Teaching Primary Students with Anxiety

• Ms Catherine Johnson

  catherine.johnson@unimelb.edu.au
  

Project Details

Teaching Primary Students with Anxiety was a program of research undertaken as part of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The aim of the research was to develop a model that described a feasible scope of practice for primary teachers to use in their classroom to help support children who have anxiety. The model consists of three overarching domains: Recognise, Refer and Support, and seven practice briefs that describe the types of practices and strategies that primary teachers could use to effectively recognise when anxiety is causing issues for a child, engage in collaboration to help connect that child to sources of help and implement supportive practices to help children with anxiety engage in their learning, establish positive peer relationships, and develop effective coping skills. All the of briefs are designed to be implementable within regular classroom environments and provide opportunities for teachers to engage in active reflection on their practice.

The model development process

The model of practice was developed over three years and three interconnected studies. Together, these aimed to determine what were the most helpful practices from both the psychology and education fields for teachers to use in a classroom context with children with anxiety, to gather the input of important stakeholders in school mental health on these practices, and use these to build a resource for teachers to use.

Study 1 was a scoping review of the academic literature from the last 25 years that related to practices primary teachers have reported using when working with children with internalising disorders (a category which encompasses disorders such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders)

Study 2 was an expert consensus study with primary teachers, health care professionals with expertise in child mental health and parents of children who had anxiety during their primary school years. These three groups were asked to rate the practices derived from Study 1 on how helpful they thought they would be for children with anxiety, and how feasible they would be for teachers to use.

Study 3 was a co-design study with experienced primary teachers from around Australia, using the top-rated practices from Study 2. Together with the researcher, these teachers helped design and develop the practice briefs that make up the model of practice.

Researchers

Ms. Catherine Johnson

Collaborators

A/Prof Laura Hart (Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences)

Prof Jon Quach (Faculty of Education)

Funding

This research was made possible by a PhD Scholarship in child mental health generously provided by Australia Rotary Health and the Rotary Club of Flemington/Kensington.

Research Outcomes

The seven practice briefs designed as part of the model are as follows:

1. Recognising Anxiety

2. Creating a Safe Classroom Environment

3. Collaboration & Family Engagement

4. Model & Teach Coping Skills

5. Managing Worries

6. Separation Anxiety

7. Panic Attacks

You can download the 7 practice briefs that make up the model by clicking the link below.

Teaching Primary Students with Anxiety