HEPI ran a blog in June by Jessica Hayball, who is delivering mandatory pastoral support training to personal tutors and doctoral supervisors at the University of Bath. Publishing the blog prompted a question about whether this work should fall on the shoulders of academics.
I previously worked as a secondary school teacher. Every teacher, without fail, was required to complete mandatory safeguarding training on an annual basis. This covered spotting the signs of abuse, neglect, and mental health concerns, and how to respond if a pupil disclosed a safeguarding issue. This meant that those times (and I remember each and every one of them) that a pupil trusts you enough to tell you that they have experienced something awful, you are calm, confident and prepared. You also know how to respond without jeopardising a potential court case.
As a teacher, you are also clear that it is not your job to fix the problem. You listen to the student carefully and contact the safeguarding lead, who will co-ordinate the response – contacting social services and other agencies as needed. It may be that you continue to support that student, particularly academically, but other professionals take the lead on the safeguarding case, or mental health support that is needed. (I finished teaching 7 years ago and appreciate that social services and child mental health services are under even more profound pressure now than they were then).
When I started working in higher education, I could not believe that there was no equivalent training for colleagues working with students. Yes, (most) university students are over the age of 18. And yes, higher education colleagues who regularly work with under 18-year-olds should be trained to the same standards as teachers, for under 18s. However, given the high levels of sexual misconduct that adult students face, and the high levels of mental ill-health in the student population, it seems a failure to not provide basic disclosure training to colleagues working closely with students over the age of 18.
