Smith, H., and A. McGrandles (eds), The Impact of Mental Health And WellBeing On Effective Learning & Teaching: A Practical Guide For Those Responsible For Learners. Airdrie: Scotland
July 10, 2018
Smith, H., and A. McGrandles (eds), The Impact of Mental Health And WellBeing On Effective Learning & Teaching: A Practical Guide For Those Responsible For Learners. Airdrie: Swan and Horn (178 pages, £19.99, Book 2, ISBN 978-1-909675-06-3)
This book deals with a timely theme in learning, teaching, and professional development in education. There appears to be increasing awareness of how mental health and well-being can impact upon learning and teaching and it seems to be the case that there are increasing pressures on young people in education, and that this has associated implications for health and well-being.
The book includes excellent contributions from an experienced set of authors. The chapters deal with key issues that link to mental health and well-being. The content includes reflections on stress; anxiety; social anxiety disorder; depression; serious mental illness; post-traumatic stress disorder; substance misuse; grief and loss; work-life balance and developing support for colleagues who are working with learners with health and well-being needs. This content will interest anyone who is interested in teaching and learning, especially those who base their teaching practice on the work of Rogers (2004) and others. It is Rogers (2004) who draws attention to the detrimental consequences of ‘anxiety’ in pedagogy and this book complements the brilliant ideas of Rogers (2004). For humanistic teachers, it is particularly important to locate and resolve what are phrased as ‘would/should dilemmas’. It is argued by Rogers that in pedagogy it is important to be able to reconcile what we ‘would’ like to do with what we ‘should’ do. A failure to resolve this dilemma is, according to Rogers (2004) a source of the anxiety that spoils effective teaching and learning. The authors in this book (for example, Smith, in chapter 10, make reference to the work of Rogers [1961]) in ways that help to situate profound theoretical perspectives within the practical needs of what is occurring in 2018.
The book has been planned most effectively. The authors of the chapters work well together in that they complement each other. The reflections that are provided are especially helpful as each of the chapters is structured most effectively. There are useful case studies that develop the themes within the book in accessible ways. In developing the content there are also reflective activities and this reveals that the authors have thought extensively about making the content as engaging as possible.
Reading the book made me think about the work of Bernstein (2000). Bernstein (2000) reflects upon the key priorities within academic curricula and the ways that these priorities can change over time. In the curriculum in England, it appears to be the case that what is subjective and impressionistic has become valued less over time. There appears to be an obsessive concern with results and measuring performance and this has implications for the health and well-being of students and teachers. An over-emphasis on achievement can produce a situation where there are clear ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ and it can be argued that this occurrence is not good for mental health and well-being in general. Bernstein (2000) argues that this emphasis on ‘results’ and achievement has not always been present within the academic curriculum in England. It is argued that this focus on performativity is a consequence of neoliberalism. Measurement of achievement appears to become a key ideal of those policy-makers who are shaping the educational arena (for example the current ideal association of higher education with ‘employability’ by the policy-makers in England). Bernstein’s (2000) work shows that in England, the academic curriculum has always not been like this and this book reveals the pedagogical consequences of a world in which there appear to be abundant mental-health needs in the classroom. In producing such a comprehensive volume, in which the implications of mental health needs for pedagogy are reflected upon so effectively, the book makes a really excellent contribution that is as informed as it is timely.
Reviewer: Dr Ewan Ingleby
References
- Bernstein, B., 2000. Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
- Rogers, C., 2004. On becoming a person. London: Robinson.
