Advanced Diploma in Child Guidance and Counseling (ADCGC)

INTEGRATING INTERVENTION (P9)

Unit 1: Planning School Mental Health Programme
1.1 Concept
1.2 WHO Model of School Mental Health
1.3 Need Assessment Strategy
1.4 Designing The Services
1.5 Pedagogy for Training
1.6 Developing Workshops for Parents and Teachers

1.1 Concept of School MH Programme

School-based mental health services range from minimal support services provided
by a school counselor to a comprehensive, integrated program of prevention,
identification, and treatment within a school. In some schools, comprehensive mental
health services are provided in an SBHC. These programs bring trained community mental
health professionals into schools to provide mental health care or to link families to
resources in the community. They provide access to services and supports and help
reduce the confusion and isolation experienced by youth with mental health conditions
and their families.

1.2 WHO Model of School Mental Health

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), mental health is: "... a state of
well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the
normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a
contribution to his or her community."

Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual

realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work
productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.
The positive dimension of mental health is stressed in WHO's definition of health as

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contained in its constitution: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

1.3 Need Assessment Strategies

Assessment for learning (AFL) is an approach to teaching and learning that
creates feedback which is then used to improve students' performance. Students
become more involved in the learning process and from this gain confidence in what
they are expected to learn and to what standard.
Assessment is a key component of learning because it helps students learn. When
students are able to see how they are doing in a class, they are able to determine
whether or not they understand course material. Assessment can also help motivate
students. ... Just as assessment helps students, assessment helps teachers.
1. A n a l y s i s o f S t u d e n t W o r k

A great deal of information can be learned from students’ homework, tests, and
quizzes—especially if the students are required to explain their thinking. When teachers
take the time to analyze student work, they gain knowledge about:

 A student's current knowledge, attitudes, and skills about subject matter

 Strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles

 Need for further, or special, assistance

The analysis of students’ classroom work allows teachers to modify their instruction
so that they will be more effective in the future.

2. S t r a t e g i c Q u e s t i o n i n g S t r a t e g i e s

Questioning strategies may be used with individuals, small groups, or the entire
class. Effective formative assessment strategies involve asking students to answer well-
thought-out, higher-order questions such as “why” and “how.” Higher-order
questions require more in-depth thinking from the students, and help the teacher discern
the level and extent of the students’ understanding. You can find plenty of question
prompts on our Critical Thinking Cheatsheet.

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 3. Think-Pair-Share

This is one of the many formative assessment strategies that is simple for teachers to
use. The instructor asks a question, and students write down their answers. Students are
then placed in pairs to discuss their responses.

Teachers are able to move around the classroom and listen to various discussions,
gaining insight into an individual’s levels of understanding. After a time, the students
discuss their responses with the entire class.

Research has indicated that when students are responsible for their own learning,
their performance is enhanced. This is another benefit of formative assessment strategies,
especially this one.

4. EXIT/ADMIT TICKETS

A simple but effective formative assessment is the Exit Ticket. Exit Tickets are small
pieces of paper, or index cards, that students deposit as they leave the classroom. Students
are required to write down an accurate interpretation of the main idea behind the lesson
taught that day, and then provide more detail about the topic.

Teachers review the responses, and gain insight as to which students have fully
learned the concept, and those that are still struggling. The information obtained can be
used to plan a whole-group or partial-group lesson to re-teach the concept.

Admit Tickets are done at the very beginning of the class. Students may respond to
questions about homework, or on the lesson taught the day before.

5. One-Minute Papers

One-minute papers are usually done at the end of the day. Students in groups (or
individually) are asked to answer a brief question in writing. The papers are collected and
analyzed by the instructor to gain awareness of the students’ understanding. One-minute
papers have been found to be more effective when done on a frequent basis. Typical
questions posed by teachers center around:

 Main point

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  Most surprising concept

 Questions not answered

 Most confusing area of topic

 What question from the topic might appear on the next test?
Without formative assessments, the first indication that a student doesn’t grasp the
material is when they fail a quiz or a test. Effective and engaging formative assessment
strategies like this can take failure out of the classroom.

1.4 Designing the Services

To provide easy access to mental health services for students and their families,
including access for those without insurance. To create a holistic program that would
provide support to students, families, and school staff and promote mental health as
well as treat mental health problems.

Services provided by school social workers include the following:

 Individual and group counseling;

 Support groups for students and parents;

 Crisis prevention and intervention;

 Home visits;

 Social-developmental assessments;

 Parent education and training;

 Professional case management;

 Information and referral;

The objective is to provide safe water and sanitation, content and skill-
based health education on reproductive health (RH), issues and substance abuse
education, health services, and enhancing effective community partnerships and
collaboration in school health promotion. The teachers are trained accordingly.

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Eight Components of Coordinated School Health

 Comprehensive School Health Education (grades K - 12)

 Physical Education and Activity.

 Nutrition Services.

 School Health Services.

 School Counseling, Psychological and Social Services.

 Healthy and Safe School Environments.

 Student, Family and Community Involvement in Schools.

 Health Promotion for School Staff.

