story by Claire Miller
At first glance, K-12 teachers and school counselors have clear, separate roles: One group is focused on students’ academic success, while the other is dedicated to students’ mental health and overall well-being.
But what if schools encouraged them to work more closely together?
College of Education & Human Development Assistant Professor Chavez Phelps co-authored a new book entitled, “Building Great Mental Health Professional-Teacher Teams,” which details how educators and school mental health professionals can work together as a team to better support students.
“Many students not only come to school with academic needs, but also social-emotional and behavioral needs. Teachers are feeling overwhelmed and need support with effectively teaching their students,” Phelps said. “My colleagues and I wanted to write a book that offered a framework for how teachers can work with their school-based mental health colleagues to meet the many needs of their students.”
Phelps and his co-authors, Tonya and Bradley Balch from Indiana State University and Brandie M. Oliver from Butler University, explore social-emotional learning (SEL) – how children develop self-awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making skills – and how it positively impacts both students and classrooms.
Incorporating SEL into schools means that all educators can work together to support the whole child, rather than focusing on one specific aspect of a child’s learning.
The authors also offer guidance and professional development activities that groups of teachers and school mental health staff can use to strengthen their team dynamic and work together to support all students.
“A team approach to helping students solve their problems, which come from often-overlapping social, emotional, physical and academic challenges, can be highly effective,” Phelps and his co-authors wrote. “Mental health professionals and teachers both have specific degrees and training relative to working with students. Each brings a unique perspective to the team and an understanding of the students in their schools, typical behaviors and attitudes, and ideas for what has been effective when helping students problem solve.”
To learn more about his book, visit https://www.solutiontree.com/building-great-mental-health-professional%E2%80%93teacher-teams.html.