Psykisk helse på timeplanen : En kvalitativ studie av grunnskolelæreres synspunkter relatert til betydningen av å ta vare på barn og unges psykiske helse i skolen

Abstract

According to research, 15-20 % of today’s children and youths in Norway suffer from mental health problems whichhampers their everyday activities (Folkehelseinstituttet, 2016). Helsedirektoratet (2017) conclude that one of the most important ways ofpreventing mental health problems, isthat schools work systematically and actively to promote emotional wellbeing. According to Berg (2012) it is the education system which plays the most important role in developing the society of tomorrow. This is where pupils learn to meet society’s demands and expectations. Recent research from Ekornes (2018) shows that teachers experience a huge gap between demands and expectations when working with mental health in school andtheir own lack of competence within the area.This study aims to gain insight into how teachers experience working with mental health in school. Schools are arenas where young people are to experience learning and development academically, socially and emotionally (Utdanningsdirektoratet, 2015).In order to achieve this, pupils have the right to encounter a good physical and psychosocial environment whichpromoteshealth, wellbeing and learning (LK06). Schools and teachers are in a unique position to promote pupils’ mental health and contribute to them having a good life (Bru, Idsøe & Øverland, 2016).The topic will be covered through the following research question:What perceptions and views do teachers in elementary school have about mental health on thetimetable?The goal of the study is to get a deeper understanding of teachers’ thoughts, attitudes and reflections about working with children and youths’ mental health in schoolthrough a qualitative approach.Through three semi structured group interviews,I gained insights into their perceptions and views on the topic. These resulted in four main categories,the importance of structure,competence, distribution of responsibilityand registering changes in youths’ mental health in school.The results show that teachers experience the implementation of new topics, such as mental health, to be difficult without specifically allotted time on the timetable. According to the findings, teachers’ own competence is not sufficient enough. Many of the teachers experience that the responsibility they have does not correspond with their own competence.