Thefirst level of the model focuses on mental health promotion and development of psycho-social competencies. This implies creating a safe and secure school envi-ronment that fosters socio-emotional growth, positive relationships, and a general sense of well-being. This level includes two components: creating a safe climate and developing socio-emotional skills. Each of these components has been implemented across various schools internationally, and there is substantial evi-dence to support the impact of these practices on student well-being.
Components Under Level 1
The first and most prominent component of the entire model is the process of establishing a positive school climate. School climate refers to the “quality and character of the school” (National School Climate Council 2007). The climate reflects the experiences of various stakeholders in the school including teachers, students, and other staff, as well as the values, norms, relationships, learning practices, and structures of the school. A positive school climate facilitates holistic development of students through respectful relationships, desirable modelling from educators and leaders, and involvement and engagement of all stakeholders in achieving the school’s vision. Such an environment encourages young students to initiate leadership and contribute productively to society. It is within such an atmosphere that students can begin to see the school as a microcosm of their society. Reviews of programmes and practices around the world show that a pos-itive school climate and culture, have lasting impact on student development, and are integral to the process of mental health prevention (Weare and Nind2011).
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Another important element of promoting mental health is socio-emotional skill development. These skills are often called life skills. The WHO identified some core life skills which include decision making, problem-solving, critical and cre-ative thinking, communication and interpersonal relationships, self-awareness, empathy and skills required to cope with emotions and stressors (Hendren et al.
1994). While some of these skills are geared towards prevention of undesirable behaviours or outcomes—such as unwanted pregnancy, substance abuse, HIV/
AIDS, bullying, and so on—some skills strengthen certain personality aspects, like confidence and self-esteem (Hendren et al.1994). An effective practice at Level 1 may include communication skills training or conflict resolution programmes to prevent bullying (Morrison2002). The impact of life skill development includes better adjustment and relationships with school teachers, peers, and prosocial behaviour (Srikala and Kumar2010) as well as better academic outcomes (Hendren et al.1994).
Role of Stakeholders at Level 1
At this level, the role of school leadership is extremely crucial. School leaders who believe in the organizational values and ethos are more likely to be motivated and driven to collaborate with students and teachers to promote a safe school climate.
The school principal and the leaders can become champions for mental health by creating whole-school systems and policies that align with the school values.
Creating a safe climate requires the entire school community to participate and this is possible only under the guidance of a strong, considerate, and enthusiastic leadership which believes and uphold the school’s vision. Along with the respon-sibility of mentoring and steering the activities at this level, leaders may also have to make systemic arrangements like creating a time-table for life skills education (Meenakshi and Narayana 2013), inviting experts to develop the curriculum and train the school staff, as well as creating systems to review the impact of these sessions. In Indian schools, since teachers often experience work stress, the school leaders will have to identify ways of inviting the teachers on board and distributing the work load equitably among all staff members. The school leaders may also develop pathways to reach out to parents and involve them in the process of curriculum development and execution.
While the leaders play a crucial role in strategizing, designing and creating structures to implement activities and programmes at this level, school educators will be involved in executing these plans. They will work collaboratively to develop whole-school activities and practices that promote a safe and positive school cli-mate. They will develop lesson plans and classroom activities to strengthen the school climate and create a positive learning environment. They will encourage students to follow the school values through effective modelling. They will also initiate contact with families through regular parent-teacher meetings, interactions, or parent visits during school annual days, to involve them in promoting school culture. Educators will also provide inputs in developing the life skills curriculum
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and integrating it with the subject curriculum. For example, a social sciences tea-cher may discuss the skill of responsibility in the context of citizenship and civic duties.
School counsellors at Level 1 will assist the school leadership in planning and designing a whole-school approach to enhance the school climate. School coun-sellors will also assist educators in developing lesson-plans that are inclusive, ensuring that all student voices are heard and respected. If the school has a full-time counsellor, he/she may design the life-skills education curriculum for each grade, and help the educators in facilitating these plans. However, in the absence of a school counsellor, this task can be outsourced to off-site mental health professionals.
Examples of Existing Initiatives
The most recognized and evidence-based model that promotes psycho-social competencies within schools is the ‘Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)’. The CASEL framework promotes the need for holistic development with an approach to create positive and safe learning envi-ronments. CASEL identifies the importance of a safe school climate and suggests that a school climate which communicates values like honesty, respect, and responsibility, along with certain themes that present the purposefulness of schooling, is one of thefive key characteristics of a school that demonstrates social, emotional, and academic excellence (Elias et al. 2008). CASEL was founded in 1994 and, in 1996, it moved to the University of Illinois, Chicago, under the leadership of Dr. Roger Weissberg. CASEL works across three domain areas:
research, practice, and policy. It works with classrooms and schools to develop evidence based SEL practices. Currently, CASEL also offers online resources and guidelines as well as standards for developing SEL practices with a focus on collaboration. In 2017, team members from CASEL, along with other authors, conducted a meta-analysis of 82 different SEL interventions. The study found significant positive impact of the SEL intervention on students’ academic perfor-mance, socio-emotional skills, attitudes, and well-being indicators. The authors also found that students who had received the SEL interventions reported significantly lower levels of emotional distress, drug use, and conduct problems (Taylor et al.
