The Academy in Mental Health for Educators: A new opportunity
Posted on 07/07/2011 | 1 Comments
We have been working in the area of school mental health for some years now and have created a variety of programs and educational resources for educators, health providers, youth and parents. Over and over again we have heard from teachers, social workers, psychologists, nurses, principals, school superintendents and others about the need to provide more training for educators in the area of youth mental health and a better understanding of youth mental disorders. Over and over again we have heard that a summer program would be a good venue in which this could be done. So guess what – we listened and decided to do exactly that. Our first Academy in Mental Health for Educators will start next week – in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As far as we know, this is the first event of its kind ever in the Atlantic Provinces.
So what will happen at this Academy. First, it will take place over a two day period – actually two such two day periods. The first will be on a Monday/Tuesday and the second, on a Thursday/Friday will be a repeat of the first session. There are a variety of different topics to be covered. These range from detailed information about common mental disorders in youth to advice on how to talk to teens and parents to understanding medications and their role in treatment to specific “classroom pearls” for helping young people who are living with a mental disorder be more successful in the school setting. Participants will also be exposed to a variety of useful and effective educational materials and programs.
We are really excited about the program and our presenters. In addition to key members of our Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health Team, presenters will include psychiatrists; psychologists; teachers and others who work with youth, families and educators. We hope that the program will be fun and informative for all who attend. One of the fun components will be a “Halifax dine around” evening where participants can sign up to join one of the presenters for dinner at one of the many excellent restaurants in the city. Not only may people discover a great new place to eat, but they will have the chance to chat to an expert in the field – and hopefully that will be both fun and informative!
As always, we will be evaluating how the Academy turns out. Not only in terms of participant satisfaction and improvement suggestions but also in terms of learning that has happened during the sessions. And, as always, we will be posting the results of this learning on our website. Frankly, I am both a bit excited and a bit nervous about this. What if our learning evaluation does not show a significant positive impact of the session on participants’ mental health knowledge? Or horrors of horrors, what if it shows a negative impact on participants’ mental health knowledge? At best that would be so embarrassing.
--Stan
*Photo Credit: Surian Soosay
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This is a great set of comments and rings very true.
I totally agree that scientists (just like everyone else) have their biases and foibles. After all, scientists are human beings too! But science is different than scientists.
The scientific method is the most objective frame that we have by which to evaluate and predict. Science is not about finding truth. It is only about being less wrong most of the time. The scientific method (experimental design and mathematics) gives us the ability to test what we believe. The scientific method is not used to prove something is correct, on the contrary, the scientific method is designed to prove that something is not correct! It is designed to test what is called the “null hypothesis”. It takes ideas that come out of left field (or wherever else they come from) and puts those ideas to an independent test.
t does not drive our beliefs. It does however challenge our beliefs. In that way it is self-correcting. Of course scientific inquiry and understanding lives within a wider social context. That is one of the great features of science.
But gravity is gravity, social context notwithstanding. And thus it is nasty, brutish and long. As Brecht said, (something like this) - the purpose of science is to save us from everlasting error.
By Christina Carew on May 11th
You can find us here too!
We would like to say thanks...
Without their help this initiative would not be possible. Thanks for you help.
What people are saying?
Sandy Allen said...
Hi Stan,
I am sure your program will be a learning success for the participants and your involvement almost assures that outcome.
I look forward to reading the evaluation and including your course as another resource for the MHFA Canada course.
Kind regards,
Sandy Allen
Program Direct, Mental Health First Aid Canada
Mental Health Commission of Canada
Comment made on September 26th, 2011
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