In difficult times — whether during a global pandemic or at moments of individual challenge or change — it’s crucial to know how to maintain and manage our mental health. Effective coping strategies can go a long way to preventing derailments on the path to wellbeing and success, and teachers and caregivers can support young people to develop these.
Barclays LifeSkills has developed three activities designed to help students in a range of settings to maintain a positive mental attitude. Encompassing self-confidence, resilience and general wellbeing, each provides:
A full lesson plan and presentation slides for use with a group of students in the classroom.
An interactive worksheet which can be downloaded and shared with students as an independent learning activity, homework, or to complement the relevant lesson plan.
An online lesson film giving students practical tips for managing their own wellbeing while under pressure. These can be used alongside the interactive worksheets or on their own.
Helping young people to identify the feelings experienced when facing and overcoming a challenge, such as adapting to big changes or new ways of learning and working, can be an important step to recognising the benefits of successfully tackling challenges in the workplace. This lesson and related activities are designed to help students understand how solving a problem or meeting a challenge can increase their self-confidence.
Resilience — or staying positive — is all about the ability to use tactics and strategies to overcome setbacks and achieve goals. It’s vital that students learn why developing these strategies and positive attitude, also known as a ‘growth mindset’, is valuable both now and for their future. These flexible activities allow students to develop skills in a variety of ways, introducing staying positive as a transferable skill that is valued by employers and will help students in both education and work.
Developed with support from the mental health anti-stigma and discrimination campaign Time to Change, these activities help students understand the significance of mental wellbeing to their future success and career prospects. Addressing mental wellbeing is particularly important for young people when moving from education into the world of work, which can be a challenging period of change, and can even have an impact on their employability success.
This piece was first featured in our Spring 2021 issue of Future TalentEd magazinefor careers leaders, parents and students.