Crises and challenges – global and personal

At a glance

For: students, teachers

Topics: Crises and challenges - Corona, Ukraine and individual crises, advice and exchange - determining needs, designing together

Location: Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts

Facing crises and challenges together

The university uses the funds from the QuiS Plus funding line to support and train students and teachers in dealing with global crises and personal challenges.

Students and teachers are encouraged to reflect on their own stress through exchange and advisory services. Lecturers are supported in reflecting on their role, especially when dealing with students who are exposed to particular stress. The administration, which is involved in advice, is also always involved in the offers.

This strengthens the basis for successful communication in teaching and consulting, even in difficult, interpersonally sensitive situations.

Students: Four-part online workshop series: "Awareness and (self-)empathy in challenging situations - recognizing opportunities and limits of one's own scope of action, strengthening resilience and helpful self-regulation strategies." Contents of the
workshops included: conceptual classification of crises, detecting and understanding coping strategies and resource-specific reaction patterns, Develop personal self-regulation and options for action.
The workshop series was explicitly designed so that students could join at any time or attend individual appointments.

Lecturers: Two-part block event “Actively dealing with pandemic-related stress on students – designing (online) teaching and relationships with and between students”. Using a semi-structured approach, requests and questions were recorded and integrated into the session, and input and exercises were provided. E.g.: Taking on the perspective of refugees – what is really helpful, creating networking opportunities, what resources can I offer?

Exchange in a newly founded working group: “Mental health and psychological stress – strengthening for students”. The working group resulted in an intensive exchange with the health department of the city of Frankfurt and the planning of workshops and lectures (suizudality, mental illnesses, etc.). In a workshop, students are trained in “Mental Health First Aid”. In 2023, the HfMDK will continue this consistently by implementing a peer-to-peer training “Mental Health First Aid” for students and a lecture for teachers and administration.