Mental illness most often begins in adolescence; yet the people who work with teenagers on a daily basis are often unprepared to recognize and understand mental illness. Teacher education programs rarely address mental health literacy, resulting in teacher candidates who are at a disadvantage when they enter the workforce. TeachMentalHealth.ca was developed to address this need based on the results of a National Scoping Exercise and input from more than 30 educational institutions and organizations across Canada.
Through a partnership with Faculties of Education from St. Francis Xavier University, Western University and University of British Columbia, mentalhealthliteracy.org has built a comprehensive mental health literacy learner resource for pre-service and practicing teachers.
This online modular-based resource will be accessible to all Faculties of Education to be used as a cohesive whole or subdivided and incorporated into existing courses, be presented face-to-face or entirely online, and be instructor-led or student-driven. Teachers and other educators who are currently in schools are also welcome to take the course.
For more information, visit: teachmentalhealth.ca
To register for the online course through the Faculty of Education at UBC, visit: http://pdce.educ.ubc.ca/teach-mental-health/
