HeartMind e-News: Anxiety, Children’s Mental Health, and the Compassionate School Leadership Academy

Volume 3, Issue 3 | March 2023

Your Monthly News & Updates

Anxiety, Children's Mental Health, and the Compassionate School Leadership Academy

This March edition of the HeartMind eNews includes article four in our series on Anxiety and Dysregulation. This month the focus is on recognizing anxiety and how teachers can respond in the moment to help students feel safe and reduce feelings of distress. In that article we give you many practical tips as well as links to apps that may be useful. The next article by Jillayne Flanders, CEI’s Deputy Executive Director, shares an update on the project CEI is conducting with researchers from Yale University’s Program for Recovery and Community Health. The Compassionate School Leadership Academy (the CSLA), in its sixth month of operation, is conducting listening sessions and administering S-CCATE as a part of its Feasibility Study. The final article by Amelia Murray, a CEI research assistant, describes the difference in how two states, Massachusetts and Missouri, are approaching implementation of antiracism and culturally competent practices in early childhood settings.

Featured Articles

Anxiety and Dysregulation: Helping Students Pause and Self-Soothe

Christine Mason, CEI Executive Director, and Meghan Wenzel, CEI Co-Editor

This is article #4 in CEI’s Anxiety and Dysregulation series which began in December 2022. Previous articles focused on psychological safety, helping students feel at-ease when they are anxious, and learning to pause and reflect in the moment before we respond to students.

In this article, we will explore how teachers can help students handle their stress and anxiety better, through mindfulness, meditation, and self-soothing behaviors.

How can teachers respond in the moment when a student appears anxious?

First let’s consider what you may be observing. This will vary some with the age of the student and the situation:

A student may have psychosomatic complaints (stomach aches, headaches, racing hearts, difficulties breathing, dizziness, or signs of a panic attack). If it is a panic attack, medical attention may be needed.
A student may feel restless, on edge, or worried.
You may observe that the student has a heightened degree of sadness, avoidance, anger, or irritability.
A student may have difficulty concentrating or paying attention in class.
A student may feel fatigued.
A student may become withdrawn or avoid interacting with others...

The Compassionate School Leadership Academy

Jill Flanders, CEI Deputy Director

Right now, schools are facing serious, ongoing challenges about how to provide mental health supports to students who are anxious, disruptive, and simply not adjusting to being back in school after remote learning and the Covid pandemic. Over the past months, The Center for Educational Improvement has offered a series of articles addressing anxiety and trauma, but there has been even more going on behind our HeartMind Newsletter suggestions!

In partnership with Yale University’s Program for Recovery and Community Health, CEI submitted a grant proposal to the the United States Department of Education in 2022, to support a three year project titled The Compassionate School Leadership Academy.

Based on the extensive knowledge and expertise of select staff from both organizations, their previous work as part of a national school mental health initiative over the past five years, and the development of a tool to help drive transformational change, our partnership was awarded $2.8 million dollars to implement the CSLA in schools throughout the US. The project is further supported by a 25% match of in-kind and related services of $985,000 over the course of the three-year project from TeachLink, CEI, the Michigan Elementary and Middle Schools Principals Association, and participating schools...

Antiracism and Early Childhood Curriculum Options

Amelia Murray, CEI Research Assistant

It may be daunting for educators to approach the task of being antiracist in the classroom. An article by Dena Simmons, an activist and founder of LiberatED, breaks down this lofty goal into five actions (Simmons, 2019):

Engage in vigilant self-awareness
Acknowledge racism and the ideology of white supremacy
Study and teach representative history
Talk about race with students
When you see racism, do something

As Simmons (2019) says, “When we let our discomfort or ignorance shield us from recognizing our country's racist history and present, we are part of the problem. Failing to acknowledge racism not only erases histories, cultures, and identities, but also ignores ongoing differential treatment based on race.”

To be antiracist, it is essential to be self-aware, beginning with inward reflections and maintaining an open mind to counter any implicit bias that we may have. Then, we must not let racism go unnamed and unacknowledged. Curricula must reflect a wide range of cultures and backgrounds in lessons across subjects and should include thoughtful discussion. Lastly, “most important, when we see racism—whether at the individual or policy level—we must have the courage to act” (Simmons, 2019)...