Teachers as mental health promoters: a study of teachers' understanding of the concept of mental health

Abstract

Based on results from a mixed method approach, using focus group interviews (N = 15) and survey research (N = 1575, this paper explores Norwegian K12 teachers' understanding of the concept of mental health. The theoretical framework of analysis is a socio-ecological and systemic perspective, seeing conceptual understanding as a result of a complex interplay between factors on individual, organizational and state/society levels. Existing research indicates that mental health is an unfamiliar term in a school context, and often negatively loaded. Our results support this, but show significant differences in school type, where teachers in higher grades report more frequent use of the term, more positive term-loading and less tendency to prefer ‘well-being’ as a substitute, rather than as a complementary term to mental health. These teachers also report significantly higher levels of organizational support on mental health promotion. At individual level, experience and further education were important for differences in conceptual understanding.