Teachers' perception of struggling students in the orthodox Jewish community

This study looks at teachers' perception of the emotional struggles of students in their classrooms within one Orthodox Jewish Community.Seventeen teachers within one school were surveyed using a 29 question Likert scale instrument.It was hypothesized that while stigma of mental illness in the Orthodox community may have decreased over time, misunderstanding of mental illness and cultural biases continue to prevent children from receiving the maximum help possible.The majority of respondents reported that between 11-20% of their students were struggling with some form of emotional/behavioral problem.Attribution was primarily linked to poor parenting, a lack of coping skills, and inborn personality rather than to bullying and abuse.These findings suggests that cultural stigma and teachers' lack of preparedness in understanding the full range of their children's emotional needs may be an issue for the educational system.Potential solutions would include the development, with input from school administrators, teachers and social workers, of a comprehensive teacher-training program.This intensive training would go beyond classroom management and teaching methods.Its focus would be to educate teachers in child development, and a basic understanding of child psychopathology.Further research is needed to determine if the findings of this study are reflective of the larger Orthodox Jewish community.