Back to school well being

The bustling back-to-school season is often an exciting time as teachers and students prepare for a new academic year and return to their favorite fall activities. But this transitionary period can also be a stressful one, as people adopt new routines, join new school communities or establish new goals. For this reason, it's important for teachers, students and families to focus on their well-being, especially given the rising mental health needs among young people nationally.

University of Delaware experts in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) are here to help, sharing new research, interventions and strategies for fostering teacher and student wellbeing during this back-to-school season and throughout the year.

Incorporate mindfulness

One of the most effective things teachers can do to support their own well-being is to incorporate mindfulness into their daily routines, especially in the weeks leading up to the first day of school, said Leigh McLean.

An associate research professor in CEHD's School of Education (SOE) and Center for Research Use in Education (CRESP), McLean studies how teachers' emotions, emotion-related experiences and well-being impact their instructional practices and relationships with students. She encourages teachers, school leaders and others responsible for their working environment to take intentional steps toward supporting the well-being of everyone in the school environment.

"A mindfulness practice is a daily regime of awareness, contemplation and processing of all the things going on both within and outside of you," McLean said. "Mindfulness is a key skill when it comes to the larger goal of emotional understanding and regulation, and it has been shown to be a particularly helpful practice for teachers. On a larger scale, school and district administrators can strive to create working conditions where teachers are most likely to thrive. Some elements of school climate that are most impactful for teachers' well-being are social supports, systems of recognition and teacher autonomy."

Prioritize student wellness

Like many educators, CEHD Assistant Professor Brittany Zakszeski recognizes the need to support student wellness and address the shortage of mental health professionals in schools. She also keenly understands the tension that school leaders may feel when they want to support mental health but don't have the resources to hire additional staff.

For this reason, Zakszeski has developed and evaluated accessible, school-based interventions to support student well-being, like the Calm Cat program for elementary school students and the POWER program for high schoolers. Students in the Calm Cat program learn specific techniques, like deep breathing, peaceful visualization and releasing tension from their muscles to reduce anxiety. Educators without specialized training can look to programs like these, which help them support their students in practicing skills that decrease anxiety and promote emotional regulation.

"It is particularly critical for schools to prioritize student wellbeing during the back-to-school season, as students are adjusting to new environments and expectations," said Zakszeski, who specializes in school psychology in CEHD's SOE.

With support from the U.S. Department of Education and the Delaware Department of Education, Zakszeski also leads Project GROW (Growing Resilience, Opportunities and Wellness), partnering with Delaware schools to build their capacity to address student mental health needs through a multi-tiered system of support and promote the wellbeing of all pre-K-12 students, teachers and staff.

Support neurodivergent students

Students on the autism spectrum may experience higher levels of anxiety during the back-to-school transition period than their neurotypical peers. Some of this anxiety can stem from the transition to a new schedule, the prospect of meeting new classmates or the pressure of entering their final year of high school.

"Autistic students beginning their senior year of high school this September may be feeling a heightened sense of anxiety as they prepare for next year," said CEHD Assistant Professor Sarah Curtiss, who leads the Autism in Context Lab in CEHD's SOE. "Even though about 100,000 autistic students transition out of high school each year, there are few supports in place to ensure a successful transition to postsecondary life. There are many things youth, parents, and educators can do to support a successful transition, such as learning about existing resources, developing self-determination skills and connecting with autistic advocates."

With this challenge in mind, Curtiss and her co-authors recently evaluated a one-day educational program for caregivers about supporting autistic youth in the transition to adulthood. The program focused on transition planning, independent living, transportation, employment, recreation, financial and legal planning, and higher education preparation. Participating caregivers gained knowledge about this transition period, a sense of empowerment and feasible, accessible and helpful support.

Autistic people, their families and community members can also turn to CEHD's Center for Disabilities Studies (CDS) for additional resources. For example, its Delaware Network for Excellence in Autism provides statewide training and technical assistance for autistic individuals, their families and the professionals who support them. First-year students new to UD this back-to-school season can also consider joining CDS's Spectrum Scholars program, a comprehensive college-to-career initiative for UD autistic students.

Create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students

Adolescence is an important time of self-discovery and human development, especially for LGBTQ+ youth. As research by CEHD Assistant Professor Eric Layland has shown, LGBTQ+ youth achieve many important milestones in their gender and sexual development during this time.

From his first-of-its-kind study, Layland also knows that discriminatory laws and policies can delay or even prevent LGBTQ+ youth from reaching these milestones. For that reason, educators and parents need to provide safe, welcoming spaces for this group of adolescents.

"Transitions-like going back to school-can be an especially challenging time for LGBTQ+ youth, who may encounter new people and places that challenge or question their identities," said Layland, who studies affirmative interventions for LGBTQ+ youth in CEHD's Department of Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS). "Parents and teachers should be aware that this can be a time when LGBTQ+ youth may need more check-ins and advocacy from listening, caring adults."

Support Black and Latinx young boys and men

Roderick L. Carey, assistant professor in HDFS, also reminds educators during this back-to-school season about the importance of supporting Black and Latinx boys and young men, who often feel limited by societal stereotypes that define their postsecondary futures. In fact, the number of Black men enrolled in college has dropped by 50,000 since pre-pandemic levels.

With the support of CEHD's Partnership for Public Education, Carey has co-developed resources for educators interested in helping marginalized youth imagine their postsecondary future free from the constraints of stereotypes. His co-designed online resource, Finding Future Selves, provides free lesson plans, classroom activities, student testimonials and links to additional research for educators. For example, in one of his lesson plans, Carey encourages educators to help students broadly envision their future by asking questions like: "What does success look like to you?" "What does happiness look like to you?" and "What does joy look like to you?"

"Black and Latino boys grew up in a society that stereotypes them as non-academic, as socially threatening, and many of those types of stereotypes shape how their educators engage with them in schools," said Carey in a recent PBS feature.

To learn more about teacher and student well-being research, visit the College of Education and Human Development research pages.