Tips for better mental health in schools with a concentration of vulnerable groups: School principals
How can we help improve mental health in schools with a concentration of vulnerable groups?
Advice to principals: The practice of the Amalipe Center from working with hundreds of schools across the country clearly shows that the school bears to a large extent the “stamp”, the spirit of its principal. For this reason, we rely heavily on you to organize an inclusive, intercultural school, free from any discrimination and harassment. Count on the support of both your team and Amalipe and other organizations!
Working for better mental health of students and teachers is a common task for everyone. What can you do specifically?
- Create a team spirit and an environment for overcoming specific problems with parents and students from vulnerable groups: all teachers, the
school psychologist, the pedagogical advisor, as well as educational mediators/teacher’s assistant/social worker should participate in the effort. Make sure that they work as a team, also attracting active students and parents. - Use the opportunities provided by the additional funding under Art. 52a of the Funding Regulation: every year schools with a concentration of vulnerable groups receive additional funding for work with students and parents. It can only be used under Pillar 1 of the delegated budgets – that is, for salaries and fees. This is a very good opportunity that you should not miss! This funding includes a special item for salaries of educational mediators, teacher assistants and social workers – use it to appoint these very important figures. Another item is for teachers’ fees and salaries – use it to stimulate those of them who have a real contribution to the work of attracting and retaining students. Remember that if you do not use the resource during the calendar year, it will be reduced from the subsidy under Art. 52a for the following year. So use the funds provided, including for specialists who work for better mental health. See more information about the funding under Art. 52 a https://amalipe.bg/romsko-obrazovanie/proekti-mon/rabota-s-uiazvimi-grupi/
- Use the opportunities of the Education Program – the systemic projects “Support for Success”, other systemic projects, school projects for the prevention of bullying and aggression and many other opportunities. Also use the national programs of the Ministry of Education, the Center for the Prevention of Bullying and Aggression and any other opportunities: currently the Education Program and the National Programs of the Ministry of Education provide a very wide range of opportunities for engaging psychologists, educational mediators and for the implementation of activities that lead to better mental health of students. Use these opportunities!
- Establish good contacts and partnerships with the formal and informal authorities of your parents, incl. religious leaders, shopkeepers in the neighborhood, informal leaders, etc.: Seek the assistance of these authorities: often in a Roma community the real authorities remain unknown. They can be religious leaders (for example, pastors among Protestant Roma are influential people whose opinion is valued in the community), shopkeepers in the neighborhood, other informal leaders. Educational mediators, health mediators, municipal experts on ethnic issues can also be influential people, especially if they are representatives of the local community. In some conservative groups (e.g. the Kaldarashi) there are traditional bodies and mechanisms of influence – meshere, etc. Get to know the authorities in the community and use them for your educational work!
- Appoint more educational mediators/teacher assistants/social workers. Look for authoritative people in the community for these positions: to appoint more educational mediators, you can use not only the funding under Art. 52a, but also the systematic projects of the Ministry of Education and Science, other projects. You can also use the school budget. It is important to select the right people for these positions. Our experience shows that educational mediators are especially effective if they are representatives of the local community. You certainly have Roma who can be motivated as educational mediators. Encourage some of them to become teachers by completing pedagogical education!
- Introduce various forms of civic and intercultural education: such as “Folklore of ethnic groups”, interest classes in ethnic culture, etc.: you can use the experience of the Amalipe Center in this direction and the educational resources for this https://amalipe.bg/publikacii/uchebni-materiali/. Our experience clearly shows that civic and intercultural education “opens” the school to the local community, parents and students.
Organize training for teachers on working in a multicultural environment: there is always something new to learn in this direction!
Partner with NGOs and schools with experience in working in a multicultural environment: The experience of the Amalipe Center and the schools from the network we work with clearly shows that the best help is help from other educational institutions that are facing the same problems. Colleagues from similar schools can share experiences and you can learn a lot from them. And vice versa – they will also learn what you are doing. Currently, the Ministry of Education and Science provides many opportunities for interaction between different schools – use them!
Non-governmental organizations have accumulated experience in the field of education. They can help you with ideas and joint activities. Look for organizations that you trust. Amalipe Center is ready to assist you!
Mental health at school – can we talk about it without stereotypes?
