06 Apr How Teachers Can Support Students

Teachers play a significant role in students’ lives from helping them to learn and progress with their education to providing pastoral care when necessary too. The pandemic turned children’s worlds upside down, with the structure of the school routine suddenly taken away from them and their social interactions being restricted too.

The months of lockdown has had a profound effect on children’s mental health and we still don’t know the full impact of this yet. In addition to the mental toll that the pandemic has had on students, their education has been significantly disrupted.

Teachers now face the challenge of helping students to achieve their potential while dealing with all of the emotional strain built up over the last few years. For students to be able to perform to their best ability in exams and to thrive in their school environment, support from teachers and other staff is key.

There are a number of strategies that school leaders and teachers can apply to help support students:

Talk more about mental health

Giving students an environment where they feel comfortable talking about their mental health is very important. Having discussions in registration groups and making sure all students are aware of their pastoral support will help to normalise the discussions that can identify mental health issues. Discussing coping mechanisms will help students to understand what helps them most when they are feeling stressed.

Provide positive feedback and encouragement

Providing positive feedback is an important part of motivating students to work hard but it is more important than ever to help rebuild their confidence and keep them focused on their work. Reviewing which students’ academic performances have been most negatively affected by the pandemic and talking to them to provide additional support can help identify any ongoing issues impacting their performance.

Increase the feeling of a school community

Not all students have a good support network at home, so providing them with one in school will help students to feel that they are not alone and that they can share their problems with people in school. Doing team activities, both for sports and outside of sports can build a greater sense of belonging to a group.

Develop trusting relationships

Some students will not feel comfortable talking in groups about any issues that they have, so giving them the opportunity to talk one-to-one will offer them more options to express any concerns that they have with school or problems outside of school. 

It can be hard to make time to provide individual time for each student but looking out for the ones who are less likely to talk in front of the class is a good starting point. By talking to a teacher more often, students will feel more comfortable about confiding in them.

At Worldwide Education Recruitment we are dedicated to finding teachers who can make a real difference in students’ lives and this is an even higher priority now than pre-pandemic. If you are passionate about making a difference in students’ lives, we would love to hear from you, so please take a look at our current vacancies.