Creative Writing Together: Children, Parents and Teachers Developing Reflective Functioning through Creative Writing

Context and challenge: The UK is facing a profound mental health crisis affecting both parents and children, with especially high incidence in areas of social disadvantage. Over 70% of parents report mental health concerns, and these are closely linked to emotional difficulties in their children. Schools are on the front line of this crisis: in 2024, the Department for Education (DfE) reported record levels of ‘severely absent’ pupils, with many suffering from emotional-based school avoidance. While the causes are complex, there is widespread agreement — including from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) — that responses must go beyond individualised therapy or narrow social and emotional learning programmes. Instead, they urge holistic, community-embedded interventions that strengthen relationships between children, families, and schools. This project introduces a new approach to tackling this challenge by developing Reflective Functioning (RF) — the ability to understand one’s own and others’ behaviours in terms of underlying thoughts, feelings, and intentions — through collaborative creative writing. Uniquely, the project brings together children, parents, and teachers as co-writers in a series of workshops and online experiences designed to foster empathy, perspective-taking, and imaginative play. These activities will be co-developed with teachers, writers, and wellbeing experts, ensuring they are grounded in evidence-based pedagogy and adapted to different community needs. What sets this project apart is its integration of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) as both a pedagogical tool and a subject of inquiry. While GenAI is often positioned as a threat to traditional literacy practices, we take a different stance: used mindfully, GenAI can support creativity, scaffold reflection, and offer playful new ways of engaging with different perspectives. For example, participants will use GenAI to remix stories, co-author dialogues between characters with differing viewpoints, and reflect on how AI-generated responses compare to human ones. This enables users to surface, test, and discuss their own and others’ mental states in ways that promote RF. Aims and outcomes: Our aim is to evaluate how co-creative writing — enhanced by GenAI and designed with a focus on RF — can foster more connected relationships within families and schools. The project will generate: A scalable set of inclusive, co-designed creative writing resources for schools and community groups, both online and in the form of a Guide; A longitudinal case study analysis of three diverse communities trialling the approach; A co-authored creative anthology showcasing work by children, parents and teachers; A research-informed framework for using GenAI to support RF in educational settings. Partnerships and legacy: The project is rooted in long-term partnerships with schools, mental health charities, local authorities and parent networks, ensuring real-world relevance and community ownership. Our impact strategy includes training for teachers, resources for parents, and engagement with policymakers on family–school relationships. Two postdoctoral researchers, one in York, one in London, embedded across both strands of the project will support both research coherence and legacy planning. Why now? At a time when both the education and mental health sectors are seeking joined-up, innovative responses to entrenched challenges, this project offers a timely, feasible and forward-thinking intervention. By combining cutting-edge technology with a deep commitment to creative, relational learning, it has the potential to transform not just individual outcomes, but the systems that support young people’s wellbeing.