Teaching and Learning Practices That Foster a Climate of Care for Postsecondary Students

Campus mental health climate reflects the attitudes, behaviors, standards, and practices that influence the emotionally supportive environment of a campus community. Faculty are in a unique position to act in ways that foster this form of supportive environment as they seek to educate students holistically. In this study, faculty in a Christian postsecondary context were asked to (a) describe what teaching and learning practices they use to foster a positive mental health climate and (b) reflect on their personal competency to respond to students who are experiencing mental distress. Nine faculty employed at a small Christian university individually participated in a semi-structured interview. Using reflexive thematic analysis, three themes were identified that captured the practices employed by faculty to foster an emotionally supportive campus climate: flexible teaching and learning practices, personalized approaches, and intentional community building. Four additional themes were identified that captured the breadth of faculty perspectives of their competency to respond to students in distress. Namely, participants felt competent within the boundaries of their professional roles as educators; however, they had inadequate information regarding access to support resources, observed that workplace challenges inhibited their ability to respond to students’ distress, expressed a desire for more mental health training, and acknowledged a tension between a desire for training and time constraints. Recommendations are made based on the results of this study, including developing an institution-wide mental health framework and continuum of mental distress as well as creating a centralized location accessible to all faculty for mental distress resources.