"It's overwhelming": Physical and Health Educators Reflect on the Practice and Provision of Mental Health Education in Québec High Schools


Bobby Angelini, McGill University; Jordan Koch, McGill University

This presentation will explore the provision of mental health education from the perspective of Physical and Health Education (PHE) teachers in Québec. Our findings revealed a slew of structural barriers that impeded teachers’ integration of meaningful mental health content in their classrooms, including: the lack of formal training; large class sizes; stereotypes about PHE as a non–cognitive subject; and restricted time allotments. Early–career PHE teachers also credited the normalization of limited–term teaching contracts in Québec with impeding their ability to establish the strong relationships necessary to broach delicate topics such as mental health with their students.

This paper will be presented at the following session: