Schools and health education in Spain during the dictatorship of General Franco (1939-1975)

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-223
Author(s):  
Aida Terron ◽  
Josep M. Comelles ◽  
Enrique Perdiguero-Gil

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the evolution and characteristics of health education in schools in Spain during the dictatorship of General Franco (1939-1975). Design/methodology/approach The analysis of two kinds of sources has been performed. First, the reports from international organizations on health education in schools published in the 1950s and 1960s. Second, journals, books and official documents published by public health and education organizations in Franco’s Spain. Findings Health education in schools evolved in three stages under Franco’s dictatorship. In the first stage (1939-1953), Spanish schools maintained an outdated “school health” approach in the teaching programmes. In the second stage (1953-1965), the agreements with the USA in 1953 ended Spanish isolation, and the regime sought to follow the recommendations of international organizations. Efforts were made to “import” the WHO/UNESCO version of health education in schools but it failed to materialize. A programme that sought to enhance citizen participation and to acknowledge their idiosyncrasies was unlikely to prosper in a dictatorship. However, the less threatening food and nutrition education programme, encouraged by the FAO/UNICEF, did succeed. In the last stage (1965-1975), the Spanish education system entered a period of modernization in which the contents and methods of health education in schools were reformed in order to introduce the less conflictive aspects of the international recommendations. Originality/value The paper highlights the tensions between the aspirations to follow international programmes and the recommendations on health education in schools and the difficulties of implementing such schemes under a dictatorship.

2016 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael James Ormshaw ◽  
Sami Petteri Kokko ◽  
Jari Villberg ◽  
Lasse Kannas

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to utilise the collective opinion of a group of Finnish experts to identify the most important learning outcomes of secondary-level school-based health education, in the specific domains of physical activity and nutrition. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a Delphi survey technique to collect the opinions of a group (panel) of Finnish experts. A list of learning outcomes was compiled via an extensive literature review of documents from all levels of health education (physical activity and nutrition) policy development and implementation. A general inductive analysis method was conducted, resulting in education themes which were then compiled into health literacy-constructed learning outcomes to present to the panel in the two Delphi rounds. Findings – The study question is answered in the form of a ranked list of the 24 most important learning outcomes of physical activity and nutrition education in Finnish schools. The analysis of variance pair-wise comparisons with Bonferroni indicated that six items were statistically possibly more important than the 18 others. The three most important items being: first, understand the importance of a varied and balanced diet; second, the ability to analyse their own lifestyle; third, understand the link between physical activity and health. The study also identified topics/themes which could be either under-represented or over-represented in the current literature and teaching. Originality/value – This study is the only one of its type, and researches an as yet unknown area of health education. The value of this study lies in its role in the further development of school health education, in terms of identifying the “most important” contemporary issues to teach in the classroom, and may also be used as a topic prioritisation and curriculum planning tool.


2016 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-49
Author(s):  
Megan A Quinn ◽  
Jodi L Southerland ◽  
Kasie Richards ◽  
Deborah L Slawson ◽  
Bruce Behringer ◽  
...  

Purpose – Coordinated school health programs (CSHPs), a type of health promoting school (HPS) program adopted by Canada and the USA, were developed to provide a comprehensive approach to school health in the USA. Community partnerships are central to CSHP and HPS efforts, yet the quality of collaboration efforts is rarely assessed. The purpose of this paper is to use Himmelman’s strategies for working together to assess the types of partnerships that are being formed by CSHPs and to explore the methodological usefulness of this framework. The Himmelman methodology describes four degrees of partnering interaction: networking, coordinating, cooperating, and collaborating, with each degree of interaction signifying a different level of partnership between organizations. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected as part of the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 CSHP annual Requests for Proposal from all 131 public school systems in Tennessee. Thematic analysis methods were used to assess partnerships in school systems. Descriptive analyses were completed to calculate individual collaboration scores for each of the eight CSHP components (comprehensive health education, physical education/activity, nutrition services, health services, mental health services, student, family, and community involvement, healthy school environment, and health promotion of staff) during the two data collection periods. The level of collaboration was assessed based on Himmelman’s methodology, with higher scores indicating a greater degree of collaboration. Scores were averaged to obtain a mean score and individual component scores were then averaged to obtain statewide collaboration index scores (CISs) for each CSHP component. Findings – The majority of CSHPs partnering activities can be described as coordination, level two in partnering interaction. The physical activity component had the highest CISs and scored in between coordinating and cooperating (2.42), while healthy school environment had the lowest score, scoring between networking and coordinating (1.93), CISs increased from Year 1 to Year 2 for all of the CSHP components. Applying the theoretical framework of Himmelman’s methodology provided a novel way to quantify levels of collaboration among school partners. This approach offered an opportunity to use qualitative and quantitative methods to explore levels of collaboration, determine current levels of collaboration, and assess changes in levels of collaboration over the study period. Research limitations/implications – This study provides a framework for using the Himmelman methodology to quantify partnerships in a HPS program in the USA. However, the case study nature of the enquiry means that changes may have been influenced by a range of contextual factors, and quantitative analyses are solely descriptive and therefore do not provide an opportunity for statistical comparisons. Practical implications – Quantifying collaboration efforts is useful for HPS programs. Community activities that link back to the classroom are important to the success of any HPS program. Himmelman’s methodology may be useful when applied to HPSs to assess the quality of existing partnerships and guide program implementation efforts. Originality/value – This research is the first of its kind and uses a theoretical framework to quantify partnership levels in school health programs. In the future, using this methodology could provide an opportunity to develop more effective partnerships in school health programs, health education, and public health.


