Mental health literacy course for educators
Educators have a pivotal role in students’ academic, social, and emotional development. Mental health literacy increases educators’ knowledge and comfort in supporting student mental health and well-being.
Online Course
MH LIT - Mental Health in Action
The MH LIT – Mental Health in Action course is designed to provide educators with basic knowledge and information related to mental health, strategies to enhance student mental health, and everyday practices for use in the classroom.
LEARN about mental health.
INSPIRE through your actions.
TEACH in ways that encourage belonging and that support student mental health.
Duration: 6 hours
Format: 6 learning modules, self-paced, online
Result: certificate of completion for your portfolio
What to expect
The course consists of six one-hour modules covering the following topics:
Gain a deeper understanding about mental health, and consider strategies through which educators can promote mental health within the school and classroom environment.
Take a more in-depth look at the components of a mentally healthy classroom and ways in which educators can enhance and maintain mentally healthy classroom environments.
What are social and emotional skills, and how does it enhance student mental health within the learning environment? Learn specific strategies that educators can use to embed SEL in their classroom.
As awareness about mental health has increased, so has the volume of information for educators to consider. It can be challenging to determine what information is reliable and what approaches are best in the classroom. This module will help educators to engage in conversations with students when teaching about mental health or across the curriculum.
Educators help support student resiliency, strengths, and cultural assets, and are well-positioned to notice when a student might be struggling with a mental health problem. Knowing the signs of common mental health problems, and how to provide classroom support, can help you with your role.
Educators may have students who require additional internal and/or external services and support for their mental health concerns. This module provides an understanding of the elements of a circle of support and the educator role. It also explores how to talk to and partner with families to support a student experiencing mental health difficulties
The course will help you:
- deepen your understanding of student mental health
- learn practical strategies
- enhance classroom culture
- have access to and find additional helpful resources
- align your work with the Ontario College of Teachers’ advisory related to student mental health
- align your work with the updated Health and Physical Education curriculum
The course is free, self-paced and takes about six hours to complete. You’ll receive a certificate of completion at the end.
Start learning
The course is hosted in the Ministry of Education’s e-community, an online learning hub.
Educators, early childhood educators, school leaders and superintendents currently employed by a publicly funded school board in Ontario
You’ll access the course through your school board’s e-learning/virtual learning environment.
- Go to the login page for your school board instance of the virtual learning environment (https://xxxxx.elearningontario.ca). If you’re not sure how to find the page, use the dropdown menu below.
- Sign in using your school board credentials.
- Once logged in, scroll down the page until you see a box labelled My Courses in Other Orgs.
- Inside the box, you will see a link to a community called eCommunities Available for Self-Registration.
- Click on that link and you will be taken directly into eCommunity. Choose Professional Learning and Teaching. You will see Mental Health In Action for Elementary Educators. Click to self register.
Mental health leaders, managers of social work and psychology
You’ll access the course directly through the Ministry of Education’s e-community using the login credentials that were provided to you.
Course availability
The course is available to the following groups:
- Educators, including occasional teachers and early childhood educators, school leaders and superintendents currently employed by a publicly funded school board in Ontario
- Mental health leaders and managers of social work and psychology
We are working on providing broader access.
Fortier, A., Lalonde, G., Venesoen, P., Legwegoh, A. F., & Short, K. H. (2017). Educator mental health literacy to scale: From theory to practice. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 10(1), 65–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/1754730X.2016.1252276
Ontario College of Teachers (2018). Professional Advisory: Supporting Students’ Mental Health. https://www.oct.ca/-/media/pdfs/Mental%20Health%20Professional%20Advisory/2018%20ProfessionalAdvisorySupportingstudentsmentalhealth_ENweb.pdf
Pinto-Foltz, M. D., Logsdon, M. C., & Myers, J. A. (2011). Feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of a knowledge contact program to reduce mental illness stigma and improve mental health literacy in adolescents. Social Science & Medicine, 72, 2011–2019.