Fueled by outdated myths and misconceptions, individuals who have a mental illness continue to be stigmatized as they navigate life’s daily routines that most people take for granted. It has been well researched and documented that the stigma that surrounds mental illnesses and seeking care for mental illnesses is a significant barrier to achieving overall wellness. President Bush’s New Freedom Report concludes that “When people have a personal understanding of the facts (about mental illnesses), they will be less likely to stigmatize mental illnesses and more likely to seek help for mental health problems”. Yet how can individuals have any understanding of mental health when education on mental health and mental illness does not exist in the teaching and learning concepts of standard school curriculum?
The Advocacy Alliance, in responding to the Goals of the President’s 2003 New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, Report Achieving the Promise, and the recommendations from the 1999 Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, concluded that a Mental Health Curriculum Framework for teaching about mental well-being and mental illnesses was a necessary next step. This Framework does not pile on more tasks for teachers, but enhances their existing curriculum and can be used within and across school districts, schools, subject areas, and grades in multiple contexts.
The Mental Health Curriculum Framework was developed to focus on an approach that would encourage teaching and learning through dialogue and inquiry where students act their way into thinking differently. Significant change can never be achieved without integrating the teaching and learning of mental illness concepts into the art and science of schooling.
This Framework embraces the whole child concept of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) (www.ascd.org) as described in ASCD’s Learning Compact Redefined: A Call to Action.
Please click here if you would like a copy of the Mental Health Curriculum Framework.