Student Teachers with Mental Health Conditions Share Barriers to Success: A Case Study

Abstract

Universities are trying to address student mental health needs through counseling centers and other outreach initiatives. However, do individual colleges know how to address the mental health concerns of their own students? Three faculty members in the College of Education at a university located in the southern United States posed two questions to find out what it is like for student teachers to live with a mental health condition, and what would support academic performance in the College. Seventeen undergraduate students who self-reported as having a mental health condition and were completing their senior year as student teachers volunteered to be interviewed for this case study. Three themes emerged after a reiterative process of reading and coding the interview responses. The three themes were barriers to success, student teaching as a positive experience, and lack of mental health awareness, education, and training for all. The discussion section includes recommendations for removing some barriers through more effective communication and increasing mental health literacy for faculty, staff, and students in the college.