Health education in schools - The challenge of teacher training pdf

Health education in schools The challenge of teacher training Didier Jourdan Health education in schools Health education in schools The challenge of teacher training 1 DIDIER JOURDAN 1. In this book, “Teacher Training” refers to all the activities aiming at preparing school staff for a professional role as a refl ective practitioner. It doesn’t mean training staff to undertake relatively routine tasks. It corresponds to “teacher education” more and more used in American publications. Head of collection Thanh Le Luong Publisher Jean-Marc Piton National Institute for Prevention and Health Education 42, boulevard de la Libération 93203 Saint-Denis cedex – France Readers may reproduce this book for their personal or professional use. Reproduction for resale is prohibited. In case of reproduction, please quote all sources as mentioned below. To quote this book : Jourdan D. Health education in schools. The challenge of teacher training Saint-Denis : Inpes, coll. Santé en action, 2011 : 144 p. ISBN 978-2-9161-9231-4 L’auteur Didier Jourdan, professor at the University Blaise Pascal of Clermont- Ferrand, France Avec la collaboration de Sandrine Broussouloux,Health Promotion and Education Division, Inpes Preface For all individuals, health is a resource that needs to be maintained and protected. In order to achieve this, all aspects of health must be considered, as should all the factors that determine it, which can be biological, psychological, social, economic, cultural and environmental. In the Ottawa Charter, it was shown that this holistic view of health, which is akin to “well-being”, was not the sole responsibility of the health authorities, and that all institu- tions and regulatory provisions that are involved in how people live must take their share of responsibility. In their role as places in which people live, schools play a large role in the well-being and health of the children and young people within them. Data from the international scientific literature show the impor- tance of schools as places where health promotion happens, not just because an entire cohort attends a school for several years, but also because there has been shown to be close links between health and education. Promoting pupil health helps with educational attainment: increasing levels of education helps to improve levels of health. In France, the National Institute for Prevention and Health Education (INPES) is tasked with developing health education in the environments in which people live, and with developing training in health education throughout the country. INPES’ involvement in schools has been formalised in a partnership agreement with the ministry of education that was drawn up in 2003, and a 2007 agreement with the French asso- ciation of deans of faculties of education (IUFM). The expertise and knowledge within INPES is useful in developing health educa- tion in schools, in particular via the creation of many documents and tools that are designed for schools and other educational establishments. The partnership between INPES and schools does not just consist of distribution of documents to staff and pupils: it also involves the creation of a common strategy for the improvement and promotion of pupil health. A central compo- nent of this common strategy is training of teachers in health education. The whole of the educational community has a role to play in promoting the health of pupils, and teachers, like others, are called upon to help with promotion of pupils’ health. Studies suggest that their training will depend in large part on the extent of their involvement in this area. For this reason, INPES consi- dered that it was important to address this subject and to sup- port published work about it. This book has been written by an expert in the field, Professor Didier Jourdan. The approach he took involved examining the points of view of the main parties involved and the mental representations they hold in this area. This approach also leads to convergence upon a better unders- tanding by public health professionals of the specific challen- ges inherent in schools. I hope that it will be a foundation for fruitful dialogue among all professionals working in school health promotion internationally. Thanh Le Luong Director general of INPES National Institute for Prevention and Health Education [Institut national de prévention et d’éducation pour la santé] Contents l Preface 13 l Introduction 21 l Teacher training in health education: context 22 l From the school’s point of view, is this a marginal issue? 22 l Is this a subsidiary issue in the hierarchy of challenges faced by schools? 24 l Inflation of demands on the education system 25 l Health education: peripheral for teachers, but nonetheless 27 l Health education in schools 29 l From the point of view of public health: a central issue 29 l The education system: a key actor in public health policies 31 l Multiple understandings of health education 35 l Educational systems contribute to health improvement 35 l A setting that supports health education and improvements in population health 38 l Schools support student development [...]... transposed into other training contexts which have different target audiences, purposes, and institutional and ethical frameworks The book has three parts The first is focused on showing the context in which training for teachers is developed, in the specific area of health education The second defines the field of health education in schools, and the role of teachers The third contains the theoretical... of training Such a step would only contribute to the fragmentation 3 Circular dated 4 January 2007 relating to specifications for teacher training 17 Introduction of teacher training Training in health education can be a way of bringing the disparate parts of training together, rather than just adding yet more content All teachers are faced with the issues of high-risk behaviour, and ask themselves... current and future challenges The role of health education in the school system must therefore not be considered in terms of a body of knowledge, but as a way of re-assessing the teaching profession and strengthening the core of the school system: an education in “how to be a citizen” In other words, the aim is to ensure that health educa3 The fact that the teaching profession is currently in crisis does... to training 85 l The purposes of training 85 l Training with professionalism in mind 88 l Training that allows room for reflexivity 94 l Training is not limited to pedagogy 94 l Political function 95 l Technical function 96 l “Pedagogical” function 96 l Support function 98 l  Factors conditioning teachers' practices in health education 99 l Teachers do not just implement the curriculum 99 l  Training. .. democratisation of education; full development of the individual, in other words fulfilling all areas of potential; personalisation of teaching, in other words adapting education to the specific needs of those being educated; and education of the whole person, in other words ensuring that individuals develop optimally in all aspects and areas of their potential This systemic process uses elements from the other... physical education teachers [7] The first study showed that the fact of having undergone training has a significant impact on the implementation of a health education project The second showed that the professional identity of those involved is the prism through which they form their own beliefs about health education and their role in this area For physical education teachers, these beliefs mean that they... in initial and continuing training is how to enable each participant in the school to realise that working individually and collectively in health education in schools is at the heart of their role In order to achieve this, it is necessary to see health education as a way of emancipating students (giving them the means to make free and responsible decisions about health) and creating conditions in. .. other things, “informing and educating the population about health1 ” The educational system is one of the drivers of this public health policy MULTIPLE UNDERSTANDINGS OF HEALTH EDUCATION The various public health- related pressures on schools are not neutral in character, and result from different ideas about the aims and views of health education If we look critically at calls to involve schools in. .. (2008) The Future of Health Promotion in Schools goes through the strengthening of Teacher Training at a global level Promot Educ 2008 Sep;15(3):3 6-8 2 Perrenoud P (1994) La formation des enseignants entre théorie et pratique [Teacher training: between theory and practice], Paris, L’Harmattan Teacher training in health education: context 22 From the school’s point of view, is this a marginal issue? IS... succeed Schools therefore have a duty to look at how these social and/or health issues can be included in a system in which the whole person is educated The educational challenges are constantly shifting Schools must change their curricula, educational content, methods and ways of accommodating students Changing curricula, teaching methods and training of those involved in schools, with the aim of facing . Health education in schools The challenge of teacher training Didier Jourdan Health education in schools Health education in schools The challenge of teacher training 1 DIDIER. education in schools, and the role of teachers. The third contains the theoretical frameworks that will help in explaining the basis for training modules and the conditions in which training. succinctly, in this book. HEALTH EDUCATION IN TEACHER TRAINING The specifications for teacher training 3 grant a significant place to health issues. They state that training for primary teachers