Going beyond academic support; mental well-being of newly arrived migrant pupils in the Norwegian elementary reception class

ABSTRACT

This study explores how the reception teacher understands her responsibility to support newly arrived migrant pupils’ mental well-being in her everyday practices. The three interconnected circle model represents mental well-being as a prerequisite for integration and for academic and social development. The teacher’s self-perceived responsibility and self-guided initiatives reveal that a teacher can construct pedagogies that promote pupils’ mental well-being if he or she is motivated and sees the need for it. Implications for policy and practices are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Mental well-being
• newly arrived migrant pupils
• integration
• teacher’s practices and reflections
• academic achievement

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Anne who generously gave me time throughout my research. I would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers for valuable suggestions and comments contributing to strengthening the argument and improving the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.