Mental Health in Schools

Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu
Adorn the bird with feathers so it may soar.
Whether you are young or old, there is always room to grow.

Learning a new skill is one of the many feathers you can wear to help you soar high

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Key points​

• Mitey is all about giving tamariki the skills they need to help them soar high.

• Mitey is part of the Sir John Kirwan Foundation - Sir John’s goal is for New Zealand to have the best Mental Health in the world.

• Sir John believes that if he had grown up knowing what Mental Health looked like, he would have been better equipped to deal with life.

• Sir John was hugely concerned about New Zealand’s suicide rates and knew something different had to be done to impact change.

• Upon lots of research, the Sir John Kirwan Foundation decided that ‘education’ was the driver for a cultural change.

• To support tamariki to become literate in Mental health, support needs to start when they are young.

• Experienced Mitey coaches work with schools to provide tailored, flexible, and free support.

• Mitey’s approach has been led by Professor Peter O’Connor from the University of Auckland, alongside Dr Melinda Webber and Dr Katie Fitzpatrick (see Education Gazette article below).

• Mitey is a bicultural approach to Mental Health that has been written by New Zealand educators for New Zealand educators.

• Mitey’s Learning Outcomes have been written to develop knowledge skills to enable tamariki to recognise their mental health and that of those around them.

• Mitey is underpinned by the Mana Model (McFarlane & Webber, 2020).

• The Mana Model (McFarlane & Webber, 2020) consists of 5 forms of mana and individuals need to develop skills in all forms to build good mental health.

1. Mana whānau - children need to build a sense of self and be able to connect to others..

2. Mana Ūkaipo - children need to feel connected to the place where they live and learn and to the people in those places.

3. Mana Motuhake - children need to feel that they can be successful.

4. Mana Tū - children need the skills to understand difference and deal with adversity.

5. Mana Tangatarua - Children have the skills, knowledge, and confidence to navigate, with mental wellness, two or more worlds.

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Links to dig deeper

• Mana model underpins mental health education approach

• Sir John Kirwan Foundation

• Mitey

• Mitey affirms and develops mana

• Support Wellbeing

Acknowledgments

Alina and Jane from Mitey - Interviewee
Corrinne Devitt - Co-Host, scripting and show notes
Ve Grant-Lawlor - Co-host, scripting, music, production, editing, and publishing