortality was comparable with well-established risk factors for mortality.

Schools need to afford opportunities to their students to develop socially by facilitating activities that engage them socially.

For example, linking with community organisations, volunteering within the school and in the community provides such opportunities.

RECOMMENDATIONS: 1.
RECOMMENDATIONS: 1.

Schools in different parts of the country are doing different things (for example Roots of Empathy programme, PAWS BE etc) but what is really required is a more standardised approach where all schools receive the same support and resources and where such excellent initiatives are formally adopted rather than squeezed into a very busy school academic year.

It is vital is that such interventions to promote resilience within schools are reliable, valid and empirically effective.
The new Junior Cycle’s emphasis on well being is to be welcomed but it needs to be properly resourced and funded.

2.

In some secondary schools we have excellent work taking place in partnership with external agencies/organisations where vulnerable teenagers are targeted and their psychological needs addressed accordingly.These initiatives must be further developed nationwide and properly funded.

3.
3.

School based counselling is the norm in many countries around the world (as in 32 of 50 states of US, 3 provinces of 10 in Canada and 1 in 6 states in Australia).

Prevention is key.

Early intervention is critical.

Guidance counsellors are ideally positioned to be the drivers of the proposed well being teams in every school but only if they are allowed the hours necessary to deliver this service and sufficiently utilise their skills and competencies.
It is a matter of urgency that all previous hours rescinded for one-to-one work are restored in their entirety without further delay.

4.

We need more longitudinal students to identify pathways to resiliency that encompass multiple interventions within schools.

Unfortunately, we are not good at investing in our own research and have a tendency to over-rely on research from other countries.

5.

Research is emphatic about the benefits of mindfulness in alleviating symptoms of mental illness.
In many countries it has been integrated within their educational systems because of its potential to reduce vulnerability to mental illness.

Innovative and overly stretched teachers are teaching its practice in some of our schools.

A more uniformed and formal approach is key where we move away from where mindfulness is squeezed into the day through the generosity of a teacher towards a more professional and standardised system that trains all teachers and supports all schools.
There is need for a task force to be established to advise on how best to proceed with mindfulness in schools.

This task force should align itself to best practice and make recommendations for the appropriate implementation of mindfulness in schools 6.

The Department of Education and Science and the Department of Health should work together on innovative ways to reduce the incidence of mental illness and in the promotion of mental resilience amongst our children.
Our young people’s sense of wellbeing should be at the heart of education.

We should formally embrace at the highest level the evidence-based approach to mental wellness as well as treating mental illness.

Some of the most vulnerable are vulnerable by virtue of the fact that they simply do not have not the toolbox of skills for coping with the inevitable challenges of life.

We need to sow the seeds of mental wellness and build the foundation stones of resilience in our schools.