Timothy Dohrer, director of Educator Leadership and Partnerships and research specialist in the NIU College of Education and the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development, is the co-author of a new book titled “The Schools We Need Now: A Guide to Designing a Mentally Healthy School.”
Scheduled for publication June 11 by Corwin, the book highlights the importance of placing mental health at the heart of schooling and shares a vision for schools that prioritizes student well-being.
“Our students have always needed our support, but recent events have brought to the forefront the challenges K-12 schools face in supporting their mental health,” the book’s description states. “Now is the time to transform schools into safe and healthy places that enable students not only to learn but thrive.
Readers will find practical ways to improve school climate and mitigate the effects of students’ stress, trauma, depression and anxiety, along with preventive activities, community collaboration strategies and plans for school transition and crisis response.
The book also contains examples of schools, classrooms and organizations on the leading edge of creating “the schools we need now” as well as a how-to on creating comprehensive mental health action plans.
Dohrer recently answered questions from the College of Education’s Ed News.
What inspired you to write this book?
After spending decades in schools working closely with kids, teachers, and parents, school social worker Tom Golebiewski and I recognize that things like safety, belonging, relationships, and mental and physical health are essential and foundational components of learning. We’ve also witnessed the growing crisis in our country around mental health, including stress, anxiety, trauma, and mental illness. While this was bad before the pandemic, it became more pronounced during and since. I’ve watched my own family struggle during this time. We wrote the book to provide a blueprint for ways that schools can be part of the solution to our growing mental health crisis.
Who needs to read this book, and how will it help?
Certainly, administrators and school leaders have the most direct impact on school culture and climate. They are the focus of this book. But as a former teacher, I know that educators in all kinds of schools will learn much from the book and take some of the ideas into their classrooms and relationships with students. As a mental health practitioner, Tom knows this book will also provide a wealth of understanding for counselors, social workers and psychologists who are often on the front lines of working with students with more serious mental health needs. We also believe that parents, families, and organizations who interface with schools will also find the book useful in helping support a new vision of our schools.
How should educators respond to those who might scoff at the idea of “placing mental health at the heart of schooling”?
During the pandemic, a particular phrase became popular: “You have to Maslow before you Bloom.” This refers to Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” and Benjamin Bloom’s “Taxonomy of Learning.” We also know so much about the brain and learning thanks to neuroscience. In some ways, it is very simple: people can’t access their prefrontal cortex if their brains and bodies are distracted by the stress response, anxiety, or traumatic events. We all have to BE safe and FEEL safe before we can do the cognitive learning of math, science, reading and other content areas in school. I hear some teachers say: “I’m not a social worker.” No, you aren’t. But as a teacher, your first job is to make a student feel comfortable in the classroom, to create a culture of caring, and to get to know that one kid as well as you can. Once we do that, we can do all kinds of amazing things in our schools. A student needs to feel this way from the moment they step into the building to the moment they leave, in the classrooms and hallways, in the gym and on the playground. If we were to make mental health the focal point of all our decisions in a school, we would make some very different decisions.
What’s the most important takeaway for educators?
Teachers play the most crucial role in creating a relationship with a student and a classroom culture that is safe, respectful and engaging. Psychologist and teacher Haim Ginott once said: “I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.” This quote should be the guiding light for teachers because if they can provide this kind of caring culture, they will be able to take students deep into learning the content and skills they need for success in school and beyond.
