Transforming the education environment: Taking a brain-aware approach

For nearly two decades, I dedicated my life to teaching in various primary schools, working with different age groups both in the classroom and as a special education teacher. My passion for teaching was fueled by the students; they were the reason I showed up every day. Unfortunately, it was the system that eventually broke me, but that’s a story for another time.

Today, I wish to share one of the most heartfelt messages which I received. For the last seven years of my teaching career, I had the privilege of working as a special education teacher. During this period, I primarily supported students with emotional and behavioral challenges, and children with autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, and anxiety. However, due to a shortage of primary school teachers in Dublin, I returned to the classroom to teach a sixth class for my final three months.

I was quite nervous about stepping back into the classroom and being the last teacher these students would have in primary school. Thankfully, I brought with me a wealth of tools and strategies from my mental health education consultancy days. I had a deeper understanding of the importance of connection, regular movement breaks for all students, and teaching them to become emotionally skilled and attuned to themselves and others. While I was grateful for this knowledge, I was also exhausted because the curriculum didn’t allow the space for such work. It was up to me to balance meeting curriculum requirements whilst taking a brain-aware approach to nurturing, teaching and preparing them for their next big step.

In such a short time, there was a lot of trial and error on my part, and a constant worry about not getting it right. But we made it through, and there was much to smile about. We said our goodbyes, they were ready to transition to secondary school, and I was preparing for our next family move to the USA.

A few days later, during the school holidays, a delightful email arrived in my inbox. Two of my students had taken the time to send this message together:

“To Ms Hughes we don’t know if you will see this but if you do we have a few things to say. First of all we want to thank you for giving us the best year we could have asked for, there is no words that can describe how grateful we are to have you as not only our teacher but as our friend, you have made such an impact on our confidence ( in a good way) and how we act around each other.

You have inspired us all to be better people and know that thoughts are not facts, but most importantly that we can do hard things and we can conquer the world if we put our mind to it. Even though there was great days and tough days you were always there for us no matter what and we will forever be thankful for you and what you brought to our class.”

So thank you, Ms Hughes for teaching us that we can do hard things! While you are in America make sure every second counts and enjoy every minute of it❤️ you deserve the world Ms Hughes and we hope you know that, and as Andy Grammar once said “we will fight for you.”

This note means more to me than I can ever express. I want to take this opportunity to thank them both from the bottom of my heart. As a teacher, you rarely hear if what you’re saying, doing, or teaching is being received, especially when it comes to the mental and emotional work we did together.

With the current state of children’s mental health in our country, it weighs heavily on me that our education system is not prioritising it in schools. It often feels like a box-ticking exercise. Everything I implemented, I either self-taught or chose to train in, and I know many other teachers are in the same boat.

If you’re a parent or caregiver reading this, I urge you to ask your principals, Boards of Management, and TDs to make our schools trauma-informed and neuroaffirmative. This way, every adult can take a brain-aware approach to supporting and working with the children in their care and have a deeper understanding of the mental health needs of all children. An investment worth making for the whole community, and a legacy we could all be proud of!

Photo by Monica Sedra on Unsplash