Table 4.

Comparing themes and illustrative quotes between tealeaf and RE-SEED

Key Theme	Tealeaf Theme	Tealeaf Quote	RE-SEED Theme	RE-SEED Quote
Overall Impact	Effort to implement is justified by children improving	“It has benefitted the children. The children are doing better with it. I spent a lot of my time on this, but when I see the children are improving through this, then I feel it was worth it.”	Limited progress and frustration	“We really tried to help children who showed certain behavioural characteristics but we have not been able to make much progress in this field. Either we are not getting through…or either these children are really difficult.”
Training	Learned new classroom approaches and skills	“Even though we have had many years of teaching experience, I know that our techniques were sometimes flawed. We learnt a lot of new skills in the training, we learnt how to handle, behave, treat and react to the children.”	Positive but basic orientation	“The training was really wonderful; we learnt new things and new approaches on how to work with the children.”
Understanding	Greater awareness of a child's agency and motives	“Earlier we would treat all the children in the same way… We never considered that the academically weaker students needed more attention… These things were brought into our awareness during the training… When we started doing it this way, it helped the students.”	Greater awareness of a child's agency and motives	“ ...there are better ways of handling it, such as talking to the child and making the child listen and understand... .”
Beliefs about Mental Health	Mental health may be affected by teacher actions	“Oftentimes, I would punish the child in front of the entire class… I stopped doing that because I came to learn that treating children in this way would negatively affect their self-esteem… I try to figure out the reason behind the child’s lack of interest…”	Perceived ineffectiveness of non-punitive strategies	“…We would begin by adopting your methods, but then…it wouldn’t go according to what you had told us, and then we would go back.”
Teacher Engagement	Enjoyment and deeper connection with students	“I am enjoying my time with the kids, getting close to them and learning about child psychology… There were a few children in my class who fell in the ‘withdrawn’ category. I would give them various tasks to keep them busy…”	Engagement centered on concrete strategies	“You had also suggested that we drew colourful pictures while teaching the child and also to talk and behave in a friendly manner. I really liked these suggestions.”
Caregiver Engagement	Mixed responses but active parent–teacher dialogue	“The parents come and talk to me about their children…Every parent thinks their child is good; no one wants to consider that their child might be a bit weaker… Some parents said they are grateful and happy that the teachers…are trying to upgrade their child.”	Minimal parental understanding of mental health	“I feel none of the parents understood what mental health is and what was going on in this programme.”
Time	Increased workload	“Since I am multi-tasking, I have not been able to give proper time to the children and the program. I am not giving my 100% to the children because it is very difficult for me.”	Increased workload	“Feels like our workload has increased…We have to come even during our holidays… Finally when we get time to sit and take a break we come and work again.”
Stigma	Guardians resistant to “mental health” labels	“They obviously did not take it positively. The guardians came to me and said my child isn’t mentally challenged so I don’t think my child should do this program.”	Guardians resistant to “mental health” labels	“The parents would cringe at the word ‘mental health’ so we had to approach the topic with alternative names.”