Mental health literacy course for special education resource teachers
Special education resource teachers help create supportive conditions for student learning, mental health, and well-being. Mental health literacy strengthens educators’ confidence to recognize needs, offer informed support, and contribute to a safe, mentally healthy school environment.
Online Course
MH LIT: Mental Health in Action for Special Education Resource Teachers
The MH LIT: Mental Health in Action for Special Education Resource Teachers course is designed to help enhance the knowledge and confidence of special education resource teachers in supporting the mental health and well-being of students accessing special education supports and services.
Duration: 3 hours
Format: 3 learning modules, self-paced, online
Result: certificate of completion for your portfolio
What to expect
The course consists of three one-hour modules covering the following topics:
- Module A: Mental Health Foundations
- Module B: The Role of the Special Education Resource Teacher in Mental Health Promotion
- Module C: Early Identification and Support for Student Accessing Special Education Services
Module A: Mental Health Foundations
Gain a deeper understanding of identity affirming mental health, and an understanding of the relationship between mental health and mental illness. This module also provides a description of the multi-tiered model for school mental health.
Module B: The Role of the Special Education Resource Teacher in Mental Health Promotion
Learn about the role of mental health promotion in creating inclusive, supportive environments for students accessing special education services. This module highlights the importance of inclusive design, key considerations for planning mental health activities, effective communication strategies, and resources to support coping, stress management, and transitions.
Module C: Early Identification and Support for Student Accessing Special Education Services
This module focuses on the key role of special education resource teachers in identifying and supporting student mental health concerns early. It emphasizes effective collaboration with families, strategies to strengthen protective factors and reduce risk, and understanding how to access mental health services. It also addresses the importance of supporting smooth transitions to, from and through more intensive care, the role of educators in suicide prevention and substance use, and the need for self-care.
The course will help:
- To build your own mental health literacy
- Serve as a trusted reference to provide information to colleagues and resource teams when needed
- Offer information and resources that can be used to support students and their families and strengthen partnerships with parents/caregivers.
The course is free, self-paced and takes approximately three 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.
Special education resource teachers 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 MH LIT: Mental Health in Action for Special Education Resource Teachers. Click to self-register.
Mental health leaders, managers of social work and psychology
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:
- Special education resource teachers, school leaders and superintendents currently employed by a publicly funded school board in Ontario
- Mental health leaders and managers of social work and psychology/li>
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.
