Exploring Primary School Teaching Assistants’ Views on Supporting Children and Young People’s Mental Health

Yildirim, Burcu (2024) Exploring Primary School Teaching Assistants’ Views on Supporting Children and Young People’s Mental Health. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Concerns have continued to grow in recent years regarding the mental health (MH) of CYP (children and young people), with mental health disorders impacting 1 in 6 six-to-16-year-olds (NHS Digital, 2021). In recent decades, fostering mental health has become an integral part of schools’ responsibilities which is evident in Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003), underpinned by the Children’s Act 2004. School teaching staff such as teachers and Teaching Assistants (TAs) are ideally placed to recognise early indications of issues with mental health, stressing they ‘see the children day in day out, they know them well and are well placed to spot changes in behaviour that might indicate a problem’ (Trudgen & Lawn, 2011). Previous research has emphasised teacher’s voices on supporting CYP’s mental health, there is however a lack of research in the UK which elicits the voices of TAs when supporting CYP’s mental health. The present study explored the views of eight TAs in their role of supporting CYP’s mental health in UK mainstream primary schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted which were analysed using Thematic Analysis (TA). Although each participant had their own unique experience, five main themes emerged from the analysis: ‘experiences of working within the systems’, ‘defining children and young people’s mental health and teaching assistants’ own mental health’, ‘how teaching assistants support children and young people’s mental health’, ‘partnership with parents’ and ‘training’. The findings highlight the key contribution of TAs in supporting CYP’s mental health and the factors that impact this. The findings also demonstrate that the factors that impact on the practice of TAs, also impact on their role in supporting CYP’s mental health. Overall, the participants believed that they supported CYP’s mental health in a variety of ways and explicitly referenced the close relationships that they formed with CYP. These findings are relevant to educational professionals (including EPs and schools), so that they are better equipped when supporting CYP’s mental health. Key implications and areas for future research are identified.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Education and Lifelong Learning
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	15 Jan 2025 14:49
Last Modified:	15 Jan 2025 14:49
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/98206
DOI:

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