1.5 Pedagogy for Training

Pedagogy refers more broadly to the theory and practice of learning, and how this
process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological
development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as an academic discipline, is the study of how
knowledge and skills are imparted in an educational context, and it considers the
interactions that take place during learning. Both the theory and practice of pedagogy
varies greatly, as they reflect different social, political, and cultural contexts. Pedagogy is
defined simply as the method, and practice, of teaching. It encompasses:

 Teaching styles

 Teaching theory

 Feedback and assessment

When people talk about the pedagogy of teaching, they will be referring to the way
teachers deliver the content of the curriculum to a class.

When a teacher plans a lesson, they will consider different ways to deliver the content.
That decision will be made based on their own teaching preferences, their experience, and
the context that they teach in.

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Pedagogical Approaches of Training

The different pedagogical approaches could be broken down into four categories:
behaviorism, constructivism, social constructivism, and liberationist.

1. Behaviorism

Behaviorist pedagogy uses the theory of behaviorism to inform its approach. A

behaviorist pedagogical approach would say learning is teacher centered. It would
advocate the use of direct instruction, and lecture based lessons.

The theory of behaviorism in a classroom setting came from pedagogical research

by Thorndike (1911), Pavlov (1927) and Skinner (1957). Behaviorist pedagogy is the
theory that the teacher should be the sole authority figure, and leads the lesson.
Knowledge should be delivered in a curriculum where each subject is taught discretely.
Behaviorism is also sometimes described as a traditional teaching style.

2. Constructivism

Constructivism is a theory that people learn through experiences and

reflection. Constructivist pedagogy puts the child at the centre of the learning, and is
sometimes called ‘invisible pedagogy’. A constructivist approach would incorporate
project work; inquiry based learning, and might adopt a Montessori or Steiner method.
Constructivism is also sometimes described as a progressive teaching style.

3. Social constructivism

Social constructivism pedagogy could be considered to be a blend of two priorities:

teacher guided, and student centered. Cognitive psychologist, Lev Vygotsky developed
social constructivism, building on the work of Piaget, but argued against the ideas of
Piaget that learning could only happen in its social context, and believed that learning was
a collaborative process between student and teacher.

4. Libertinism

Libertinism is a critical pedagogy developed by the Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire.

Freire was the Director of the Department of Education, and developed an approach of
teaching where he was able to teach illiterate adults to read in just 45 days. He focused on

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 removing the two barriers to learning: poverty and hunger. Freire was then imprisoned
following a military coup. Once he was released, he wrote a book called 'Pedagogy of the
Oppressed' where Freire wrote about the dehumanisation of students in schools, and
argued for cooperation and unity. A liberationist approach is one where the student voice
is placed at the centre, and a democracy is put into the classroom. Value is placed on
having the teacher as a learner, and the class discovering subjects together.

1.6 Developing Workshops for Parents and Teachers

Here is a list of popular Parenting Workshops that we have conducted in the past. This is
only an indicative list - we cover almost all aspects of parenting, child development,
learning and education.

Also to get a close idea of the kind of workshops we do - you can go over to the workshop
modules are in our website where we document the actual workshop presentations,
including voice recordings etc - all for free.

Preparing Children Sexually

A workshop for parents on 'How to talk', 'What to talk' and 'How to prepare' your child for
today's high exposure world. We have received great reviews from everybody who has
attended this workshop (we have done over 60) - this one is a must for all parents.

Another very popular workshop - a session which most companies / schools start with is

Empowering Children

We all want our children to be independent, resourceful, confident and empowered.

The question is how? The good news is the armed with some insights and fresh
perspectives, we as parents can make subtle changes in our day to day interactions with
the child - which can produce big results over time. Better understanding of the child and
the process of development helps parents themselves to be empowered to empower.

Also, here is a list of DOZEN most popular Parenting workshops topics

1. Raising a happy, high self-esteem Child: Four approaches towards raising a child’s self
esteem. Simple paradigm shift to lead to not only an empowered child, but also happier
childhood.

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2. Raising a THINKER: Knowledge is passé - today's world demands people who possess

higher order thinking skills like Analytical, Creative, Problem solving, decision making
etc.

3. Raising a successful child: If you want your child to develop success characteristics –
whatever your list might be – how will you do it? Here is how to develop success and life
skills.

4. Disciplining strategies that work Getting child to cooperate, to listen and to do things

appropriately is one of the areas that not only benefits children, but us overworked
parents too.

5. Developing Child’s Intelligence Recognizing, developing and enhancing the innate

potential inside the child. Here is a primer on how to go about tapping child’s innate
potential.

6. Understanding emotional needs of a child: – The first step in emotional intelligence is

to understand the emotional needs of the child. Once these are fulfilled developmental
door open.

7. Understanding Motivation and how to do it with children: Motivation has to be

intrinsic, whether it is study, play, behave or do a household chore. This session looks at
understanding motivation with respect to how children naturally operate.

8. 8 laws of raising independent, responsible, resourceful, empowered and successful

children;

9. Alternatives to punishment: Highly insightful with loads of practical strategies - One of

the most popular Geniekids workshop for obvious reasons ;-)

10. Building confidence: One of most desired developmental characteristic. Simple

strategies that make children more confident of their abilities and hence TRY more!

11. Maximizing quality time: If we were to understand this simple set of approaches
towards parenting than it would just not lead to quality time but would lead to quality
life!

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12. Beliefs & intentions: Key to unlocking our child’s potential is to unlocks our own beliefs

about children and parenting. We call this liberated parenting. The key to behaviour is
hence beliefs and intentions. All we need to have is a different point of view.