Learning to be Better: Mental Health in the Classroom in Post-Pandemic America – Supporting the Educator

Seminar 4
Date
Dec 9, 2024, 9:00 am3:00 pm
Audience
PK-12 Community

Speakers

Mark Glat, Ph.D., Psy.D.
Department of Psychology

Details

Event Description

Whether the issue is the emotional and behavioral well-being of children and adolescents, the impact of pandemic leaning loss, the need for trauma informed teaching, or reconciling education and equity, we are having a “therapeutic moment” in post-pandemic America-and schools are right in the middle of it. 

Understandably, educators focus on the needs of their students first and foremost. We see they are in crisis and rush to meet their needs and fulfill our responsibilities to them. If the well-being of educators is considered at all, it is usually as an afterthought or a footnote.

In our workshop we will put teachers first! We begin with an exploration of our “multiple identities” as individuals, educators, change agents, caregivers, and citizens. We will be guided by the principle that if we cannot understand and manage our own thoughts, feelings, and actions at this critical juncture, we will certainly be less able to help our students do the same.

Using our experiential knowledge and professional expertise as a foundation, we will scaffold our knowledge and understanding with theories and models from the behavioral sciences including psychology and neuroscience. They will help us create a clinical toolbox of approaches to support both the educator and the student during these challenging times.

Finally, we will put our tools to work through problem-based learning. How to identify and respond to the role which emotion (and emotional dysfunction) play in teaching and learning, reconciling the demands of equity and excellence in education, and the challenges of personal identity and diversity will all be addressed.