Breaking the Storm: A whole school approach to mentally healthy movement
Authors: Gennings, E., Hannah-Russell, C. and Randall, V.
Conference: British Educational Research Association
Dates: 9-12 September 2024
Abstract:The mental health of children has garnered attention in recent times due to its crucial impact on overall well-being (O’Reilly, Svirydzenka, Adams, et al, 2018). One in five children in England aged 5-16 are now understood to have mental health problems. This has escalated since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic (Bussières, Malboeuf-Hurtubise, Meilleur et al. 2021). In England, the Department for Education's (DfE, 2021) response has been to advocate for coordinated, evidence-informed and whole-school approaches. However, evidence is lacking on how to action this in a meaningful way, with the most recent UK-based systematic review, exploring universal school-based interventions to promote mental and emotional well-being, published prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic (Mackenzie and Williams, 2018). This symposium aims to address this current gap and will share and discuss current evidence-informed approaches to support children’s mental health in primary schools.
Included in the symposium is the presentation of three papers. Each paper uniquely considers the place of movement as a vehicle to help children develop sustainable, transferable skills and coping strategies to help them thrive in a complex world. We seek to discuss for whom, in what circumstances, how and why such approaches can work.
Paper one (Claire Hannah-Russell) contributes a programme theory for children's mental health. It introduces and draws upon realist evaluation to explore social influences within whole school approaches. The paper aims to demonstrate how theory driven realist evaluation can learn from ‘identity leadership’ (Haslam, Reicher and Platow, 2011) as a ‘mid-range theory’ to outline how certain mechanisms of a programme can work, in specific contexts and to produce particular outcomes. In conclusion, the paper advocates for supporting, developing, testing and refining programme theories to build and critique evidence and how identity leadership can play an important role in whole school approaches to support children’s well-being.
The second paper (Ellie Gennings) is empirically located. It presents findings from a mixed methods study of primary-aged children (4-11 years old) from education and health care settings, who have been identified as needing emotional support due to suspected or probable mental health issues. Identified children were offered access to a digital movement-based intervention, designed to support early emerging mental health needs. The paper specifically aims to: (i) evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention’s content in supporting children's wellbeing; and (ii) understand the experiences of trusted adults that deliver the intervention. Key variables in the data are assessed using the Very Short Well-being Questionnaire for Children (Smees et al, 2020), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman & Goodman, 2009), and The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (Chorpita et al, 2000). Qualitative data from a sample of trusted adults from the education and healthcare sectors (n-7), who were responsible for delivering the digital intervention to children, provided further nuanced insight on child wellbeing and adult mental health literacy in primary schools.
The third paper (Vicky Randall) explores the role of movement across the whole school to support the emotional wellbeing of primary-aged children. As educators strive to address rising mental health concerns on a daily basis, movement-based pedagogies have emerged as a promising whole school approach for supporting the child as a ‘whole being’ (Stolz 2015). The premise being that a person’s neurobiological and physiological mechanisms (i.e. their internal environment) and the space in which a person moves, and lives (i.e., their external environment) are closely interrelated (De Fano, Leshem & Ben-Soussan, 2019). This paper brings together current research and practice to highlight the multifaceted benefits of movement as a pedagogical approach in schools. The paper further explores the relationship between movement and mental health through the lenses of embodied learning, intentional movement and neurobiological mechanisms. It concludes by recognizing the symbiotic relationship between movement and well-being, and discusses how educators can cultivate external environments that empower children to thrive emotionally and in ways that support their agency.
Source: Manual