This guide outlines the critical factors for student wellbeing and ways to improve it.
Over the previous two years, we’ve all become increasingly conscious of the need to focus on our health. With a pandemic raging on and a virus that shows no sign of going away, it’s clear that we must focus on protecting our wellbeing. However, wellbeing isn’t just limited to physical health. Mental prosperity plays a vital role and can often significantly impact our physical health. The current situation hasn’t just been hard on us physically but has also paved the way for increased mental stress.
In particular, it has affected student wellbeing immensely and continues to as schools open up again. As an educator, there are myriad ways to protect your student’s mental health and promote resilience. It’ll allow you to ensure increased student productivity and motivation, leading to better academic performance.
Ways to improve student wellbeing
If you’re interested in learning how to promote student wellbeing, keep reading below.
Encourage inclusivity
In an ever-evolving, increasingly integrated world, an inclusive environment is a vital prerequisite if you want your students to thrive. Previously, most curriculums would be tailored primarily to the needs of the majority population, with most students coming from the same religious, racial, and cultural backgrounds.
Nowadays, however, our classrooms are increasingly more diverse. Without adequate training and the right curriculums, teachers can inadvertently make certain segments feel isolated and excluded.
Students turn towards their teachers for guidance and take cues from them on how to behave. If you can create a creative, diverse, and accepting space for all students, you are likely to encourage that in your students too.
Developing an inclusive environment requires unearthing each student’s unique emotional, cognitive, and psychological needs. With a Masters in Educational Psychology online, you can do just that and create a classroom where each student can thrive, regardless of background. This online degree allows you to promote an inclusive and diverse environment for student wellbeing while securing higher positions.
Encourage activity
Staying active isn’t merely good for the body – it can work wonders for the mind too. Students spend a solid chunk of their time in school and often don’t have much time for other activities outside of school. Building a schedule that prioritizes physical activity can help each student form a healthier, fitter lifestyle to enahnce student wellbeing with time.
Sports and physical activity can often be an excellent way to cope with troubling emotions. They can give students a healthier way to vent how they feel. Rather than resorting to unhealthier alternatives, students can turn to different sports.
Additionally, sports and working out are excellent ways to build a valuable skill set and can help students increase their self-esteem and self-efficacy. Lastly, exercise is a perfect way to flood the body with neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which can boost mood immensely.
Promote social connections
One of the biggest reasons most students experience a decline in mental health is because they feel lonely and isolated. Students need to build meaningful relationships with their peers and teachers for student wellbeing, since they spend most of their time in school. Without these relationships, students can find it hard to enjoy their time at school. Additionally, their confidence can drop, and they can become increasingly isolated.
Helping your students build social connections can help them become well-integrated and can be an excellent way to boost their mental well-being. If you notice that some kids are consistently left out, forming teams that require them to work with other students can help bridge the gap.
Moreover, hosting talking sessions where students can discuss various topics can help shier students emerge from their shells and share what they’re passionate about with others. With better social connections come lowered anxiety, depression, and increased self-esteem and empathy.
Gather feedback
Sometimes, despite our best interests, we might fail in creating a healthy, safe space for our students. Alternatively, it’s also important to consider that there is always room for improvement when it comes to tackling mental health. If you feel the need to redo your strategy, the best option can be to head directly to the students themselves.
Asking them for feedback on what’s lacking in the system or how the environment at school can be improved to increase student wellbeing can give you some startling insights. Even the most engaged teachers can find it challenging to find out certain aspects of student life.
So, the best course of action can be to head directly to the students themselves. If you feel that your students won’t open up in person, setting up confidential feedback boxes can help them share their issues. Nevertheless, it would help if you also had an open-door policy. This way, students will know that you’re available to them at all hours should they face any issue.
Conclusion
Mental wellbeing is vital for students, and without it, your student body can struggle every step of the way. By focusing on these essential steps, you can ensure that your students thrive in and outside of school. These tips can help you promote better student wellbeing and make your students more confident, motivated, productive, and resilient.
So, promote an inclusive and diverse environment, address students’ concerns, and encourage physical activity. Eventually, you’ll notice a sharp decline in issues facing your students.
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