The On My Mind is a universal educational programme for increasing mental health literacy and was developed to be integrated in diverse cultural, structural, and school contexts.
The curriculum consists of 18 lesson plans and is designed to be delivered over the course of a school year by trained teachers following a detailed manual.
On My Mind is based on the following principles: evidence-based, collaborative, positive and sustainable.
The programme was developed to support young people in:
- developing their full potential,
- building resilience,
- focusing on strengths,
- coping with everyday challenges and stress.
Positive mental health literacy, which focuses on developing and maintaining optimal mental well-being, is a core element of the lessons and teacher training. The curriculum is designed to meet the developmental needs of 11-13 years old students and is delivered in the form of experiential, educational activities, and discussions, with the teacher as a guide.
Benefits of Mental Health Literacy
LESS EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
- improved attitudes towards self
- less depression, anxiety and stress
- reduced social withdraw
- improved emotional regulation
LESS CONDUCT PROBLEMS
- reduced risky and aggressive behaviour
- reduced substance abuse
POSITIVE SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
- improved attitudes toward others
- more prosocial behaviour
- better emotional intelligence
- improved problem-solving skills
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
- improved attitudes toward school
- better classroom climate
TIMELY HELP-SEEKING
- greater willingness to seek help
- early detection of problems
- less stigmatising attitudes
The On My Mind educational programme, aimed at increasing mental health literacy, was developed by the National Institute of Mental Health’s Working Group on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research in collaboration with Czech and international experts from government, education and mental health sectors.
The programme is already implemented by more than 60 schools in the Czech Republic.
If you are interested in implementing the On My Mind programme in your country, please contact our coordinator below for more information.
Curriculum
On My Mind consist of 18 lessons divided into 5 topics (1 lesson/45 minutes):
Mental Health
1: Health
2: Mental Health
3: Brain and hormones
4: Stress in our bodies
Students are introduced to the program and learn about mental well-being and the effect of stress and hormones on mental health.
Emotional literacy
5: Emotions
6: Emotional regulation
7: Thoughts
8: Behaviour
Students learn to notice and name their emotions and thoughts and recognize the impact on behaviour. Students are guided in practices improving their ability to regulate their emotions and behaviour.
Relationships
9: Knowing myself
10: Relationships with others
11: Building empathy
Students realise the importance of relationships both with self and others, and learn healthy relationship skills including developing and practising empathy, respect, and kindness.
Communication
12: Communication basics
13: Communicating emotions
14: Healthy communication
Students deepen their communication skills, learn to better deal with conflicts and challenging situations and realise their agency in behaviours and communication strategies.
Mental health first aid
15: It’s OK not to be OK
16: Mental health care
17: Seeking help
18: My Mental Health Plan
Students learn signs and symptoms of mental health problems, types of mental health care, and help-seeking knowledge and resources. In the end, each student creates an individualized mental health plan.
The curriculum is intended to be delivered over the course of a school year with a consistent teacher and class, averaging one lesson plan per week. The knowledge and skills students learn are built upon in subsequent lessons.
Each lesson teaches students 3 key takeaways using a variety of teaching methods including lectures, experiential exercises, individual, pair or group activities, practices, reflection, observation and discussion. After each lesson students journal 3 key takeaways and 1 personal discovery. Journal. Every lesson ends with an experiment, giving students encouragement to actively practice mental health promoting practices over the course of the week.
What do teachers and students who have already gone through the programme have to say about On My Mind?
Teacher training
All teachers of the On My Mind programme are provided with comprehensive 24 hour training (3 days), manual with the necessary theoretical and practical context and journals for students. It includes 18 lessons with detailed information on how to deliver the lesson and what to do in it.
Training objectives:
- To prepare teachers for the successful implementation of the On My Mind program and to learn essential knowledge, skills and attitudes related to mental health literacy and social-emotional learning.
- Focus on topics such as mental health and mental health problems, the role of the teacher in the program, principles of mental health literacy, self-care, pedagogical skills relevant to program implementation, and theoretical and developmental background.
- To transfer knowledge and skills for managing emotions and stress, promoting healthy communication, managing conflict and challenging situations, building healthy relationships and early identification and addressing potential psychological problems.
- To provide teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to improve their own mental well-being and prevent burnout.
The ideal candidate is:
- a teacher of Health education or similar subject at primary school
- a teacher with an interest in the topic of mental health, who is not afraid of new challenges
- a teacher working with Year 6 and/or Year 7 students at least once a week
Master Training
The process of becoming a Master Trainer is intended and designed for teacher trainers from organizations who want to scale their impact. Once the feasibility, effectiveness, and scalability of On My Mind has been tested and proven successful in each context, there is the possibility of nominating teacher trainers to graduate to Master Trainers. The On My Mind Master Training is designed following a train-the -trainer (tot) model, whereby devoted trainers become subject experts in mental health literacy and take on the responsibility of ensuring fidelity in implementation of the program in their given context over a long-term collaboration with the National Institute of Mental Health, Czech Republic.
This programme was created with the support of the RSJ Foundation Czech Republic and the EEA Grants 2014-2021.
