Exploring the Experiences of Preschool Teachers Working with Children Living with Parental Mental Illness
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Exploring the Experiences of Preschool Teachers Working with Children Living with Parental Mental Illness Stella Laletas1 · Andrea Reupert1 · Melinda Goodyear2 Accepted: 7 November 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Children exposed to the risk factors associated with parental mental illness are seen to be at risk of developing cognitive, emotional, and behavioural difficulties in preschool and later in life. Given that educational settings are seen as optimal for early intervention, preschool teachers have an important role to play in identifying and responding to the needs of these vulnerable children at a critical period of their development. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of preschool teachers who have taught, or currently teach, preschool aged children (4–6 years) affected by a parent’s mental illness. Seven university qualified preschool teachers were interviewed about their experiences and reflected on their practices, specifically those practices that seemed to help support the child and those that did not. The findings highlighted that preschool teachers are knowledgeable and have the skills to identify warning signs and risk factors for young children, however this knowledge was limited in the context of parental mental illness and associated risks for preschool children. As such, the present study highlighted the need for targeted and specialized training and resources designed for the needs of preschool teachers. Several implications were discussed. Keywords Preschool teachers · Early childhood education and care · Family and parental mental illness · Developmentally vulnerable children · Family-focused practice · Working in partnership with families · Cross disciplinary collaboration · Staff development Children transitioning to school are at a critical stage of their cognitive, social and emotional development (Bayer et al. 2011). When preschool aged children (4–6 years) are exposed to the risk factors associated with parental mental illness (PMI), research has shown that these children are especially vulnerable, and may be at risk of adverse outcomes at school and over their lifespan (Leijdesdorff et al. 2017). When referring to parental mental illness in this paper, the authors include parents with or without a clinically diagnosed mental disorder. Parents who do not meet the criteria for a clinical diagnosis might be individuals who seek help and treatment from mental health services for emotional distress and/or adjustment problems related to loss of employment, family breakdown and/or life circumstances. * Stella Laletas [email protected] 1
Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, School of Rural Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
2
Since the early 2000’s, parental mental illness and the impact on children is a phenomenon that has attracted much attention around the world (Mordoch and Hall 2002; Oyserman et al. 2000). Prevalence studies have identified that there
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