Educational Environments and Higher-Order Development in Vulnerable Learners: Global Perspectives on Mental Health

Background — Context and motivationEducational environments are among the most powerful and least equitably distributed contexts of human development. Schools, universities, and community learning spaces shape not only what learners come to know but also how their mental health, socio-emotional capacities, and higher-order cognitive skills unfold. Yet these dynamics unfold under vastly different conditions across the world. Structural inequities—poverty, forced migration, discrimination, limited access to mental-health support, and the neglect of neurodiverse and high-ability learners—determine who thrives educationally and psychologically. Despite their interconnection, research on the interplay of educational environments, mental health, and higher-order development remains fragmented across disciplines and geographically concentrated in Global North and WEIRD samples, leaving vulnerable and underserved populations underrepresented in both the evidence base and the interventions it informs.Goal — Core focus, requirements, and distinction from the sectionThis Research Topic focuses on how educational environments, contexts, and interventions shape mental health, psychosocial development, and higher-order cognitive and socio-emotional capacities in vulnerable, marginalized, and underserved populations. Manuscripts are expected to address at least one of the following core areas: (i) the relationship between educational environments and mental health or psychosocial outcomes; (ii) the development of higher-order cognitive or socio-emotional capacities in educational contexts; (iii) the experiences of vulnerable, marginalized, or underserved populations in education; or (iv) cross-cultural, cross-national, or Global South-anchored evidence. The central emphasis is the interaction between educational environments and mental health or higher-order development among vulnerable and underserved populations; international, cross-cultural, and Global South perspectives provide the comparative lens through which this core focus is examined. Unlike broader contributions on Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education, this collection focuses specifically on how educational environments shape mental health and higher-order development among populations underrepresented in educational research, with particular attention to Global South and cross-cultural contexts.Scope and information for authors — Bounded thematic entry pointsWithin this core focus, we welcome contributions from a range of thematic entry points, including—but not limited to—generative artificial intelligence and technology-mediated learning; creativity, talent development, and giftedness; socio-emotional learning and resilience; school psychology and applied clinical work in educational contexts; culturally responsive interventions; and the validation and adaptation of psychological instruments for diverse populations. Submissions in these domains are in scope only when they clearly connect to the core focus outlined above; contributions addressing these topics without that connection fall outside the scope of this Research Topic. Studies from Latin America and the Global South, and comparative, cross-cultural, and culturally adapted designs, are particularly encouraged. We invite Original Research, Systematic Reviews, Brief Research Reports, Methods, and Perspective articles. Topic editors: EDSON JORGE HUAIRE-INACIO, Amanda Clinton, Angel Manuel Elgier Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84295/educational-environments-and-higher-order-development-in-vulnerable-learners-global-perspectives-on-mental-health