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Duration
12 weeksWeekly study
13 hours
Teacher Development: Embedding Mental Health in the Curriculum
Growing numbers of students at schools, colleges and universities are experiencing mental health issues. The act of learning can be extremely positive for student mental wellbeing. However, in other cases it can exacerbate or cause mental health difficulties. Educators can do more to embed mental wellbeing in their teaching in order to prevent or mitigate mental health issues. Calls to action on student mental health have been made globally, yet there is little guidance in this area. This course will equip you to increase learners’ mental wellbeing through inclusive teaching strategies.
Syllabus
Week 1
Introduction to mental health, wellbeing and learning
Welcome to the course
In this activity, you'll meet the educators, find out what's involved in studying this course and consider how formal education can affect learners' mental health.
About the course
Find out about what’s in the course, how you’ll learn and what the assessment involves.
Perspectives on mental health and wellbeing
In this activity, you'll investigate how we talk about and define mental health, and how this differs between contexts and sectors. You'll also explore global statistics regarding mental health problems.
Week 1 review
In this activity you'll work to create a definition of mental health for your sector or context, assess your understanding of Week 1, reflect on the week's study and begin developing your reflection portfolio.
Week 2
Barriers to student mental health in teaching and learning
Exploring mental health and learning
Mental health has been conceptualised in many ways over the years. In this activity, you will explore some of the models that have been produced, and their implications for students and educators.
Barriers to learner wellbeing: Identity, belonging, motivation and powerlessness
In this activity, you’ll explore some of the ways in which studying can have a negative impact on learners' mental health, including powerlessness, fear of not belonging or fitting in, and lack of motivation.
Barriers to learner wellbeing: Self-esteem, perfectionism, anxiety and concentration issues
Low self-esteem, perfectionism, anxiety (including social anxiety) and issues with concentration can all have a negative impact on learners' mental health. Educators can help mitigate against these barriers with careful strategies
Week 2 Review
In this activity you'll identify priority challenges for diverse educational sectors and subjects, assess your learning with a short quiz and reflect on your study of Week 2.
Week 3
Diverse learners and their wellbeing
The danger of a single story
In this activity, you’ll explore why mental health and wellbeing issues need to be considered alongside other aspects of identity, for example gender, sexuality and race.
Culture, discrimination, stigma and the educator's role
Discrimination against people experiencing mental health issues is widespread and generally results from the stigmatisation of mental illness and a lack of understanding. Explore the impact of stigma and implications for learners.
Addressing mental health through curriculum content
In this activity, you’ll find that one way to enhance learner wellbeing is to explicitly cover mental health issues in dedicated lessons on the topic. Another approach is to ‘infuse’ mental health-related topics in the curriculum.
Week 3 review
In this activity you'll assess your understanding of Week 3, and continue developing your reflection portfolio.
Week 4
Designing learning: Multiple means of engagement
Designing for diverse learners
This activity explores how personas and vignettes can help educators identify barriers to wellbeing. You'll also find out about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) which gives guidance about how to design activities and curricula.
Social justice, education and wellbeing
Taking a social justice approach to education can support learners' wellbeing in many different ways. It offers a model for designing teaching and learning activities that are relevant and empowering for all.
Multiple means of engagement: Autonomy and choice
In this activity, we’ll look at ways of increasing learners' autonomy and giving them choices over what and how they learn. This enhances wellbeing, but also necessitates reviewing the learner-educator relationship.
Learning outcomes and wellbeing
In this activity, you'll explore how knowing what to expect can help learners to focus on activities that will help them to achieve a course or lesson's intended outcomes.
Week 4 review
In this activity you'll assess your understanding of Week 4, and continue developing your reflection portfolio.
Week 5
Representing learners' backgrounds and developing strong communities
Learner engagement: Recruiting interest
Learners' sense of belonging and motivation increases when learning activities are relevant to their interests and identity. Choosing resources that represent learners' backgrounds can help. Find out more in this activity.
Learning together: Positive relationships and strong communities
Group work adds variety to lessons and can help learners make connections with each other. However, it can also be terrifying for some. In this activity you'll learn how educators can nurture strong, safe learner communities.
Learning together: Group work
Working in groups can be an effective way of learning, but can also cause great anxiety for some learners. In this activity you'll explore how educators can design group activities that support, rather than undermine wellbeing.
Week 5 summary
In this activity you'll further develop the lesson plan you began working on in Week 3, assess your learning with a short quiz and reflect on your study of Week 5.
Week 6
Working on your assessment
Reviewing the assessment tasks
In this activity, you'll review the four parts of the assessment and the criteria against which your work will be assessed.
Week 6 review
In this activity, you'll prepare for next week. The Help Area provides an opportunity to ask the course Mentor questions.
Week 7
Multiple means of expression: Assessment and feedback
Introduction to student assessment
In this activity, you’ll explore the impact of assessment on learners. You'll consider how assessment can cause anxiety and other mental health issues, and how inclusive assessment design can support learners' wellbeing.
Inclusive, transformative assessment
In this activity you'll explore how educators can design assessment that's inclusive, supports rather than undermines learners' wellbeing, offers learners choice, and helps learners monitor their own progress.
Assessment design for wellbeing
In this activity you'll explore some of the many forms of assessment and will consider their likely impact on learners' wellbeing. You'll also look at worked examples, and the relationship between assessment and learning outcomes.
Feedback and wellbeing
In this activity, you’ll explore the power of feedback, which can transform a learning experience or crush a student’s motivation to learn, with serious impacts on wellbeing.
Week 7 review
In this activity you'll add assessment to the lesson plan you began working on in Week 3, assess your learning with a short quiz and reflect on your study of Week 7.
