My Social Action Project

The Mental Health Awareness Project aims to raise awareness among learners about the connection between their mental health and their level of self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-love. This project is significant because students nowadays struggle to value and love both themselves and those around them. In today's world, there is an abundance of cruelty and negativity, particularly on social media. Learners are excluded and ashamed of who they are or how they look, which has an adverse effect on their mental health as it causes learners to experience anxiety and depression. Through raising awareness of mental health issues, this social action initiative aims to assist learners understand mental health, which can help end stigma and promote resilience. Learning about mental health in the context of education helps foster a more accepting and inclusive school environment where learners feel included and at ease asking for assistance when they need it.

Effectiveness of the Mental Health Awareness Project

Creating Awareness:

In Block 1, I noticed learners being extremely rude to each other and bullying individuals for who they are, and this was mostly seen in the Grade 3 classes. The Grade 3 learners were the antagonizes as they picked on the learners in the younger grades, making them feel unwanted and unloved.

Teachers and other staff members also noticed how learners were excluding each other and spreading rumours around at break. The principal saw this happening too and spoke to the learners about their behaviour during their Junior Assembly. This is when I decided to implement this Mental Health Awareness Project based on teaching the learners how to love themselves and others around them. In Block 2 of Teaching Experience, posters and checklists on how to improve self-esteem and helping others, were made.

Educate:

The Mental Health Awareness Project encourages students to be less harsh on themselves and to set an example of how to accept both their strengths and weaknesses as well as to forgive themselves for their mistakes.

The learners will discover, that by emphasizing positive ideas and admirable qualities, they can increase their sense of self-worth and learn to value both little and large achievements. Learners will discover the value of treating themselves with kindness, develop strategies for handling stress and anxiety, and use those coping skills to guide others who might be experiencing difficulties with their mental health and wellbeing.

In Block 2 of Teaching experience, my partner Sheelin and I dramatized a short play demonstrating on how to learn to love yourself, have self-confidence and how to help others around you. The poster and checklist that were made for the awareness were discussed in detail. I asked the learners questions based on the dramatization to observe if the learners understood the concept we were teaching or not.

Learners tend to mimic their teachers so if their teachers greet each other and help around then the learners pick it up and do the same. I started noticing that the learners would help each other by opening their lunchboxes or juice boxes, they would offer to get their teacher a chair at break, they would help carry their teachers' bags. This was all seen after the showcase of our Mental Health Awareness Project; the learners paid attention to our dramatization and used it as a guideline on how to love themselves and treat others with kindness.

Unite:

As part of the Mental Health Awareness Project the learners all got together to make a Flower of Goodness that can be displayed throughout the school to raise awareness of the value of mental health and to demonstrate how they can cope with various conditions like depression and anxiety. In this exercise, the learners came up with suggestions for what to put on their flowers based on their likes and strengths. The learners used their Flower of Goodness as a visual reminder of their abilities and talents by placing it in their bedrooms. This was effective to see the learners writing down all their strengths and capabilities. This exercise definitely promoted self-love and self-confidence.

Parent and community involvement:

The checklists mentioned earlier is used to track what the learners helped with that day. This could be chores, helping the neighbors or being a good friend.

Parents can teach their children to love who they are and to contribute more around the house. Increasing their level of assistance around the house could entail chores like tidying their rooms to provide an attractive and productive workspace. Encouraging them to attempt decorating their room according to a theme they will enjoy coming up with, can help create a warm and inviting space for them.

Children's self-esteem can be raised by parents praising them for both major and small achievements, as well as making sure they feel loved and content. Learners can develop healthy relationships with their friends, peers, teachers, parents, and the community by demonstrating to them that they are loved at home.

How Service – learning changed me:

At the beginning of Teaching Experience, I was shy, insecure and struggled to love myself and be confident. This is also a reason I implemented the Mental Health Awareness Project. There is a saying that says, “If you don’t love yourself, how can you love others?”. This is true, you need to be comfortable with who you are and love yourself in order to help and love other people around you, such as your peers, friends, parents and teachers. In Block 2, I felt more comfortable when teaching the learners, I found my teacher voice and felt that I was a valued teacher. Once I felt comfortable with who I was as a teacher, I could love and support my learners. When learners were having a bad day or feeling down, I would encourage them to get back up and keep their heads up. This service learning taught me that it is okay to have stressful days, as long as you get back up and keep trying that is what makes you stronger. I learnt that it is okay to ask for help and not do everything individually. When I was confused about certain things, I would ask my mentor teacher for help, and I learnt that is it normal to not know all the answers as a new teacher in a school.

How Service- learning developed me professionally:

I learnt that learners follow in your footsteps, so it is important to be the change you want to see in the world. Be a role model so that learners can use you as a good example and look up to you as someone they want to be when they grow up. I have grown my skills, knowledge and attitudes while teaching these learners this year. I learnt that not all learners respond the same way. I used to raise my voice in order to try and get the learners attention but that never worked well, now instead of raising my voice I would put my hands on my head, or cross my arms, or I'll start counting down with my fingers and not verbally. This method was a lot more effective for the learners and me as the teacher. I gained a lot more knowledge on learners with special needs and how they learn differently and need customized worksheets and more personal attention on them. Service- learning was a Mental Health Awareness project that helped learners understand that you get anxiety and depression at times and that it is curable, the main aim was to not judge your peers and to rather help support learners in need. I will be implementing Mental Health awareness in my classrooms when I become a qualified teacher as it is extremely important to take note of and to promote self-love, self-esteem and self-confidence in learners.

The benefits of the Mental Health Awareness Project:

This project aims to support learners and their differences instead of mock or belittle them. Mental health is no joke as it is how the learners cope and handle their stressors. Promoting self-love is effective especially for learners who don’t get much love at home. If you love yourself, you learn to love others. The learners are still very young, and it is important to keep their Menal health stable and not all over the place. If the learners are kinder and nicer to each other then there is a more inclusive, happier school community. The parents will be happier as their children won’t be excluded or bullied and the learners will be able to cope and do better in school knowing they are loved, valued and wanted by their peers. This project should be an ongoing thing as Mental health is ongoing and important to maintain.

Jody Lurie