Using School-based Social and Emotional Learning Programs to Advance Wellbeing Post Emergency (Video Available)

In 2021, the Melbourne Social Equity Institute has launched a new seminar series as part of its Mental Health and Society Research Program.

In the fourth event in this series, Professor Helen Cahill discusses social and emotional wellbeing programs in schools.

Social and emotional wellbeing programs make a major contribution to mental health following exposure to emergencies. As part of routine delivery, they reduce mental health problems and lead to improved school and peer connectedness and to improved academic attainment. Yet they are rarely provided in secondary schools, and even when provided in primary schools, commonly omit their most important feature – the use of collaborative learning methods to increase peer connectedness and to develop confidence and capacity to mix well with others.

This presentation highlights some of the key features of effective programs, and shares strategies found to enhance school uptake.

Professor Helen Cahill works in the Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. She leads a body of research addressing youth wellbeing. She specialises in the use of participatory methods to foster the contribution of youth voice. She is a leading innovator of Australian wellbeing interventions addressing prevention of gender-based violence, and promotion of social and emotional learning.

Other seminars in this series
(videos available)

Thursday  4 March – Professor Bernadette McSherry
O Brave New Brain? Regulating "Neurointerventions"

Thursday  1 April – Indigo Daya
Welcoming Diverse Consumer and Survivor Views and Voices into Mental Health

Thursday 6 May – Dr  Magenta Simmons
Involving Young People as Partners in Mental Health Research

Thursday 16 September – Dr Kay Wilson
Mental Health Law: Abolish or Reform?

Thursday  21 October  –  Dr Tom Brunzell
A New Approach to Trauma-Informed Schools: Increasing Student Engagement, Achievement and Wellbeing