Mental health literacy course for school administrators
This course has been updated to align with the Leading Mentally Healthy Schools ebook. The course provides foundational information administrators can use to support the mental health and well-being of students.
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Online Course
MH LIT – Mental Health in Action for school administrators
The MH LIT – Mental Health in Action course is designed to provide school administrators with basic knowledge and information related to mental health, strategies to enhance student mental health, and everyday practices.
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 (individually or group), online
Result: certificate of completion for your portfolio
What to expect
MH LIT for School Administrators works in tandem with the Leading Mentally Healthy School ebook. The course provides foundational information to support the mental health and well-being of students from a leadership perspective. It partners with the e-book which provides more in-depth look at these concepts.
The course consists of six modules covering the following topics:
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- define the seven foundations and know how each contributes to creating a school environment where mental health across the tiers can effectively reach every student
- assess the school environment in each foundation and develop strategies to strengthen areas where improvements are needed
By the end of this module, school administrators will be able to:
- understand a multi-tiered system of support and how it is used in the context of student mental health
- describe the role of mental health promotion (tier 1) in creating safe and supportive school environments that enhance student well-being and mental health literacy
- understand the importance and role of school staff in the early identification and prevention (tier 2) of mental health concerns of students
- recognize the critical importance of establishing clear and seamless transitions to, from, and through more intensive and specialized mental health services (tier 3) for students
By the end of this module school administrators will:
- gain an awareness of specific mental health challenges students face, including problematic substance use and suicidal ideation or behaviour
- understand how their leadership and actions can contribute to creating protective and supportive environments that help prevent serious mental health concerns
- know how to support students and parent/caregivers through tragic and traumatic events
By the end of this module, school administrators will:
- understand the importance of self-care
- recognize the significance of modelling healthy behaviours and conveying the importance of staff well-being
- acquire strategies for enhancing their leadership with empathy and understanding
The course will inform your leadership and help you:
- deepen your understanding of student mental health
- learn practical strategies
- enhance school and classroom culture
- have access to and find additional helpful resources
The course is free, self-paced and can be completed individually or as a group. 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.
School administrators and superintendents currently employed by a publicly funded school board in Ontario
You’ll access the course through your school board’s VLE (Virtual Learning Environment).
- Log in to your school board instance of the virtual learning environment.
- Sign in using your board single sign-on credentials.
- Once logged in, look for the widget labelled My Courses in Other Orgs, found on your landing page.
- 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
Currently, the course is available to the following groups:
- Educators, including occasional teachers and early childhood educators, school administrators 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.