2017).
There are many other programmes which have been initiated at the school-level to promote positive learning environments. One such programme was the campaign titled ‘All kinds of kinds’ initiated in 2013 in North Park Jr High School, New York, as an endeavour to respect the diversity in school. The school students and teachers created a video highlighting their differences to the soundtrack of Miranda Lambert’s ‘All kinds of kinds’. This video was followed by creating a picture path along the school hallways with pictures of all students holding up their‘all kinds of kinds’ sign. The programme also included a 27-min-long video about bullying, showing how bullying can be physically and emotionally hurtful. The video, which
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uses the song ‘Bruises’ by Train, was inspired by Dr. Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly, and imparts a powerful message on vulnerability. The programme had a positive effects on the students’ behaviour as well as the school climate. Suspension rates in and out of school decreased by 28 and 78% respectively, and school discipline referrals reduced by 60% after the implementation of the program.
Absenteeism rates of staff also reduced. Students demonstrated better scores in reading and math. The programme content was also made available as a curriculum that schools can refer to and teach, to address issues of bullying in the school. The programme received much acclaim and is now practiced across many schools in USA.
Current Status and Future Possibilities in India
The significance of a positive school climate has been highlighted in the NCERT framework for Education in Values in School. The framework suggests creating a school climate that promotes values, positive communication, and freedom of expression, and is free of stereotypes and gender-bias, for holistic development of students. At the same time, there are many life-skills education (LSE) programmes which are implemented across schools in India. LSE has also been recommended by the National Mental Health Policy 2014, and is included as an important component of the national adolescent health strategy, or the Rashtriya Kishore Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK). The District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) also includes LSE for adolescents in Grades 8, 9, and 10, which covers topics similar to the CBSE life-skills curriculum such as sexual health, interpersonal relationships, and career guidance.
The school mental health model implemented by ‘Expressions India’ a Delhi-based organization (Bharath et al. 2008) is one of the initiatives towards enhancing school climate. The model provides scope for assessing students’ emotional, social, and behavioural needs, as well as builds capacities of school teachers, counsellors, and parents, through workshops and training programmes.
The model also incorporates the component of student leadership, by identifying peer mentors who can be trained to impart life skills education. A study found that adolescents participating in this life-skills programme scored significantly higher on self-esteem, emotional adjustment, as well as levels of empathy (Yadav and Iqbal 2009). While this programme has been reviewed, there is absence of documentation of short and long-term impact of other adolescent centric life-skills education programmes in India.
There is consensus among policy-makers, school boards, and the government in promoting positive learning environments and adolescent skill-building pro-grammes. However, the challenge in the Indian context is to design a programme that is contextually relevant. In order to establish a positive learning environment, schools in India will have to replace certain redundant and harmful teaching practices with positive instructional strategies. For instance, to address corporal punishment and punitive practices, teachers have to be encouraged to explore
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alternative methods of disciplining, such as positive reinforcement and behavioural management strategies. Teacher trainings and school mandates on the use of restorative practices will be the first step in this direction. Schools can create platforms for student–teacher interactions to strengthen their relationship.
Addressing issues of labelling, prejudices, and biases among the teaching com-munity (Tammana2016) is also an important component of creating a safe school climate in Indian schools. Simple practices like displaying posters of respectful language, and identifying discriminatory and hurtful words and phrases, can reduce hate language in the school premises, and promote a culture of mutual respect. This will require dedicated efforts by the school leaders to steer such practices and motivate their staff and students to sustain it.
The increase in number of LSE programmes shows that the need for socio-emotional skill development has received great prominence. However, the challenges are in executing the programmes effectively and assessing them. It is important to identify how these different bodies and boards can work collabora-tively. How does the DMHP LSE programme compare to the CBSE life-skills curriculum and the AEP? What are the provisions to ensure that DMHP LSE will be implemented across schools affiliated to all boards? How will teachers be trained in implementing these sessions? These are key questions that need to be answered to address the existing challenges. The DMHP currently measures the impact of LSE by reviewing the number of teachers trained and the number of schools covered by the outreach program. However, specific impact indicators to assess shift in stu-dents’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours have to be developed.
At Level 1, therefore, the needs and challenges in Indian schools are very unique to the context, and require collaborative efforts from schools, educational boards, as well as the government, in eliminating unsafe teaching practices, promoting a positive learning culture, developing a common framework for life-skills education across all school boards, and developing systems to implement these programmes and monitor them regularly.
