Research Topic Title: Addressing the Child Mental Health Crisis in the UK through Education
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly intensified the child mental health crisis, placing teachers at the frontline of school-based support. Using an interdisciplinary lens—bridging sociology, psychology, education, and public health—my PhD study was the first of its kind to explore how teachers experience and implement movement-based wellbeing interventions.
Building on my doctoral work, which examined how educators’ personal narratives and cultural backgrounds influence their engagement with mental health strategies, this fellowship enables me to publish and disseminate these insights to a broader audience for advancing more relational and contextual intervention designs.
By bridging the gap between academic theory and classroom reality, I focus on the personal and professional struggles educators face, aiming to empower teachers as mental health promoters while simultaneously supporting their own wellbeing. This research seeks to drive shifts in national policy and educational practice to foster long-term resilience for both students and staff across the UK education system.
Mentor: Professor Michael Silk, Bournemouth University
Publications: Shahid, S. (2024) Teachers’ embodiment of mental health and movement: Competing narratives in the implementation of a whole-school mental health promotion intervention in UK primary schools. Bournemouth University. Available at https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/40447/ (Doctoral Thesis)
All-Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood (2019) Mental Health Through Movement. London: Royal Public Affairs. Available at https://fhcappg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/mentalhealththroughmovement_301019.pdf (APPG Report)
Contact Details:
E-mail: sshahid@bournemouth.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samar-shahid-phd-375940157/
Website (BU Staff Profile): https://staffprofiles.bournemouth.ac.uk/display/sshahid