Mental Health and Well Being
This section includes resources that relate to Mental Health and Well Being. We would like to thank Sarah Russell and Maggie Kirkpatrick from OISE for preparing resources on this theme.
Overview:
This resource is a report that examines the experiences and resulting educational and mental health needs of Syrian children living as refugees, drawing on the results of a study conducted in Islahiye camp in southeast Turkey, which assessed children’s levels of trauma and mental health distress.
Reference: Sirin, S. R., & Rogers-Sirin, L. (2015). The educational and mental health needs of Syrian refugee children (p. 13). Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.
To access this resource, please click on the title.
Overview:
This resource is a succinct guide that can help anyone understand the refugee crisis and what it means to experience trauma. It is eparated into 4 main sections: refugee experience, developmental effects, key strategies and resources. It outlines risk factors and protective factors for refugees to help better understand what people may have been through.
Reference: Savazzi, H. (2018). The Resilience Guide: Strategies for Responding to Trauma in Refugee Children. CMAS.
To access this resource, please click on the title.
Overview:
This resource is a website that helps health professionals provide quality care to immigrant and refugee children, youth and families.
Although this site is for health professionals, it could be beneficial for adults who interact with refugee students, such as teachers, by helping them identify risk factors in students' lives.
Reference: Caring for Kids New to Canada. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.kidsnewtocanada.ca/mental-health/mental-health-promotion
Overview:
This resource is a guide for educators to promote mental health and well-being in the classroom, with a section specific to immigrant and refugee students.
Reference: Ontario Ministry of Education. (2013). Supporting Minds: An Educator’s Guide to Promoting Students’ Mental Health and Well-Being. Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
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Overview:
This resource is written for young children who have experienced traumatic events in their lives. It also offers suggestions to parents/caregivers/teachers on how to speak about these events with children.
Reference: Holmes, M. M. (2000). A Terrible Thing Happened. Magination Press.
To access this resource, please click on the title.
Additional resources related to the use of this resource for teaching:
Overview:
This resource is a website that highlights 5 core ideas as to how government/policy, schools, and families can work together to ensure that students who have been traumatized succeed in their learning. Through this, Lesley University and Harvard School of Law have created a checklist that schools can use to determine whether or not they have succeeded in creating a trauma-sensitive school. The Helping Traumatized Student website provides further resources and strategies towards creating trauma-sensitive schools.
Reference: Gregory, M. (2016). Trauma-Sensitive Schools. Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative.
To access this resource, please click on the title.
Overview:
This e-resource is for understanding trauma. It is specifically designed for educators.
Defines trauma
Explains how the stress response functions
Impact of exposure to trauma
Effects of trauma on schools
Reference: Guarino, K. & Chagnon, E. (2018). Trauma Sensitive Schools training package. Washington, D.C.: National Center on Safe Learning Environments.
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Overview:
This online resource consists of an in-person training session that can be conducted at school.
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Overview:
This online resource is to provide refugee students with targeted psychosocial and language support.
Reference: Save the Children (n.d). Hear it from Teachers: Getting Refugee Children Back to Learning, pg 13-38.
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Overview:
This online resource is about creating a classroom that feels safe. It is essential for students who have experienced trauma. Teachers were asked what they found that works for:
establishing effective daily routines
Responding to breaks in routines (assemblies, fire drills, lockdowns, teacher absences, celebratory events
Their responses were then compiled into a guide. There are a couple other tip guides for teachers on this website.
To access this resource, please click on the title.