Developing, Implementing and Evaluating a Teacher-Training Intervention to Promote Child Mental Health in the Early Grades of Primary School in Jamaica

Experiences in early childhood have long-term effects on children's development; exposure to a safe, secure and nurturing environment promotes children's physical and mental health over the long term. Children's behaviour problems at school are a major concern for Jamaican teachers and corporal punishment is widely used in schools across Jamaica. This project aims to develop and evaluate a training intervention with teachers of 6- and 7-year-old children. Teachers will be trained in classroom management, in strategies to reduce child aggression and to promote children's social-emotional competence. The intervention aims to increase the emotional quality of the classroom environment, reduce the use of corporal punishment, promote child mental health and improve teachers' mental health in 28 classrooms in inner-city Kingston. The intervention is low-cost, integrated into the existing educational system and involves the training of existing staff to make it feasible and sustainable at scale.