1. Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of the policy context surrounding mental health and well-being in education and the application in practice, of well-being principles.

2. Critically evaluate approaches to mental health in education and interventions to promote children and young people’s emotional regulation and resilience in a home and school environment

3. Apply concepts and principles of mental health and wellbeing to evaluate effective mental health education practice.

4. Understand the limits of own knowledge and understanding in relation to mental wealth for analysis and interpretation in a personal and professional context

No. 1 - A critical exploration of mental health and wellbeing in your chosen education phase. You can choose to focus on an educational phase of a particular professional interest in order to meet the learning outcomes. These age phases are 0-3/3-7/5-11 and 11+ education phases. A justification of the education phase chosen is presented with a consideration of the policy context surrounding mental health and wellbeing provision in the UK. You will draw from existing theoretical perspectives and contemporary research to explore practice-based developments in the sector. A critique of the home and school environment will be examined to express the importance of positive self-esteem and how this can be developed in the sector. (LO 1,2 & 3)

No. 2 – Reflecting on mental wealth. Submission of a reflective journal over the duration of the module to demonstrate awareness of mental health and wellbeing and actions that can be taken to support mental wealth. This reflection will refer to key theoretical principles that resonate with you and show how you have grown and developed your awareness in a personal and/or professional context. Four journal entries are required as a minimum and tutorial supervisions with your module tutor will help to support your reflections. (LO 4)

Formative Assessment opportunities will include; investigative task to identify relevant policy and research related to chosen phase; Tutor support opportunities to share reflective journal entries.

This module will give you the opportunity to explore historical and contemporary perspectives surrounding mental health and wellbeing. You will consider the full range of mental health and wellbeing aspects across the education phases to develop a broad knowledge and understanding in a range of professional contexts. Societal issues will be examined and the impact this has on children and young people’s mental health and well-being. Issues such as family and peer relationships through the education phases, developmental maturity, inequalities and prevalence of social media will be explored to understand the impact on children’s lives. The module will also raise awareness of mental wealth and how to promote positive behaviours and resilience in a personal and/or professional context. Coaching, mentoring and active listening will also be explored as a way of supporting mental health and wellbeing.

In this module you will explore the concepts of mental health and well-being across 0-3/3-7/5-11 and 11+ education phases. You will examine the mental health and wellbeing aspects of the chosen age group in the context of a home and school setting and how these influence the development of mental wealth in children and young people. You will reflect on mental wellness and how to build resilience and develop strategies to promote a positive wellbeing for yourself and others.

The teaching, learning and assessment strategy has been carefully developed for this module. It recognises you may bring with you practical experience and knowledge of specific contexts to share with others. This pool of practical experience will be used to promote discussion and debate, which will build upon existing knowledge to encourage reflection and critical thought. You will be an active participant in your learning and engage with online learning, some face to face content, group activities and individual tasks set. You will be encouraged to be a critical thinker and apply your learning in an academic and professional context. Some sessions require prior reading and independent research to inform the sessions.

A digitally enabled approach will be used to support both virtual and face to face opportunities.

University workshops will draw upon your experience and help you to interpret that experience in the light of current thinking on teaching, learning, assessment and schooling in relation to literacy and numeracy. You will also be asked to use the ideas explored in the sessions in planning your future work. You will also be asked to collaborate with others in preparing and presenting your work.


The methods are designed to provide practical contexts for the analysis of contemporary issues and problems of a practical nature. The following strategies will be adopted to ensure that you have a supportive teaching and learning environment, providing a range of learning opportunities

Work Related Learning – You will be required to reflect on values, practices, assumptions and work-place policies in your taught sessions. Work-based activities either as class based simulated tasks or in the workplace help students to establish connections between the workplace and issues raised by the programme.

Lectures - You will be given lectures which will provide theoretical underpinning on key educational concepts. These may take the form of face-to-face, digital or virtual sessions

Tutorials – You will be given the opportunity to discuss work-related and academic concerns in small group tutorials and/or individual tutorials. This will support the development of theoretical understanding.

Guided reading and supported self-study – You will be provided with booklists and reading tasks in order to enable you to engage with relevant and appropriate debates.

This module will also provide opportunities for you to:

Work with others

develop interpersonal skills

demonstrate the capacity to plan, share goals, and work as a member of a team

communicate and present oral and written arguments

Barden, N and Caleb, R (2019) Student mental health and wellbeing in Higher Education

Garner, S (2020) Mental Health in Education: Building good foundations, London: Routledge

Musgrave, J (2017) Supporting Children’s Health and well-being, London: SAGE

Viana, S. G (2018) Developing children’s resilience and mental health, London: Routledge

Unless otherwise stated, all books are available online through Staffordshire University library website when logged in using your university username and password. If you have difficulty accessing these, please contact the University library. There is also an online reading list for each module on this course. To access this, go to http://staffs.rebuslist.com/ and then type in the module code in the search box. Do not worry if this list seems excessively long. You may wish to focus on texts which are most relevant to your education sector. This module covers a wide range of texts and you may find that you only need to read short sections of the texts listed (or from other texts that you may find in libraries or journals). Your tutor will also advise you on the relevant texts and sections of texts to read. Remember that it is important to show you have considered views from a wide range of sources. When referring to texts in your assignment, always use https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/refzone for guidance. There are many versions of Harvard referencing systems in use around the world, but for Staffordshire University, Refzone Harvard system is the only correct method to use.

Study skills:

For guidance on academic writing, remember that the Staffordshire University library holds a wealth of resources to support study skills at https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/study-skills. The study skills team can also provide 1 to 1 support.

VLE Resources

Your University VLE will enable you to have access to course materials, lecture notes, PowerPoint presentations and reading lists. Your VLE offers opportunities to engage in group work and independent learning by the use of such things as synchronous/asynchronous discussion boards, video links, blogs and wikis.