Call for papers: Summer 25
Posted on 05/02/2025
Contributions are invited for FORUM 67(2), the Summer 2025 number, for which the copy date is Monday 7 April 2025
The mental health of children and young people in the UK is a growing concern. Figures from a recent Office for National Statistics survey commissioned by NHS England tell us that over a fifth of eight to 16-year-olds currently have a probable mental disorder, while the Mental Health Foundation reported in 2022 that 50% of mental health problems are established by age 14, and 75% by age 24.
Proposed ‘solutions’ range from Early Support Hubs to Parenting Programmes, and from Mental Health Support Teams within Schools to curriculum interventions. But these proposals raise further questions: How well do we really understand the problem? What should the role of schools – and education more broadly – be in tacking a society-wide issue?
In this number we want to explore how education and educational systems are working to improve mental health among children and young people, or to worsen it. How is mental health conceptualised and talked about in educational settings? To what extent are current approaches to curriculum, assessment and school management – including behaviour management – responsible for where we find ourselves today? How do broader educational policies contribute?
It has been suggested that formal education can improve wellbeing and enhance mental health. What projects, initiatives or examples support this claim? What else might be done in the field of education to contribute to improved mental health and wellbeing? What more can educational settings do to make things better for all children and young people, and particularly those most at risk of poor mental health?
While the focus is usually on children and young people when talking about mental health in educational settings, we are also mindful of the growing pressures on all education staff. The 2022 Teacher Wellbeing index revealed that 59% of staff have considered leaving the sector in the past academic year due to pressures on their mental health and wellbeing. It is surely questionable whether the needs of young people can be addressed if teacher and staff mental ill-health goes unrecognised or unsupported. Do we conceptualise the mental health needs of education staff adequately at present? What is it especially important to consider here? What changes to the current system should be made to improve the situation for staff, including to the system of school inspection?
FORUM invites articles which address the issue of education, mental ill health, and wellbeing. We welcome writing which is heart-felt as well as thought-through, including that which stems from first-hand experience as well as that which is based on original research. There’s no set length for a FORUM article. Although many articles weigh in at about 4000 words, many are shorter. Nor is there a set way of writing an article. We certainly welcome academic papers, but personal reflections, critically-alert consideration of issues and experiences, and informed discursive writing are welcome too, as are texts written by more than one person.
If you have an idea for an article, or would like to discuss the possibility of contributing, please email Patrick Yarker. The deadline by which to send an article for the Summer 2025 number of FORUM is Monday 7 April, but please contact Patrick beforehand to let him know you are sending in a text.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Patrick Yarker
Editor, FORUM: for promoting 3 to 19 comprehensive education
https://journals.lwbooks.co.uk/forum/