Supporting Self-Expression
Supporting Self-Expression
In the research we conducted, some young people expressed that they often receive emotional support from their friends and family. They also told us stories of bullying, feeling isolated, and wanting more friends. The young people wanted the space to express themselves more. They described finding it challenging to share their feelings with certain adults because of past negative experiences.
Recommendation:
Support young people by creating an environment where they feel free to express themselves. This will encourage young people to share and communicate their feelings across multiple formats and mediums, including arts, music, and writing.
Real World Examples:
The National Centre for Creative Health highlights the role of creativity and self-expression in improving the mental wellbeing of young people, including supporting the formation of friendships and improving resilience.
MEDIUM
Mindful Moves:
Developing Emotional Intelligence for Parents/Carers
GOAL: Parents/carers become adept at demonstrating healthy stress management techniques, helping children learn to deal with their own stress in constructive ways.
Provide parents/carers with techniques to model healthy emotional coping mechanisms and expressive skills to their children, ensuring they understand how to deal with stress in a balanced and empathetic manner.
Organise sessions where parents/ carers, families and friends within your community gather to learn coping skills and strategies to handle stress, which an be modelled on children at home.
- Bring together a group of friends and neighbours and begin having honest conversations about the different experiences raising children.
- Explore different ways of managing stress/difficult emotions. Share stories and trial methods together.
Be mindful of your own thoughts and feelings throughout this process. Every parent is on a learning journey, it’s not too late to do things differently.
Be brave enough to embrace new ideas and approaches by creating a non judgemental space. For many things the solution can be found within the community so sharing can be positive.
EASY
Mindful Moves:
Building Empathy
GOAL: Teachers and students develop a better understanding of empathy and learn to express their emotions in healthy ways, fostering a supportive classroom environment.
Educate teachers on how to model effective coping strategies and emotional expression in the classroom, demonstrating to children how to handle stressful situations beyond anger and sadness.
Implement classroom activities that promote empathy, such as role-playing scenarios and group discussions about feelings and perspectives.
- Start Small, Celebrate Wins: 1 activity/week, celebrate emotional expression (not just anger/sadness) in simple role-plays
- Model & Discuss: Teachers model coping strategies & open discussions about all emotions. Acknowledge & respect student feelings.
- Build Up & Explore: Gradually introduce complex scenarios & facilitate discussions on different perspectives to foster empathy.
If these activities are delivered alongside a schoolwide policy change on how to manage difficult behaviour in the classroom, there an opportunity to see different results around pupil expulsion especially in black and minority students.
Mindful Moves:
MEDIUM
Developing Emotional Intelligence (Teachers)
GOAL: Teachers have the skills to model effective coping strategies in the classroom, helping students learn healthy ways to manage stress and emotions.
Educate teachers on how to model effective coping strategies and emotional expression in the classroom, demonstrating to children how to handle stressful situations beyond just anger and sadness.
Create collective spaces where teachers learn and practice various trauma informed coping strategies for dealing with stress in high pressure situations, such as mindfulness, deep breathing, constructive communication, timeouts and grounding/ movement activities.
Reflect: Identify the most common emotions and challenges in your classroom.
Research: Look for mindfulness activities that can be done as a group, to support with regulating emotions. Useful activities can be found here:https://positivepsychology.com/emotion-regulation-worksheets-strategies-dbt-skills/
Experiment: Explore these techniques with your young people and their parents/ carers.Be consistent: The benefits of utilising these activities can be best seen over time.
Be mindful of how you feel during the lesson - when teaching, in that moment, you are the role model example for the students of how to manage stressful situations.