Browsing by Author "Tyynilä, Salla"

Children’s mental health and its promotion have been featured a lot both in research and public debate within recent years. Concerns regarding the well-being of children and adolescent have arisen, as there is an increasing prevalence of mental health among children worldwide. In particular, the COVID19 pandemic brought children’s well-being to the surface. The long-term consequences of the pandemic are still the subject of research and cause long queues for mental health treatment in healthcare. The purpose of this thesis was to find out class teachers’ perceptions of children’s mental health and its promotion in the school context. School is an important environment that promotes equally all students’ mental health. This thesis aims to deepen the understanding of the promotion of children’s mental health at school and to present a current picture of the class teachers’ perceived role in promoting mental health. The thesis was carried out between March and October 2023. The data was collected between August and October with semi-structured thematic interviews. The sample of the thesis consisted of five elementary school classroom teachers, all of whom were interested in promoting children’s mental health. The data analysis process was carried out qualitatively during September and October using databased content analysis. The thesis revealed that teachers define children’s mental health more through ill-health than well-being. The state of mental health was seen to affect everything. The teachers emphasized the effects of the child’s mental health in both schoolwork and social relationships in the school context. In addition, the research results highlighted the importance of teachers’ role in promoting children’s mental health. The results emphasized cooperation with parents and the student welfare team. The results also highlighted the perceived relevance of mental health speech to attitudes and well-being. This thesis creates up-to-date information about the experiences of teachers regarding the visibility and promotion of children’s mental health, as well as the experienced challenges, which can be considered to support children’s well-being.