Creating Learning Environments to Support Students Experiencing Stress: Qualitative Insights from an Extension-Community Partnership

For children experiencing chronic stress, succeeding academically in the face of other obstacles can be daunting. Many efforts focused on supporting students fail to address nonacademic aspects of well-being that can impact their ability to succeed. Working to bridge the gap between research and pra...

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Main Authors: Chelsea Hetherington, Sarah Cronin, Sara Langworthy, Cari Michaels
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Mississippi State University 2021-03-01
Series:Journal of Human Sciences and Extension
Subjects:
Online Access:https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/jhse/vol9/iss1/11/
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author Chelsea Hetherington
Sarah Cronin
Sara Langworthy
Cari Michaels
author_facet Chelsea Hetherington
Sarah Cronin
Sara Langworthy
Cari Michaels
author_sort Chelsea Hetherington
collection DOAJ
description For children experiencing chronic stress, succeeding academically in the face of other obstacles can be daunting. Many efforts focused on supporting students fail to address nonacademic aspects of well-being that can impact their ability to succeed. Working to bridge the gap between research and practice, here we describe the results of an Extension-Community partnership that sought to design learning environments to support elementary students’ healthy bodies and minds. Project leaders took an ecological systems approach, intervening with students at a local elementary school across multiple contexts. This entailed creating a calming room in the school, building a community garden on the school grounds, and providing wrap-around educational programming for teachers, staff, and families. Interviews were conducted with teachers and school staff (N = 20) to measure their perceptions of the impact of this intervention. Results are presented within the framework of the socio-ecological model, accounting for the multilevel nature of the project impacts. Interview themes revealed the program’s success in supporting positive outcomes for students, staff, the school, and the surrounding community. Discussions center around the program’s impact on students and on lessons learned that could inform future efforts.
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spelling doaj.art-962b34b95c454b3095de9e2a39fbb45e2022-12-22T04:18:37ZengMississippi State UniversityJournal of Human Sciences and Extension2325-52262021-03-0191122https://doi.org/10.54718/VATE1434Creating Learning Environments to Support Students Experiencing Stress: Qualitative Insights from an Extension-Community PartnershipChelsea Hetherington0Sarah Cronin1Sara Langworthy2Cari Michaels3University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignBemidji State University DeveloPlay, LLCUniversity of Minnesota For children experiencing chronic stress, succeeding academically in the face of other obstacles can be daunting. Many efforts focused on supporting students fail to address nonacademic aspects of well-being that can impact their ability to succeed. Working to bridge the gap between research and practice, here we describe the results of an Extension-Community partnership that sought to design learning environments to support elementary students’ healthy bodies and minds. Project leaders took an ecological systems approach, intervening with students at a local elementary school across multiple contexts. This entailed creating a calming room in the school, building a community garden on the school grounds, and providing wrap-around educational programming for teachers, staff, and families. Interviews were conducted with teachers and school staff (N = 20) to measure their perceptions of the impact of this intervention. Results are presented within the framework of the socio-ecological model, accounting for the multilevel nature of the project impacts. Interview themes revealed the program’s success in supporting positive outcomes for students, staff, the school, and the surrounding community. Discussions center around the program’s impact on students and on lessons learned that could inform future efforts.https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/jhse/vol9/iss1/11/calming roomschool gardenpartnershipelementary studentsstressqualitative interviews
spellingShingle Chelsea Hetherington
Sarah Cronin
Sara Langworthy
Cari Michaels
Creating Learning Environments to Support Students Experiencing Stress: Qualitative Insights from an Extension-Community Partnership
Journal of Human Sciences and Extension
calming room
school garden
partnership
elementary students
stress
qualitative interviews
title Creating Learning Environments to Support Students Experiencing Stress: Qualitative Insights from an Extension-Community Partnership
title_full Creating Learning Environments to Support Students Experiencing Stress: Qualitative Insights from an Extension-Community Partnership
title_fullStr Creating Learning Environments to Support Students Experiencing Stress: Qualitative Insights from an Extension-Community Partnership
title_full_unstemmed Creating Learning Environments to Support Students Experiencing Stress: Qualitative Insights from an Extension-Community Partnership
title_short Creating Learning Environments to Support Students Experiencing Stress: Qualitative Insights from an Extension-Community Partnership
title_sort creating learning environments to support students experiencing stress qualitative insights from an extension community partnership
topic calming room
school garden
partnership
elementary students
stress
qualitative interviews
url https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/jhse/vol9/iss1/11/
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