11 Oct 2020|Noida | Amity University, Noida ( Online)
TEACHER AND TAUGHT IN THE CONTEXT OF MENTAL HEALTH
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Amity Institute of Education organised a webinar on the topic: Teacher and Taught in the Context of Mental Health. The event was graced by Prof. Braj Bhushan, Head, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur. The esteemed guest speaker was welcomed by Professor (Dr.) Alka Muddgal, Head, Amity Institute of Education, Amity University Uttar Pradesh and Dr. Ritika Sharma, Assistant Professor, Amity Institute of Education, AUUP. This webinar was attended by students of B.Ed., M.Ed. Programmes, Research Scholars of AIE, and Teacher Educators.
The webinar commenced with the speaker addressing evolution in terms of how mental health has been defined over the years. In the present time, mental health has been given a very holistic and positive connotation. The focus is not merely on the absence of mental health issues but, coping, resilience and preference of the individuals in the former processes.
Moving further, the audience was presented with a grim but relevant data about how the mental health of teachers is deteriorating, the causes of which were also discussed later. Data evidences from the UK and USA were quoted, which pointed out at three major issues with teachers namely- sleeping problems, panic attacks and anxiety issues. These cases have heightened also because of the pandemic and resulting requirements of remote teaching-learning.
For the teachers, it has become very difficult to maintain work-family life balance and the demands of online mode of learning. Talking about the responsibilities of teachers in the government sector of India, it was mentioned that there are several other duties which are expected from teachers to be fulfilled. These include - managing mid-day meals, updating voting list, door to-door immunization and performing election duties.
Taking these problems to the context of the “taught” i.e. the students, the speaker then elaborated on the various issues such as - behavioural and substance abuse disorders, disturbed family environments and the health challenges. It is essential that teachers, who have no clinical knowledge of how mental illnesses impact the students, must be alert to detect early signs. These signs could range from poor participation of students in class, slurred speech, difficulty in concentrating, over retaliation, non-compliance to instructions to name a few.
Some ways by which teachers can promote mental health are by:
- Making early detection of mental health issues.
- Provide students the access to school-based counselling.
- Teaching socio-emotional skills through classroom discourse.
- Managing and regulating one’s emotions.
- Teaching skills to develop resilience in the students.
The session ended with the speaker taking up questions related to social media, news, the pandemic, and how difficulties of online learning are impacting the students and how they can overcome or manage the issues.
The webinar concluded with a vote of thanks by Professor (Dr.) Alka Muddgal.
Teacher Coordinators- Dr. Ritika Sharma, Dr. Seema Agnihotri, Dr. Pooja Pant.