“…wellness is better described in terms of thriving or being fully functioning rather than merely by the presence of positive and absence of negative feelings. Thriving is characterized by vitality, awareness, access to, and exercise of one’s human capacities and true self-regulation…”

(Ryan & Deci, 2018, p. 241)

Schools are the primary contexts within which children develop intellectually, socially, and emotionally. The same is very much true for teachers, administrators, and school support staff who spend most of their days—and, perhaps, most of their lives—working in schools. As such, it is critical for schools to be sources of enduring support for individual and community wellness. Social, emotional, and cultural competencies are not distinct from academic or professional matters. Rather, they are integrally connected.

Many adults who work in schools are now familiar with some of the dire statistics concerning adolescent mental health. Seventeen percent of youth (6-17 years old) will experience a mental health disorder (NAMI, n.d.-a), while 70% of youth in the juvenile justice system have at least one mental health condition (NAMI, n.d.-b).

Rather than label a child as “unmotivated,” one might first consider the context in which the behavior occurs, including the student’s social status and their exposure to harmful social narratives, the types of social support the student receives, and the quality of the student’s relationships with teachers, peers, and family members.

In addition to the demands of any specific task, other factors may also serve to disrupt or disturb one’s motivation, performance, and overall emotional health. These factors include:

• traumatic stress, defined as the physiological or psychological response to internal or external stressors (APA, n.d.-a), resulting from an adverse life event (e.g.,  experiencing or witnessing violence, abuse, or neglect; a death in one’s family or community; and parental divorce or separation), 

• anxiety, defined as “an emotion characterized by apprehension [worry or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen] and somatic symptoms of tension” in which “muscles become tense, breathing is faster, and the heart beats more rapidly” (APA, n.d.-b),

• depression, defined as “a negative affective state, ranging from unhappiness and discontent to an extreme feeling of sadness, pessimism, and despondency, that interferes with daily life” (APA, n.d.-c), and 

• attention difficulties, most commonly associated with Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a condition characterized by impaired self-regulation arising from biologically-based difficulties in executive functions and motivation (Barkley, 2015; Brown, 2013; Ramsay & Rostain, 2015).

While educators must avoid playing the role of therapists, it is important to be cognizant of students’ diverse personal histories and responsive to their emotional needs as they relate to learning in the classroom. Stress is not always a mental health problem requiring a clinical diagnosis. We all experience stress, which can negatively impact our performance and wellbeing in a variety of ways. So, it’s important to find healthy methods of managing even nonclinical levels of stress. However, it can also be helpful to recognize when a student may be experiencing a mental health problem and needs to be referred to another professional, such as a school psychologist.

This aspect of motivation reflects the enormous potential educators have to positively impact the development of children and adolescents by creating appropriate classroom structures and working to build trusting relationships with students.

While teachers and nonclinical support staff should not be tasked with providing therapy, many of the intrapersonal (within the self) and interpersonal (between people) skills therapists learn can be helpful for school staff in managing their own stress, improving their relationships with others, and supporting students through instruction and coaching.

Wellness isn’t just about feeling good, though that is important, too. It’s also about the capacity or potential of individuals to personally achieve and substantively contribute to their communities. An important and often overlooked dimension of motivation, this might include service or project-based learning; coaching; tutoring; music, drama, or other artistic pursuits; or countless other opportunities that allow students and educators to pursue their interests; hone a broad range of academic, social, and emotional skills; and connect with others.

Autonomous motivation and wellness require careful attention to the demands, controls, supports, and relationships in our schools. It is important to refrain from labeling some students as motivated and others as unmotivated, and, instead, to assess their environments and the quality of their relationships in supporting or hindering motivation.

In a thriving school community, there is freedom—indeed, support—to be more spontaneous and, at times, unconstrained in pursuing one’s own interests and fully developing one’s own talents. This does not mean that students won’t learn algebra, of course. Rather, it means that our classrooms should reflect positive and trusting relationships and opportunities for students to demonstrate genuine mastery. In this type of atmosphere, students are more likely to be open to and comfortable with learning algebra, for example, because they feel valued and secure. By applying principles of motivation science and cultivating a culture of coaching in schools, educational leaders can build a supportive environment in which all members of the school community can flourish.