Mental Health Literacy and Initial Teacher Education: A Program Evaluation

Utilizing a program evaluation framework, this study explored the effectiveness of a 10-week, mandatory, online mental health literacy course for 275 teacher candidates in a large central Canadian faculty of education. Shifts in teacher candidates’ mental health literacy (using the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire; Rodger Johnson, & Weston, 2017), attitudes toward mental health (Opening Minds Scale; Modgill, Patten, Knaak, & Szeto, 2014), and two types of coping skills, seeking social support and self-control (Ways of Coping Scale; Folkman & Lazarus, 1985), were examined. The findings indicated that the course demonstrated efficacy in positively shifting teaching candidates’ mental health knowledge, stigma attitudes, and one type of coping skill, namely self control. Further, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to explore the predictive nature of the four-factor model from the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire (MHLQ; teaching and leading in a mentally healthy classroom, role clarity, professional relational skills, expectancies) as a predictor of the measures of interest. Results indicated that teaching and leading in a mentally healthy classroom was the only predictor of teacher candidates’ coping skills for those experiencing professionally related stress. Overall, findings of the program evaluation of this mandatory, online mental health literacy course support the existing literature, and demonstrates that teacher candidates can benefit from enhanced early training experiences on mental health topics during their initial teacher education