Psychological health is an important component of students’ comprehensive development and one of the basic goals of school education.
As a homeroom teacher, you should not only focus on students’ academics and morals but also prioritize students’ psychological health education. This helps students establish the right outlook on life, values, and the world, cultivating their confidence, self-esteem, self-love, and self-discipline, enhancing their psychological adaptability and resilience.
So, how can homeroom teachers excel in handling psychological work?
Establish a psychological work process.
To conduct psychological work effectively, homeroom teachers need to follow a scientific work process.
(1) Homeroom teachers should closely observe students’ daily behaviors, record them promptly, and analyze them.
These anomalies may include emotional fluctuations, changes in learning attitudes, or tense interpersonal relationships. Through daily records, homeroom teachers can establish a student’s psychological health profile, providing a basis for subsequent intervention measures.
(2) Once abnormal behaviors or emotions are identified in students, homeroom teachers need to take immediate action.
This situation should be reported promptly to the school’s psychology teacher or relevant department to implement targeted measures to address the issues effectively.
(3) For students at high psychological risk, homeroom teachers need to engage in deep communication with parents.
During this process, homeroom teachers not only need to inform parents about the students’ situations but also provide them with appropriate guidance to help them better understand and support their children.
(4) For students who have received psychological interventions, homeroom teachers need to maintain continuous follow-up.
This tracking helps assess the effectiveness of intervention measures and promptly identify any recurring or new issues students may face. Through this process, homeroom teachers can ensure that every student receives adequate attention and assistance to support their healthy growth.
Establish the role of psychological committee members.
Homeroom teachers’ individual abilities are limited, so every class can appoint psychological committee members to assist homeroom teachers in conducting psychological health education.
When selecting committee members, emphasis should be placed on candidates’ personal qualities: stable emotions, optimistic views on life, good interpersonal relationships, sincere care for classmates, understanding their needs, willingness to help, continuous self-improvement, ability to collaborate with others, and persistent efforts to understand human nature.
To ensure that committee members are capable of their roles, regular training on basic psychology knowledge and conversational skills is necessary. Additionally, frequent communication can promote sharing experiences and mutual growth among committee members, enhancing their abilities to better assist their classmates.
Most importantly, defining the responsibilities of committee members is crucial. Their main duties include assisting psychology teachers in delivering quality psychological health education, spreading psychological health knowledge within the class, documenting and reporting students’ psychological issues, offering psychological counseling within their capabilities, regularly collecting common psychological concerns among students, and promptly providing feedback to psychology teachers for professional solutions or organizing relevant group counseling.
Understand common psychological health issues among students.
Only by understanding common psychological health issues among students can homeroom teachers conduct targeted work effectively. Primary and secondary school students face different psychological challenges that require attention and appropriate measures.
For primary school students, due to their incomplete physical and mental development, they may exhibit weaker adaptability to new environments. They might face difficulties in interpersonal interactions, manifested by anger, jealousy, severe dependence, etc. Additionally, primary school students often have weak willpower, lack of concentration, and insufficient self-control, leading to boredom with studies and exam-related anxiety.
As for secondary school students, with increasing age and academic pressures, their psychological issues become more complex. Problems such as academic disinterest, exam anxiety, oversensitivity, tense relationships, low self-esteem, depression, adaptation issues, and sexual concerns are common. Issues like sexual distress and confusion should not be overlooked and require timely attention and guidance.
Identify students who are key early warning objects for psychological crises.
Students’ psychological conditions vary widely within a class, and psychological crises are not rare. To ensure timely detection of issues, specific student groups need special attention.
Firstly, students with various mental disorders, especially those with depression, face significant risks of psychological crises. Depression, a common psychological disorder, can lead students to prolonged periods of depression, negativity, and even suicidal ideation. Hence, these students require special attention and care.
Secondly, students with noticeable personality deviations, especially those prone to impulsive emotions, might resort to extreme behaviors when facing setbacks or stress. These students need prompt guidance and support to cultivate stable and healthy emotional management skills.
Students with poor parent-child relationships are also key early warning objects for psychological crises. Students from divorced, restructured, or left-behind families often experience more psychological pressure and confusion, requiring more care and support. By establishing close cooperation with parents, we can create a warm, supportive family environment for students collectively.
Furthermore, students who have recently exhibited warning signs are a special focus group requiring attention. These signs may include severe psychological disorders or suicidal tendencies detected in psychological assessments, abnormal behaviors or emotions after sudden shocks, students discussing suicide, sudden emotional changes, and expressions of life meaninglessness. For these students, immediate measures such as communication and psychological counseling should be taken to prevent crises.
Psychological work may seem routine and ordinary, but it entails many profound issues that require continuous attention and exploration. Psychological work plays a crucial role in creating a safe environment for students to grow securely. To conduct psychological work effectively, continuous reflection, learning, and practice are essential. Only through these efforts can we truly excel in this work and safeguard students’ physical and mental well-being.
Author & Layout / Liao Bowen
Reviewer / Huang Guanjun
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