"There is also a need to discuss the mental health of teachers"
Recently, there are many problems related to mental health in school students. This affects their ability to acquire skills and knowledge. At times, public awareness programs on mental health are targeted at students.
But the mental health of the teachers who teach the same children is not given much attention. Teachers may also be stressed by personal problems such as their home affairs and career. The effect of which can be seen in their work. It can have a direct impact on students' teaching and learning.
In this case, don't teachers need training on human health? How important is it to discuss the mental health of teachers? What is the teacher's health condition? In this context, psychiatrist Dr. Edited excerpt of online journalist Manisha Thapa's conversation with Vasudev Karki:
How important is it to discuss the mental health of teachers?
Suzuki Dashain Offer
Children are the foundations of the future. Teachers are the creators of children's future. Therefore, if the creator is not mentally healthy, the society of the future will not be prosperous. Therefore, it is very important to take care of the mental health of both children and teachers.
In the context of Nepal, there are many mental health programs targeting children and students. But by focusing on teachers, the discussion about mental health is reduced.
On the other hand, some time ago in America, there was a survey about the mental health of teachers. According to which 27 percent of the teachers were suffering from depression. In a prosperous country like America, teachers are going through mental problems like depression, but in a country like Nepal, the government has not been able to provide even the necessary services and facilities that teachers should get. It can be attributed to the recent teachers' movement. Even if only the teachers present in the movement are studied, 50 percent of them may have problems like depression.
In this case, if the mental condition of the teacher is not good, how can the children like the little buds get quality education from the education given by them? Therefore, it is very important to discuss the mental health of teachers.
Teachers have their own problems. Family matters, financial matters or various things are also making them stressed. Is the side-effect of such stress in the classroom or not?
If the teacher himself is in a stressful situation, its side-effect is completely falling in the classroom. A person who is mentally stressed may also have anxiety and depression. Due to stress, symptoms such as sleeplessness and dizziness may appear in them. How can he teach in the classroom who has not slept all night? On top of that, a teacher who is going through depression may have anger, impulses, and thoughts playing in his mind, and a teacher who comes to the classroom with a stressed mind either does not want to teach and is forced to teach.
Also, even a small mistake by a student in class can cause anger in the teacher. The result may be activities such as scolding and beating students. There are many examples of incidents of beatings by teachers from time to time. This can affect the mental health of not only the teachers, but also the students studying there. Not only that, the teacher may not be able to share enough knowledge as needed, which affects the students' learning.
How does the mood of teachers affect children?
If someone greets you with a smile when you go somewhere, the atmosphere is different. The same principle applies in the classroom. If the teacher looks cheerful and energetic, then even the students who are sitting in the classroom will get energy and vigor. They can easily absorb what is taught. They do not feel that the class is over.
But there is a lot of stress going on in the teacher's mind. He has no energy, no energy and comes with an angry face. And, if they are always presented in the same way in the class, students may not like to read, find it difficult to concentrate, and may not like to ask questions that they do not understand. Some teachers are kind enough to vent their anger on students due to the personal stress of homework. In this case, students are afraid to even sit in class. The class atmosphere is also negative.
All students consider their teachers as the storehouse of knowledge. Children consider teachers as their role models and they dream of being like teachers. Students follow not only the teacher's teaching but also their behavior. The direct effect on the students' emotional state and learning environment also depends on the teacher's presentation.
Even if the student is not scolded or beaten, some behavior of the teacher has a direct effect, right?
First, it was said that small punishments should be given to the students to make them level and discipline them. If you don't do your homework, if you make noise in the classroom, if you don't obey, you will get beaten up. But now the idea that students should not be beaten will have a more negative impact on children. Most teachers believe that the classroom should be child-friendly. However, activities such as not encouraging, not responding, and discouraging the students for their extracurricular activities in the class can have a negative effect on the student's mentality. Not only that, because stressed teachers cannot teach well, students also cannot learn well.
If the teacher himself is depressed or sad, can he cover it up and teach the students properly?
If the teacher himself is sad, he cannot cover it up. Even if they want to, they cannot teach the students properly. No matter how much the teacher tries to hide his indifference, it can be seen in his behavior.
What kind of mental problems can teachers have?
Depression, anxiety and stress are the most common psychological problems among teachers. Some teachers are not even able to experience that they have mental problems. But in their behavior, the symptoms of mental problems are visible and if the problem becomes dominant, the behavior may change. After which students and colleagues around can also notice.
How to make the teacher mentally healthy and emotionally strong?
In order to make them mentally healthy and emotionally strong, their stress can be reduced by giving them the wages that schools and colleges deserve, understanding the problems of teachers from time to time, not giving them unnecessary pressure from the administration, encouraging them when they have done a good job.
Also, it is important for the teacher to have a discussion program with the counselor at school from time to time, so that they can openly discuss the mental stress they have.
It is necessary for the government to conduct mental health awareness programs in all teaching areas and to train teachers on modern education. This can increase the intellectual capacity of the teachers and can also increase their passion for teaching.
