Mandt & Maslow

Today I went to the first of two sessions for the Mandt Training.  Now that I've been through the first day I feel like I better understand what it actually is.  It's basically a problem-solving method for situations where a student's behavior becomes escalated (primarily in anger).  When behaviors become escalated things can quickly spin out of control where the student can easily harm themselves or harm others.  The whole first day of training was focused on steps to de-escalate the student before any restraint has to be used. 

For me, these basic steps were more of a refresher for my summer hiatus.  They discussed Maslow's Hierarchy of needs and the reality of the fact that if we have a student who is at the bottom of the hierarchy it's simply preposterous for us to expect them to get anywhere in thier academics.  Academics (Achievement) is placed much higher on the pyramid, close to self-actualization.  Of course!  It seems like common sense to many of us (School Psychs, Para Educators, Sped Teachers, etc.).  But alas, common sense is not so common.  

It also leads me again to wonder what is teacher education like and why are they missing out on these very foundational mental health needs?  What exactly do they teach teachers?  How do they not know developmental stages, cognitive development, etc?  But then I think, well if they knew all that stuff already they probably wouldn't need School Psychs.  Even as SP's we cannot possibly know everything or be trained in everything.  The human is a very complex being and to understand it in its entirety...well we would probably be in school until the day we die.  And that doesn't even count the real-life experiences that confound what we are taught from books and lecture.  Humans cannot be bound into neat little packages.  This is why it is so important, vital to any amount of success, to be able to work as a team!  We have to be there for each other professionally because there is so much we can learn from one another and do to support each other.  It really does take a "village" to raise a child.  But I digress.

Back to the point.  It seems that as adults we tend to forget the children are people too.  Just like us, when they are in crisis they cannot begin to think about addition or reading.  First must come mental health then the rest will fall into place.  It seems so simple, yet our society tries so hard to deny us this.  It is deemed an unnecessary cost, a distraction, for sissies. But the proof is there in research over and over again.  We absolutely must have mental health supports as a core service in our education system.  Otherwise we are all just simply putting a band-aid on a gaping wound the size of the grand canyon.