Exploring teachers’ perceptions of supporting children’s emotional health and wellbeing: a post-COVID-19 perspective

ABSTRACT

Attention to children’s emotional health and wellbeing (EHWB) has increased over the last decade due to a decline in children and young people’s mental health. COVID-19 escalated this need globally as children were subjected to immediate and drastic changes to their education and daily lives. This paper reports on a UK qualitative study exploring the perceptions of teachers working in primary schools and the level of support they require for children’s EHWB. Semi-structured online interviews were conducted with teachers during COVID-19. The findings highlighted four themes of professional support that were required: 1) funding support 2) support with pedagogical responsibilities, 3) external support and 4) home and parental support. Overall, teachers considered there was a lack of provision for their role, with additional pressures placed on them to support children’s EHWB. The paper concludes that more resources are required long term to support teachers in a post-COVID-19 education system.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotional health and wellbeing
• primary schools
• qualitative interviews
• COVID-19 pandemic
• human-centred design

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).