Objectives:
At the end of the session, the participants will be able to:
1. Explain the distinctive characteristics of an effective school health education program;
2. Identify the different approaches that facilitate child-centered teaching and experiential learning; and
3. Appreciate the need to work together and prepare the school health promotion action plan.
Content:
* Characteristics of an Effective School Health Education Program
* Approaches that Facilitate Child-Centered Teaching and Experiential Learning
Materials:
Cassette recorder, tape "I Have a Dream" or any related song; charts.
Methodology:
A. Introduction/Mood Setting:
1. Introduce the session by linking with session 4: Health Promoting Schools
2. Explain that this session is a attempt to look more closely o curriculum, teaching and learning as a component of a HPS. (Show diagram of HPS)
3. Set the mood and begin the activity by playing and singing the song "I Have a Dream" Invite the participants to give insights o the song.
B. Activity:
1. Invite participants to dream of a school-based health education program in a child-friendly school environment. Let them describe their dream by writing ideas/phrases in sheet of paper.
2. Group participants. Let them share their dreams with group members and come up with a group dream.
3. Ask each group to put a learning center to advocate the school's health education program as envisioned by the group.
4. Allow center visitation by the different groups. Then ask 2 to 3 participants to share their observations/learning from the centers.
5. Ask the following questions after the sharing:
* What do you notice as common or typical among the centers? How are they different?
* What messages do the centers covey?
* How would you describe a health education program i a CFS environment?
6. Deliver a lecturrete on:
* Creating Health Promoting Schools
* Elements of a Successful Curriculum-Based Schools Health Program
* Approaches that Promote Child-Centered Teaching and Learning Experience
7. Link the energizer to the group's dream of a health education program in a child-friendly school environment
8. Ask the group to invent a human functioning machine that will be useful in their health education program.
9. Process the activity-emphasize working together/team work to attain group goals, development of life skills i.e. decision-making.
C. Learning Point:
* Draw out from the participants the following:
* Characteristics of a effective school health education program
* Approaches that facilitate child-centered teaching ad experiential learning
D. Application:
* Make a School Health Action Plan (please see attached)
Curriculum Teaching Learning
* Student centered teaching
* Experiential learning
* Planned sequential curriculum
* Pre-service & in-service training
* Health topics integrated into other subjects
School Organizations, Ethos & Environment
* Resource allocation for health
* Based on social justice principle
* Clean
* Shade
* Health promoting
* School policy
* Passive Recreational areas
* Occupational health & safety
* Physical activity areas
* Respectful of diversity
* Friendly waste disposal
* Caring ethos underpins
* Social interactions
* Based on social justice principles
* Staff Health & Welfare
THE HEALTH PROMOTING SCHOOL
Partnerships & Services
* Local health services contribute to school health through-screening immunization, education of teachers and parents, expert advice on referral and policy development
* School welfare services
* School/community members involved in initiation development and implementation of school health policies & programs
* Community use of school facilities
* Alliance formed with health, welfare & local community agencies
Creating Health Promoting Schools
* Health Promoting School
* The Basic Vision
* School Health Goals and Plans
* Characteristics of a school Health Education Program
Health Promoting School
" A Health Promoting School is a place where all members of the school community work together to provide students with integrated and positive experiences and structures which promote and protect their health. This includes both the formal and informal curricula on health, the creation of safe and healthy school environment, the provision of appropriate health services and the involvement of the family and the community in their efforts to promote health"
The Basic Vision
Health promoting school approach lead to improved teaching and learning atmosphere, delivery of quality health care and eventually help in social, mental, physical and emotional development of children turning them out healthy, responsible and productive citizens of society.
School Health Goals and Plans
* School should have health goals that relate to local needs and emerging priorities.
* Each health goal should be supported by a plan that includes specific and measurable objectives to achieve the goal. This plan should also include activities to achieve the objectives.
* Objectives should be realistic and attainable, recognizing the context i which the school operates. Objectives with the greatest health impact and which can be achieved with existing resources should be given priority.
* Health goals and objectives should be known and understood by all members of the school community, including the children. Everyone should have a role in achieving these goals and objectives.
* School health activities should include simple systems of monitoring ad evaluation, using checklist to assess progress in implementing activities and achieving objectives. The systems should be open and designed to be run by the school staff including the children.
Characteristic of a school Health Education Program
* Health education in schools can be taught as a particular subject like science and health, integrated into various subjects like social studies, mathematics, etc. or included in extracurricular activities.
* Health knowledge and skills emphasizing life skills should be reinforced in the curriculum with opportunities to apply such learnings in the school, home and community.
* A health education curriculum should be planned and help achieve the school's health objectives.
* Health content is an ideal way of developing skills in language, mathematics and science.
Example: written and spoken language, measuring, observing.
