Heather Burke presented at the April Quality Matters (QM) conference on “Struggling in Silence: Students’ Mental Health and Social Emotional Learning (SEL).” Burke has been teaching since 2008 and is an Associate Professor of English and Hondros College of Nursing and is a QM Master Reviewer. Burke used Slido to poll attendees and shared that “87.1% of faculty believe that students’ mental health has declined since the pandemic; 65.3 said it has declined since the start of their career… and only 2% said it had improved since the pandemic…” Importantly, Burke explained that the training of faculty is limited with only 28.8% participating in training and 55.8% not knowing if training exists! I am glad we did that Mental Health Aid training earlier this year. Why does mental health matter, asked Burke? They shared that according to Thomas et al 2021 p. 14: “student retention is influenced by a variety of social, cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal factors.” Burke explained that several risk factors are involved and overall students are experiencing more anxiety. In one study, social stigma was the main reason why students didn’t report mental health concerns. Signs that students may be struggling with mental health include changes in behavior, submitting later in the week disengagement, sadness, stopping attending class, speech tone/rate, don’t respond to offers for help… The RED Flags Model Burke described consists of:
- Recurrent class absences that are sudden and/or uncharacteristic of the student.
- Extreme and unusual reactions.
- Difficulty concentrating.
- Frequent display of anxiety and/or worry.
- Late and/or incomplete assignments turned in with increased frequency.
- Apathy towards personal appearance and hygiene.
- Gut feeling that something isn’t right.
- Sudden deterioration in quality of work and/or work becomes dark/negative.
Burke explained the importance of incorporating SEL into courses by establishing and maintaining a supportive environment. Suggestions included establishing high standards and promoting student self-evaluation/self-reflection, promoting cooperative learning in small groups and with peer-peer relationships… appealing to various ways of engaging with content, and implementing active learning. Burke, citing Dougan, n.d., p. 3-7, mentioned that exploring barriers and using grow-minded language can help develop self-awareness. Self-management can be another approach to support students by inviting successful former students to talk about challenges, sharing favorite wrong answers to de-stigmatize mistakes, and asking students to find multiple ways to find a solution. I love these! To develop social awareness and relationship skills, Burke suggested asking questions to engage students, having students “teach-back” a concept or skill, calling on students randomly, acknowledging bias/racism/sexism, and reaching out to a couple of students each week. During the question and answer session, Sarah Arrington shared that they use a GoogleDoc worksheet/form to discuss and share resources. Arrington mentioned providing points to emphasize that this is important. I wonder if we could use this as part of scaffolded notes 1 in BIT 295!? This session had several useful tips, data, and references at the end. I will remember how we incorporate SEL into the courses I teach… not just BIT 295.
