E STUDIO DE LOS COMPONENTES SUPERFICIALES DEL MUTANTE C8

When reflecting upon the overarching theme, Constraints and Conflict, adopting a systemic perspective may provide a greater understanding of the conflicted

experiences expressed by the pastoral leads. The systemic concepts of both interactional cycles and punctuation, defined as the point at which sequences of events are disturbed to give a certain meaning, are closely linked (Dowling, 1994). The notion that no punctuation is correct or incorrect but that each one reflects one possible view of reality (Dowling, 1994) may explain the pastoral leads oscillating views of external professionals and agencies as being overworked or dismissive, depending at the point at which the interaction was punctuated. Whilst whole school approaches to promoting well-being and mental health are advised (DoH, 2012; DOH & NHS England, 2015) the experiences of the pastoral leads revealed varied attitudes towards pupil mental health needs within their schools, and concerns about stigma arising from within-school and within-family systems. Such challenges within the systems with which pastoral leads interact appear to pose barriers to identification and support. Adopting a systemic framework highlights the necessity to explore the varied meanings attributed to pupils’ behaviours and needs by the different systems (Dowling, 1994). The experiences of the pastoral leads may be considered as

reflecting Gameson and Rhydderch’s (2008) notion that it is important to achieve an understanding of each system’s construction of the ‘reality’ of the situation, as if not understood the constructions may manifest barriers to accessing support and the effectiveness of interventions.

5.5 Remit

The overarching theme, Remit represents what seemed to be a commonality across the experiences of the pastoral leads in references made to their remit in a context where the prevalence of pupil mental health needs is of concern.

5.5.1 Feeling unskilled.

All four of the pastoral leads spoke about the experience of, at times, perceiving themselves to be unskilled in relation to mental health, “...I felt completely (pause) at a loss of what to do initially...” (James, lines 388-389). This concurs with existing literature which conveyed that school staff perceived they had received little or no training for their Tier 1 mental health role (Bostock et al., 2011; Connelly et al., 2008; Goodman & Burton, 2010; Knightsmith et al., 2013; Knightsmith et al., 2014).

Nonetheless, it appeared the pastoral leads perceived themselves as being positioned as a mental health expert within the context of school, which was experienced as uncomfortable on account of them feeling lacking in experience or knowledge. A perception emerged pertaining to the idea that pastoral leads at other schools may be more knowledgeable and it appeared to be experienced as unsafe or exposing to initiate the process of seeking support from other schools unless they know the schools has experienced similar challenges.

This study revealed that the pastoral leads seemed to experience a sense that the support they offered was less substantial than that which could be provided by external professionals and focused on the practical aspects of support or disparaged their own efforts . Similar to Rothi et al.’s (2008) findings, in which the school staff “robustly asserted that they [we]re not mental health experts” p. 1223), the pastoral leads expressed a perception they are not trained mental health professionals. Nonetheless, the pastoral leads experience the challenge of remaining within the bounds of their remit whilst pupils need support, “... in the interim period (pause) the only support that they’ve got is support at school...” (Susan, lines 448-451). The pastoral leads’ experiences of feeling unskilled in relation to mental health appeared to be emphasised by the situations they face in school whereby they appear to occupy the boundary between their professional remit and that of someone providing

therapeutic input, conscious about what can and cannot be said.

5.5.2 Experiential learning.

All four of the participants talked about the experience of learning to identify and support pupil mental health needs through experience. The pastoral leads drew upon their personal experiences to identify pupil mental health needs as well as utilising their personal experiences to support pupils in school.

The pastoral leads drew upon their professional experiences, both with regard to the length of time in role and collaborative working with other professionals in the school context by modelling what was observed to support pupil mental health needs. This is reflective of the existing literature which highlighted a perception that training would

be more beneficial if those delivering it had an understanding of schools and classrooms (Goodman & Burton, 2010; Rothi et al., 2008; Spratt et al., 2006).

5.5.3 Collaboration is key.

The perceived importance of collaboration during the process of both

identifying and supporting pupil mental health needs was highlighted by the pastoral leads in this study. These findings are reflected in the literature in relation to multi- agency working. Kidger et al. (2010) found school staff perceived relationships with external agencies as a key factor determining how well teaching staff were able to support pupils’ needs. It appeared the pastoral leads in this study perceived multi- agency working to represent a shared responsibility for pupil mental health, in which ideas may be shared to facilitate the best outcomes.

In addition to the importance of multi-agency working, the pastoral leads highlighted the perceived importance of working with staff in school and parents collaboratively so that responsibility for identifying and supporting pupil mental health needs may be shared amongst those around the pupils. In regard to identifying pupil mental health needs, information sharing appeared to be experienced as a key element in arranging proactive support.