Help for educators daunted by students’ poor mental health

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has released a confronting analysis of the wellbeing of Australian educators that shows many feel ill-equipped to improve students’ mental health.

Improving educator readiness to support student mental health examines experiences in early childhood, school and tertiary learning, and concludes there is ‘clearly an urgent need to better support educators’. 

While acknowledging progress in implementing mental health interventions for students, the report authors highlight that ‘the complexity of student needs, coupled with an ongoing lack of support’ continue to result in high attrition rates for educators.

They suggest that school-based resources be developed to help educators in identifying appropriate referral services to support student mental health.

And they stress the need for accessible and inclusive tools that support both educators and families to meet students’ mental health needs, in a shared approach.

For tertiary institutions, the authors recommend a resource hub where evidence-based resources could be available to staff and students, particularly for priority groups such as LGBTIQA +, those for whom English is a second language, First Nations communities, neurodiverse students, and those with disabilities.

The report also identifies 9 areas where educators can be empowered to improve student mental health, including support from leaders, access to resources, and shared accountability.

A critical need

The report authors drew on national and international research in assessing the level of mental health challenges among educators and expanded on the findings using their own survey and interviews.

The findings confirm the extent to which educators are facing stress reported in previous Australian studies.

One study found 54% of participating teachers reported moderate to severe symptoms of depression (compared with 12.1% in the general community) and 46.2% (compared with 9%) experienced anxiety. Other studies have also identified increasing numbers of teachers leaving the profession or planning to leave because of workload pressures.

The ongoing challenge of addressing student mental health needs was ‘one of the major workload stressors’ reported by Australian teachers. This was also reflected in ACER's research.

What educators told us

The authors examined survey and interview responses from 122 school, early learning services, tertiary educators, and staff qualified to deliver wellbeing services.

Participants reported a lack of support from leadership and being left to fend for themselves, increasing abuse and intimidation from parents, difficulty removing gaming devices from students, and navigation of complex mental health policies. Educators also shared experiences such as sitting in hospital emergency rooms after students’ suicide attempts.

‘The worries we experience at school are often taken home and cause family problems and health issues, such as drinking, prescribed drug taking, family discord and even divorce,’ one teacher said.

Another described trying to sleep but being haunted by the faces of students they’d evacuated from a classroom after ‘de-escalating’ a student’s poor behaviour.

While more than 90% worried about their workload, there was also great concern for students.

More than 70% of educators worried about their students’ experience of a death or suicide, or a student self-harming, and more than 60% worried about students being over-diagnosed and over-medicated.

‘My greatest concern is for our students,’ a school leader in a high-performing school said.

‘I have observed a pronounced increase in severe mental health conditions including violent behaviour, suicidal ideation, self-harm, anxiety and depression …. I’m finding that we are swamped with students presenting with complex mental health needs that we are not equipped to address.'

The authors also noted that workplace supports were perceived to be ‘tokenistic and difficult’ at both school and tertiary levels, adding to educators’ worries.

One clinical psychologist said: ‘The wellbeing stuff that’s happening in schools, it’s air. It’s pleasant air that you breathe for a while. And you leave. And smog is outside ….’

Evidence to help educators and students

While there has been increasing investment in student mental health supports in Australia, there has been less consideration of educator mental health and wellbeing.

The new report is a significant contribution to ACER’s work to improve understanding of mental health within education in Australia and in developing countries, and aims to provide evidence for policymakers, system and school leaders in building environments that foster successful and safe learning.

Lead author Dr Anna Dabrowski says the challenges facing education systems regarding teacher wellbeing and student behaviour are not unique to the Australian context.

‘We are facing teacher shortages globally, and more needs to be done to acknowledge and support the increasingly difficult work of educators,’ Dr Dabrowski says.

‘The research presented in our report suggests that although there has been progress in supporting the mental health needs of students in Australia, educators continue to experience unmanageable expectations and low levels of wellbeing.  

‘It is also concerning that these findings align with previous work we have conducted internationally, including in low-income countries. If we continue to ignore the realities of the education sector, we will keep losing educators, and we won't be able to provide students with the opportunities they deserve’.

If this article raises any concerns for you, in Australia the Beyond Blue Support Service is available 24 hours/7 days a week on 1300 22 4636, or via webchat or email (response within 24 hrs) at www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support.  

Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14, or via text on 0477 13 11 14.

Learn more:

Read the full report: Improving educator readiness to support student mental health by Dr Anna Dabrowski, Dr Michelle Hsien, Dr Tamara Van Der Zant, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Dr Amy Berry, Maya Conway and Yung Nietschke