Building bridges between school and adolescents’ mental health: a qualitative research with teachers

Covid-19 has made the adolescents’ diffused discomfort more visible. The school is unanimously considered a prominent setting for mental health promotion (MHP) and for taking care of discomfort. Many MHP projects have been implemented in European schools, but they are rarely managed by teachers, who are students’ reference points. Based on the Interpretive Phenomenological Approach, our qualitative study purposefully involved 16 high school teachers/principals in Lombardy, Italy. From the analysis of the interviews, which lasted 45-90 minutes, 231 meaning units, 38 categories, and 9 themes emerged, including: “Adolescents’ MHP: Between teachers’ ordinary and extraordinary work at school”. Most participants see teaching as an occasion for promoting MH, thanks to both participatory teaching methodologies and the learning experience at school. Many recognize in laboratory/experiential activities, inside and outside the classroom, a great MHP potential; MHP outside the classroom is conceived as a synergistic opening towards the community opportunities/events and not just to external experts/projects. Other teachers underline the importance of transforming the school from a place of transition into a space generating relationships and a sense of belonging in the students. This qualitative research has revealed potential bridges between daily educational work at school and MHP, which are undervalued in Italy.