Week 8
Technology and learner wellbeing
Introduction to educational technologies
In this activity you'll look at the varieties of educational technology that can be used in teaching across sectors and settings and will begin considering how technology can affect wellbeing.
Technology, learning and wellbeing
In this activity you'll continue exploring how educational technologies can affect learners' wellbeing and what educators can do to help ensure that the technologies that they use have a positive impact on learners' mental health.
Selecting technologies with wellbeing in mind
In this activity you'll consider the relationship between educational technologies and pedagogy, and will explore some strategies for selecting technologies that support, rather than undermine learners; wellbeing.
Supporting digital wellbeing
In this activity you'll explore how educators can support the various dimensions of digital wellbeing through teaching and learning activities.
Week 8 review
In this activity you'll adapt the lesson plan you began developing in Week 3 to include elements of educational technology. You'll also assess your learning with a short quiz and reflect on your study of Week 8.
Week 9
Online learning, social media and student wellbeing
Introduction to online learning
In this activity you'll explore some of the ways in which teaching and learning can take place online, you'll be introduced to the 'online pivot' resulting from COVID-19 and will find out what's involved in a 'pedagogy of care'.
Supporting learner collaboration and communities online
In this activity you'll look at how educators can support learner collaboration and the development of learner communities in online teaching and learning settings, and the implications for student mental health and wellbeing.
Teaching with social media
In this activity you'll explore some more ways in which educators can support learners' digital wellbeing. You'll look at online safety, social media and mental health and digital identity.
Week 9 review
In this activity you'll assess your learning with a short quiz and reflect on your study of Week 9.
Week 10
Institution-wide approaches to learner wellbeing
Introduction to institution-wide approaches to wellbeing
In this activity you'll gain an overview of how learners' wellbeing might be supported across entire institutions or organisations, and how educators can enhance learners' wellbeing by sharing their own experiences and feelings.
Schools-based case studies
In this activity you'll explore case studies where schools are trying new ways of supporting learners' wellbeing, and will consider how such approaches could work in other sectors.
Higher education and work-based learning
In this activity, you'll consider how approaches to learners' wellbeing that have been developed for application in higher education and work-based learning settings can be applied in other sectors.
Barriers to implementing wellbeing-focused approaches
Despite the best of intentions, educators and institutions can face barriers when embedding learner wellbeing into teaching, learning and assessment. In this activity you'll explore some of those barriers and ways to address them.
Week 10 review
In this activity you'll devise a checklist for evaluating pedagogical approaches in terms of their likely impact on learners' wellbeing, assess your learning with a short quiz, and reflect on this week's study.
Week 11
Innovative pedagogies and learners' wellbeing
Introduction to innovative pedagogies and wellbeing
In this activity, you'll gain an overview of the week ahead and will be polled on your opportunities for, and feelings about, experimenting with new ways of teaching and learning.
Open pedagogies and wellbeing
In this activity you'll find out how open pedagogies are contributing to more equitable education and will explore their possible impact on learners' wellbeing.
Playful learning and wellbeing
In this activity you'll explore how playful learning has been used to engage learners of all ages, across sectors and disciplines. You'll also look at the potential impact of play on learners' wellbeing.
Places, senses, wonder and wellbeing
Find out about how taking learning into local communities and landscapes, supporting moments of wonder, and stimulating multiple senses can engage learners' curiosity and increase their motivation to learn.
Week 11 review
In this activity you’ll reflect on your study of Week 11.
Week 12
Conclusion and completing your assessment
Assessment overview
In this activity, you'll explore the four parts of the assessment and the criteria against which your work will be assessed.
Important guidance about your assessment
In this activity, you'll be given information about using quotes, referencing and the process for submitting your assessment.
Thank you and good luck!
In this final activity, we wish you well for the future. Thank you for joining us on the course!
Learning on this course
On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the different ways in which mental health is defined and discussed and of the relationship between mental health and learning in diverse global contexts.
- Design teaching, learning and assessment activities that promote mental wellbeing and are conducive to positive mental health
- Identify and critically evaluate some of the barriers to embedding mental health into the curriculum and the ways in which they might be managed.
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the potential impact of educational technologies on student mental health, and critically evaluate how those technologies can be used to enhance student wellbeing.
- Evaluate existing curriculum content and identify potential impacts, positive and negative, on student mental health.
- Synthesise and critically evaluate relevant experience, accounts and formal research evidence as the basis for recommending appropriate ways of designing curricula that are conducive to student mental health and wellbeing.
Who is the course for?
The course is intended for teachers, trainers, learning designers, educational technologists, heads of department and institution leaders in a variety of settings, including schools, colleges, universities, workplace learning settings and other learning environments. It has a global focus and is relevant for learners from countries around the world.
Who will you learn with?
Dr Leigh-Anne Perryman leads The Open University's Masters in Online Teaching programme. Her research explores the relationship between equity, social justice, online teaching and open pedagogies.
Kate Lister is a lecturer in education at the Open University and is an expert associate at Advance HE. Her research focuses on disability, accessibility and mental wellbeing in learning.
Dr Simon Ball (he/him) is an Open University tutor and consultant researcher, specialising in inclusive online learning, educational technologies & accessibility, following a PhD in ecology.
Dr Tim Coughlan is a Senior Lecturer in Educational Technology at The Open University, researching the design and evaluation of technologies for inclusion, participation and accessibility in learning.
Senior Lecturer in Psychology at The Open University. My research spans several psychological domains, including: mental health & wellbeing, eHealth, neurotoxicology and applied cognitive psychology.
Who developed the course?
Established
1969Location
Milton Keynes, UKWorld ranking
Top 510Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020
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