The master's thessis discusess school climate and culture and how they are connected to the occurrence and treatment of psychosocial problems among students at school. In theoretical part, I define the concepts of mental health and mental problems and highlight the importance of both for andolescence. I also focus on the three main concepts that in moden times contrubute to the understanding of the previously mentioned topic. In the following, I talk about the school's impact on mental health among students, define school climate and culture and their connection with the psychosocial distress. In the empirical part, I originate from the conclusions of the preliminary research Dostopnost organiziranih oblik podpore mladim v psihosocialnih in duševnih težavah in konteksti teh težav (Dekleva idr., 2018), where some of the participating school representatives estimated that they have some good practices in dealing with such problems. I show more detail on the approaches, ways and methods of work at six of these schools. At the same time, I also research the characteristics of the school climate and culture in connection with the treatment of children facing psychosocial distress, the most frequently perceived difficulties among them and the role in the formation of the school climate and culture in relation to psychosocial difficulties, which the interviewees attribute to the principal.
The results show anxiety as the distress workes most often perceive among students. Some of the participants also report the emergence of new difficulties as a result of school closures during the first wave of the Covid-19 epidemic. Based on the conducted research, I can confirm the interdependence of school climate and culture. What was reflected in the elements of the organizational culture - structure, roles, expectations, guidelines for conduct... then had a direct impact on the climate - specifically on the relationships within each school (towards students, between students and between employees). But since it is a qualitative type of research, which included a conversation with only one person at each school, it is very difficult for me to define the final state of the climate and culture at these schools. The formal role of the principal still plays an important role in most cases. The principal can either positively or negatively influence the behavior of employees when dealing with the distress of young people. However, the master's thessis also presents a case where the principal does not have much influence in solving problems, as other employees solve them without his involvement. The approaches used by interlocutors in solving difficulties among students depend on various factors. One of the most important proved to be the knowledge possessed by an individual professional worker. The more additional knowledge a person has in the field of mental health protection, the more help they can provide themselves either in group or individual form of work. The relationship that the professional worker forms with the individual has also proven to be an important predisposition for helping the individual. The better it is, the more likely the student will let you close and let you help them.
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