Open Parachute Mental Health and Wellbeing Program

About this project 

Advance understanding of the efficacy of the Open Parachute Mental Health Program in K-12 education.

If you are passionate about improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, the University of South Australia – Australia’s University of Enterprise – is offering hands-on project-based PhDs within the Centre for Research in Educational and Social Inclusion (CRESI), in partnership with Open Parachute Australia Pty Ltd. 

Open Parachute delivers mental health programs in primary and high schools across the US, Canada and Australia to students, educators and parents. Their programs teach mental health skills and feature documentary videos of children and youth sharing their stories of overcoming struggle, which offers new possibilities for the potential influence of lived experiences as models and inspirations for mental health and wellbeing.

Working in partnership with Open Parachute, we want to explore students’ understandings, experiences and outcomes of engaging in their mental health and wellbeing program. We also want to investigate teachers’ understandings, experiences, and outcomes (for both self and students/learners) of enacting the Open Parachute mental health and wellbeing program within their contexts. 

Another area of focus is exploring school leaders’ understandings, experiences, and outcomes of coordinating and enacting the Open Parachute mental health and wellbeing program within their contexts. This aim is to inform leadership, systems and policy approaches to addressing mental health and wellbeing within education. 

You will be based within the CRESI research centre, within Education Futures. This will provide you with a supportive environment and access to world-class resources, facilities and training. Working closely with Open Parachute’s national and international representatives will help you develop your communication and collaboration skills and expand your global professional network. 


What you’ll do 

In this project-based research degree, you will work in partnership with a high-quality world-class transdisciplinary research community to develop rigorous, evidenced-based research within the fields of educational and community mental health and wellbeing. 

You will develop approaches to examine the impact of Open Parachute lessons on students and educators from a psychological skill-building perspective, in addition to a broader view of the impact on individual educators, school leadership, and school culture as a whole.

Your review and analysis, conducted during the project, may contribute to designing, piloting and implementing new scales/approaches to capture the impact on the development of mental health constructs and skills acquisition through engagement.

During the project, you will review your results and explore the financial/economic modelling of health/education risks/benefits associated with the Open Parachute program. You will also explore the implications for curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and educational policy.

You may be required to travel to data collection sites within South Australia and supervisory meetings. 

You will have the opportunity to attend networking and conference events both within the university and externally. You will be supported by your supervisors to present your findings and contribute to publications, local/national/international conference presentations, CRESI/C3L activities, and where applicable attend media engagements.
  

Where you’ll be based 

You will be based within the CRESI. It is one of the largest research concentrations in the world that is focused on contributing to new knowledge about issues related to educational and social inclusion. 

Like many countries, Australia is experiencing widening economic and educational inequality, which is undermining the social cohesion, national productivity, and the wellbeing of the population. In fact, Australia is now one of the least equitable educational systems in the OECD. 

CRESI researchers have a range of interdisciplinary expertise to undertake a broad scope of research that contribute to and mitigate educational and social inequalities. 

Our mission is to generate research-based knowledge to inform inclusive educational and social policy and practices across the lifespan. We conduct interdisciplinary research to generate knowledge of systemic forms of exclusion; policy analysis and critique focusing on policies' effects; theory building to understand complex phenomena; and case studies of hopeful sites of educational and social inclusion. Our research contributes to greater education equity to enhance social cohesion and wellbeing. Financial Support 

This project is funded for reasonable research expenses.  Additionally, a living allowance scholarship of $32,500 per annum is available to Australian and New Zealand citizens, and permanent residents of Australia, including permanent humanitarian visa holders.  Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants will be eligible to receive an increased stipend rate of $50,291 per annum. A fee-offset or waiver for the standard term of the program is also included.  For full terms and benefits of the scholarship please refer to our scholarship information. International applicants are not invited to apply at this time. 


Eligibility and Selection 

This project is open to applications from Australian or New Zealand citizens, and Australian permanent residents or permanent humanitarian visa holders. International applicants are not invited to apply at this time. 

Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria for entrance into a PhD. Additionally, applicants must meet the projects selection criteria:  

• experience with research and/or working in the field of children and/or youth psychology/mental health
• skills and experience in mixed methods research (qualitative and quantitative)
• commitment to preventative and community approaches to mental health and wellbeing
• a passion for looking beyond the ‘medical model’ in viewing mental health
• an entrepreneurial, innovative mindset and a genuine desire to make changes in the world 
• an understanding of school systems and experience working with schools (preferable)

All applications that meet the eligibility and selection criteria will be considered for this project. A merit selection process will be used to determine the successful candidate. 

The successful applicant is expected to study full-time and to be based at our Mawson Lakes Campus in the north of Adelaide.

Essential Dates 

Applicants are expected to start in a timely fashion upon receipt of an offer.  Extended deferral periods are not available. Applications close on Monday 15 July 2024.