Student Mental Health and
Well-being
September 2014
“Improving student achievement and student
engagement is directly linked to ensuring that we
work collaboratively and in a purposefully
integrated way for the social, emotional, mental
and physical well-being of all children and youth.”
– Ontario Public School Boards' Association
Building Adult Capabilities to Improve Child
Outcomes: A Theory of Change
Over 30 years of research has shown that resiliency skills
can be effectively taught to children eight years and older.
This 1-minute video shows and reminds us how "children
see" what adults "do."
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How do you demonstrate and model the range of skills which students
need to be successful in school and as community members?
This 5-minute video makes the case for training adults to
be more effective agents of change for vulnerable children
and families.
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Is it our role as educators to be agents of change for vulnerable students
and their families? Why or why not?
How can you best work with others to develop your skills to improve
student outcomes so that they can thrive in a modern society and economy?
Student Mental Health and
Well-being
October 2014
“In the context of exposure to significant adversity,
resilience is both the capacity of individuals to navigate
their way to the psychological, social, cultural, and physical
resources that sustain their well-being, and their capacity
individually and collectively to negotiate for these resources
to be provided in culturally meaningful ways.”
- Dr. Michael Ungar
Overview of Resilience
This 7-minute video makes the case that resiliency
is one’s capacity to navigate and negotiate in terms
of what makes sense to them.
◦ Do “resilience” and “well-being” mean the same thing?
◦ How are resiliency skills reinforced in the curriculum or crosscurricular context?
◦ What new or better experiences might you provide to develop these
skills in classrooms and other settings?
Student Mental Health and
Well-being
November 2014
“I’ve come to the frightening conclusion
that I am the decisive element in the
classroom. It's my daily mood that makes
the weather.”
– Haim Ginott
Overview of Resilience
This 7-minute video presents 5 principles for
designing schools that develop student resilience.
◦ How do you currently develop resiliency skills in the
classroom or other settings? Which examples align with
the principles presented?
◦ What new or better experiences might you provide to
develop resiliency skills in classrooms and other settings?
Student Mental Health and
Well-being
December 2014
“Children mature into adulthood in large part by
observing and emulating the adults around them.
It is through caring relationships and positive role
models that children come to feel safe,
supported, respected and hopeful.”
– George Zegarac
Overview of Resilience
This 6-minute video builds on the 5 principles for
designing schools that develop student resilience
to introduce 7 core elements that students need
to succeed.
◦ How do you currently meet student needs in the
classroom or other settings? Which examples align with
the elements presented?
◦ What new opportunities might you provide?
Student Mental Health and
Well-being
January 2015
“Resilience is not a trait that people either
have or do not have. It involves behaviors,
thoughts and actions that can be learned and
developed in anyone.”
– American Psychological Association
The Good and Bad News
About Resilience
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This 5-minute video discusses the good, but
challenging, aspects to building resilience.
◦ How can you help students become aware of their
responsibility towards building resilience?
◦ How can you find time for students to talk about and
engage in proactive activities to build their resilience?
◦ How can you design activities with students and partners
that will enable them to develop resiliency skills?
Student Mental Health and Wellbeing
February 2015
“We know so many stories of young people who
have had an unstable educational start who then
go on to shine in high school through the
supportive relationships of trusted teachers who
saw and supported their strengths and
uniqueness.”
– Dr. Jean Clinton
The Power of Resilience
This 9-minute video makes the case that
resilience is nothing but “ordinary magic” or
the fostering of strength, hope and optimism
in our children.
◦ In what ways can you foster resilience in students? Which examples
have the biggest impact on their resilience?
◦ How do you provide opportunities for students to develop resiliency
skills?
Student Mental Health and
Well-being
March 2015
“Resilient people view a difficulty as a challenge,
not as a paralyzing event. They look at their
failures and mistakes as lessons to be learned
from, and as opportunities for growth. They don't
view them as a negative reflection on their
abilities or self-worth.”
– Dr. Susan Kobasa
Growth vs Fixed Mindsets
—thinking habits that affect our resilience
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This 5-minute video makes
the case that the
way we view the world influences our
sense of well-being and resilience.
◦ How do you demonstrate and model a growth mindset for students?
◦ How can you best work with others to help students develop a growth
mindset across curriculum areas, and across different contexts and
settings
Student Mental Health and
Well-being
April 2015
“When students or adults see their abilities as fixed, whether they
think they're naturals or just not built for a certain domain, they
avoid challenge and lose interest when things get hard. Conversely,
when they understand that abilities are developed, they more
readily adopt learning-oriented behaviors such as deliberate
practice and grit that enable them to achieve their goals. But this
belief is itself malleable, and there are clear actions we can all take
to establish a growth mindset and enable success for our children,
our peers and ourselves.”
– Dr. Eduardo Briceño
Challenging our beliefs promotes resilience
This 10-minute video explains how our
beliefs/mindset about our intelligence and abilities
deeply impacts our success.
◦ How do you demonstrate and model for students the practice of
challenging beliefs to promote a growth mindset?
◦ How can you best work with others to help students develop a growth
mindset that challenges their beliefs across curriculum areas, and
across different contexts and settings?
Student Mental Health and
Well-being
May 2015
“We begin to learn about ourselves through our
interactions and continuous relationships with
adults. This is because adults are the people we
rely on when we first come into the world. And
what we need most are reliable, caring, nurturing
adults so that we feel secure and develop a
strong sense of belonging”
– Bruce Ferguson
The importance of mindset to student social
emotional learning
This 5-minute video makes the case that youth
attribute their resilience to experiences in which
they feel valued.
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How can you design experiences to help students feel valued?
What opportunities do your students have to engage in activities where
they feel valued?
What opportunities do your students have to reflect on their value as a
student, person, contributing member of society and to think about how
this relates to their future learning and career options?