NCJ Number
209307
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2005 Pages: 41-49
Date Published
February 2005
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article examines the conceptual rationale and empirical support for the central involvement of educators, especially classroom teachers, in effective mental health services and effective expanded school-based mental health programs.
Abstract
Classroom teachers largely determine the structure and character of interactions with and between their students, such that they have central roles in facilitating not only academic learning but also social and emotional learning. Yet mental health clinicians who treat students with problem behaviors rarely develop treatment strategies that empower teachers to adopt essential health-promoting roles with students. This article provides examples of prevention and intervention models that fully engage educators in their implementation. One model pertains to positive behavior support, which incorporates a continuum of integrated activities from health promotion through intensive intervention that involves interdisciplinary teamwork. Another model is called the Re-education Model, which views severe emotional disturbance as the "expression of discord in the ongoing transactions between a child and others in his or her unique world." This model places the focus of intervention on the interaction of contextual variables in a child's real-world setting. This means that intervention incorporates the primary actors in the child's world, which includes teachers. Thus, the engagement of educators by mental health professionals in a collaborative partnership is essential in order to promote mental health and school success for children and adolescents. Seven recommendations are offered for achieving such an effective collaboration. 56 references