NI teachers’ views of their roles, knowledge and training in supporting student mental health: a mixed-methods study

Six individual interviews were also carried out. A comparison of means suggests that there are statistically significant differences between teachers’ roles, knowledge, and training in supporting student mental health. Findings suggest that [1] Teachers have an important role to play in supporting children and families with growing mental health needs and complex systemic needs [2] Teachers gained mental health knowledge from personal initiative and experience in the absence of training [3] Teachers felt they required: more training at preparatory and professional level; mental health leads and teams; mental health provision for teachers; supervision for mental health cases; and more top-down guidance from DoE, EA and ETI.

Implications for practice and research are discussed. <br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31 December 2026</i>.