* The health education curriculum should not be overload. School should focus on an identified health issue for one or more grading periods.
* Health education should enable students to acquire values and attitudes and help them adopt healthy lifestyles and create conditions conducive to health.
Characteristic of a school Health Education Program
* Health education should implement learning with doing to make school a healthier place.
* Health education should involve children in planning and implementing the school health program.
* Activity learning not only makes learning relevant and enjoyable but also encourages children to think, act, feel and communicate health related issues.
* Cooperative learning where children help each other in class is recommended. It promotes understanding and develop healthy attitudes.
Elements of a successful Curriculum-Based School Health Program
1. Teacher training and support
* Pre-service training
* On-going professional development
* Teacher support
* In-service training
* Teacher autonomy and commitment
2. Life skills acquisition
3. Adequate resources
4. Teaching ad learning strategies
5. Time allocation
6. Comprehensive health promotion programs
7. Team approach
8. Involvement of local community
9. Environment support
Approaches that Promote Student Centered Teaching and Experiential Learning
* Teaching through themes
* Integrated learning
* Experiential
* Learning centers approach
* Child-to-child Approach which link school, home and community
Example of Health Themes and Subtopics for Study are as follows:
Theme: Hygiene
Subtopics/Messages:
1. Wash hands with soap and water
2. Proper waste disposal
3. Use only clean water
4. Prepare food properly
Example of Health Concepts and Activities which can easily be Integrated in Social Studies:
1. Concepts related to food we eat, community hygiene, immunization and the prevention of epidemics, effect of pollution on community health, food production, water management and its relation to healthy lives.
2. Rights and duties of citizens with regards to health; health issues relating to rights of women and children.
3. Recognition of the relationship between poverty and ill health.
4.Making health map of the neighborhood and locating health services o a local map.
5. Survey of practices of local people on treating fever or attitudes towards parents with AIDS.
Sample of Concepts and Activities which can Easily be Integrated in Mathematics
1. Getting people's weight; measuring number of breaths per minute of a person after exercise.
2. Estimating distance from the classroom to the school clinic; recording numbers of case of malaria; make graphs of this and relate it to the amount of rainfall in the area.
3. Measuring, weighing and recording a person's weight regularly.
4. Budgeting for healthy meals.
5. Cost of water consumption on a monthly basis.
6. Survey of incidents of illness due to diseases.
7. Counting family members; comparing age.
Steps in the Development of a Learning Center
1.
Instructional purpose. Decide on the purpose of the center. What objective(s) do you want to accomplish? A teacher may want to set up a science ad health center where students can try out and experiment on foods in order to develop specific health concepts. A center is an environment arranged to accomplish a particular instructional purpose.
2.
Activity. What will the students do at the center? What activities are to be performed? Whatever the activity, it should accomplish the instructional purpose. If the purpose is to reinforce a skill, then the activity should provide practice and application to the learned skill.
3.
Materials. Decide what materials will be needed for the students to perform the activity. Center materials can include books, paper, pictures, magazine, tapes, manipulate materials, etc.
4.
Evaluation. How will the activity evaluated? Some activities can be designed so that students ca self-check their work. If the activity has answers, correct responses can be provided in a booklet located in the center. Evaluation can also be a joint student-teacher activity and may involve a classroom discussion instead of a paper-pencil check.
Child-to-Child Approach Linking the School, Home and Community
Living Place
*Learning place
Step 1- Choosing ad understanding
* Chalk and Talk, Discussion Group, Stories, Pictures, Games, Needs Assessment, Role Playing Experiments and Demonstration
Step 2- Finding out more
* Surveys, Interviews, Recording information (graphs,chart etc) measuring, comparing
Step 3- Reporting, discussion and planning
* Reporting, Describing, Discussion, Debate, Group Work, Preparation and Practice for Step 4 activities
Step 4- Taking action (individually and together)
* Campaigns, school fairs & open days
* Poster & Picture-making
* Drama &puppets
* Songs &poems
* Demonstrations
* Radio programmers
* Teaching other skills, games songs etc.
Step 5- Discussing what we did
* Reporting Describing, Discussions,Role play
Step 6- Doing it better
* As for Step 4
Guidelines on the Preparation of the School Health Action Plan
1. Identify the school-community specific health needs through a situational analysis
2. Establish priorities and focus on relevant health needs/issues
3. Develop health themes on the prioritized health needs. Select health themes that:
* children do not know or practice
* addresses the needs of the community
* children are capable of learning and doing
* children can pass o the messages to others
4. Decide which themes the school will concentrate for each grading period.
5. Select specific health topics for each class/grade level (How many topics will you cover in each class per grading).
6. Decide on how many lessons will be committed to health education intervention activity. (How many lessons will you spend for each health theme or topic)?
