Teaching in vocational training – the connection between mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic: an experience report

Abstract

This paper deals with the importance of valuing the teaching-learning process. The active participation of the learner enables the production of reflective exchanges, together with the teacher, generating knowledge. The connection between the themes of Mental Health and Pandemic and their interfaces was the starting point for the development of lesson planning, linked to the training process. The aim of the study was to describe a teaching internship experience in the context of a doctorate, with undergraduate nursing students in their 6th term, in the subject of Mental Health Promotion. The methodology applied was the construction of a dialogued lecture, with the aim of implementing the stages of the proposed activities. The active listening and experience that the students witnessed during the pandemic and their perceptions of mental health were linked to the training process. As a result, it can be identified that the development of the "teaching" stages was assertive, promoting the development of critical-reflective thinking on thematic connectivity and the construction of a process of interaction between teacher and learner, enabling the transformation of both.