On May 21, Jinshan District Four‑College Alliance and New‑Type Higher Vocational Colleges “5•25” Mental Health Festival and Mental Health Demonstration Activity, under the theme “Health First, Everyone for Mental Well‑being,” took place at our school. The event was hosted by Shanghai Modern Chemical Industry Vocational College. Leaders from Shanghai municipal and Jinshan district authorities attended for guidance, including representatives from Moral Education Development Institute of Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences, Shanghai Family Planning Association, Jinshan Education Bureau, Jinshan Health Commission, Jinshan Mental Health Center, and Jinshan Family Planning Association. Leaders and psychological education professionals from four Jinshan‑based institutions – Shanghai Zhongqiao Vocational and Technical University, Shanghai Technical Institute of Electronics Information, and others – as well as from five new‑type higher vocational colleges including Shanghai Nanhu Vocational and Technical College and Shanghai Construction Management Vocational College, gathered to discuss the path toward high‑quality development of mental health education.
At the signing ceremony, Shanghai Zhongqiao Vocational and Technical University, Shanghai Technical Institute of Electronics Information, Shanghai Film Art Academy, and Shanghai Modern Chemical Industry Vocational College jointly signed Jinshan Four‑College Mental Health Education Development Alliance Cooperation Agreement, marking a new phase of collaborative mental health education among higher vocational colleges in the district. Shanghai Family Planning Association and Jinshan Health Commission presented books to the four Jinshan colleges, hoping that reading would nourish students’ hearts and support their personal growth.
Zheng Ying, Secretary of the Party Committee of Jinshan Education Bureau, pointed out that the establishment of the mental health education development alliance by the four colleges is not only a vivid example of implementing the national special action plan to comprehensively strengthen and improve student mental health in the new era, but also a key step in building a “grand ideological and political education” and “grand psychological well‑being” education framework within Jinshan education system. She expressed the hope that the alliance would become a benchmark for regional “resource sharing and complementary strengths” and further tighten the regional protection network that integrates medical services with education and coordinates family, school, and community efforts.
Zhang Weidong, Second‑Level Researcher of Jinshan Health Commission; Ji Wei, Deputy Director of Family Service Division of Shanghai Family Planning Association; and Liu Mingbo, Vice President of Moral Education Development Institute of Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences, successively delivered speeches. They fully recognized the solid achievements of mental health education in regional higher vocational colleges, clearly articulated the importance of psychological education in the new era, and offered guidance on improving the mental health service system, strengthening collaboration between medical institutions and colleges, consolidating an all‑staff mental health education framework, and caring for the physical and mental well‑being of young people, thus charting the course for future regional collaboration in mental health education.
Chen Xiaobin, President of Shanghai Modern Chemical Industry Vocational College, stated that the college is willing to work with other institutions, using the alliance as a bond, to continuously deepen cooperation in four dimensions: joint mechanism building, shared resources, collaborative team training, and co‑prevention of psychological crises. He pledged to make the alliance an “intellectual engine” and “resource hub” for mental health education in regional higher vocational colleges, weaving a strong, close‑knit protective network for students’ mental health.
After the signing ceremony, a Mental Health Education Collaborative Development Forum was held. Associate Professor Li Xu from School of Psychology at Shanghai Normal University gave a keynote report titled “From Protecting the Heart to Establishing the Heart – Bringing a Sense of Life Meaning into the Classroom.” The report explained pathways for constructing meaning, clarifying values, and awakening vitality in life education, providing valuable guidance for colleges to optimize their mental health classroom instruction and strengthen students’ sense of life meaning. The heads of the mental health centers of the four alliance colleges shared their distinctive practices, educational experience, and unique service models, exchanging insights from frontline psychological education. Participants engaged in discussions on key mental health work areas such as curriculum development and family‑school collaborative education, sparking new ideas and building consensus on development.
In the afternoon, Mental Health Demonstration Activity was held on the school playground. The activity was divided into three functional zones: the main zone, the college specialty zone, and the invited guest zone. Students enthusiastically took part in various fun activities, relieving academic stress, soothing negative emotions, learning emotion‑regulation tips, and truly experiencing warmth and power of mental health education.
This event brought together multiple forces for student development, including government and educational institutions, to build a multi‑dimensional, interconnected regional psychological education community. By fostering alliance cooperation to empower the field, deepening educational connotation through academic seminars, and nourishing students’ hearts with immersive activities, the event broke down barriers to mental health education resources, innovated practical platforms for psychological education in higher vocational colleges, laid a solid foundation for the standardized, professional, and collaborative development of mental health education in vocational institutions, and built a strong psychological shield for the healthy growth of young students in the new era.