Mitigating Student Anxiety in the Secondary Classroom: A Culturally Sustaining Approach

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: The Effect of Affect: Teacher Research and Caring Classroom Cultures (Table 16)

Abstract

My observations and national trends show rising youth anxiety, a risk factor for suicide. The shortage of school counselors and barriers to community counseling make teachers’ roles as a first point of contact vital, especially for BIPOC and LGBTQ youth experiencing identity-based anxiety, often compounded by community traumas. Identity-based anxieties are often misattributed to aggression or attention-seeking and punished in schools. I used mental health training and culturally sustaining curricula based on critical race theory and Queer theory and pedagogy, under the framework of mental health promotion in schools, in hopes of decreasing middle school students’ anxiety levels. Results were promising despite confounding variables, and may be more successful with improvement in implementation, policy revision, and exploration of empirical models.

Author

• Erin Elizabeth Hawley Cronin, Hamline University