2018 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marty Martinson ◽  
John P. Elia

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically examine school health education in the USA and present alternative approaches for more critical and comprehensive health education. Design/methodology/approach An ecological model framework is used to identify the limitations and opportunities for improvement in school health education in the USA. An argument is made for school health education that embraces ecological approaches, political economy theory, and critical pedagogies. Findings US schools have been tasked with providing health education that is primarily rooted in individualistic approaches. Often missing from this education is recognition of the social and structural determinants of health that greatly influence one’s ability to practice the health behaviors promoted in schools. This raises pedagogical and ethical concerns, which can be addressed by teaching health education that is grounded in ecological and political economy understandings of health and in critical pedagogies that allow students to more comprehensively and accurately understand health, how their worlds influence health, and their agency within those worlds. Practical implications This paper offers justification for a critical model of school health education and for the professional preparation of school health educators that is grounded in critical pedagogy and ecological approaches. Originality/value This work complements other research on critical health education by adding explicit integration of the ecological model and the political economy theory within critical pedagogies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 119 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 341-349
Author(s):  
Laura Ionescu ◽  
Lacramioara Ursache ◽  
Adelina Nicolae ◽  
Adriana Conea ◽  
Cristian Potora ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on parents of children with hearing disabilities from Romania and has three objectives. First, it assesses their characteristics regarding use of communication technology. Second, it investigates their opinions regarding the importance of school-based education for healthy lifestyle promotion among their children. Third, it evaluates the availability for their involvement in educational activities using face-to-face approach and communication technology dedicated to helping parents to promote healthy lifestyle among their children, as well as factors which influence this availability. Design/methodology/approach The study was performed in October–November 2015 in two schools deserving children with hearing disabilities from North-West part of Romania. Anonymous questionnaire were filled in by 182 parents. Findings The majority of parents recognize the importance of school-based health education and more than 77 per cent totally agree that it should include issues regarding healthy nutrition, promotion of physical activity and smoking prevention. In total, 80.2 per cent of the parents declared that they are interested to participate in educational activities organized periodically at school and 66.5 per cent declared their interest in educational activities developed through communication technology in order to help them to stimulate the adoption of healthy lifestyle among their children. The availability was influenced by residence, educational level, understanding the importance of parents’ involvement, characteristics regarding the use of communication technology. Originality/value This represents the first study from Romania investigating the opinions and availability for their involvement with regard to school health education among parents of children with hearing deficiencies. The results have several implications for health education among children with hearing deficiencies and their parents.


2017 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Pickett ◽  
Willeke Rietdijk ◽  
Jenny Byrne ◽  
Jonathan Shepherd ◽  
Paul Roderick ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand early career teachers’ perceptions of the impact of a pre-service health education programme on their health promotion practice in schools and the contextual factors that influence this. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 primary and secondary trainee and qualified teachers who had trained at a university in England. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings The teachers found the training to be a useful introduction, particularly when it was relevant to their practice. They valued gaining practical skills at university, on placement and in school once qualified. They reported that witnessing pupils’ lives in school had increased their awareness that health education is important. Their personal qualities, life experience, the school’s ethos and competing pressures influenced their practice. Teachers considered that building relationships with colleagues, pupils and parents facilitated health promotion, and that health education needs to be relevant to pupils. Some teachers expressed that teaching about health could be a “minefield”. They also discussed whether schools or parents are responsible for educating pupils about health issues and the place of health promotion within education’s wider purpose. Originality/value Few studies have followed-up trainee teachers once they are in teaching posts to explore the longer-term perceived impact of pre-service health education training. The findings suggest that teachers’ development takes place via an interaction between training and practice, suggesting that training could particularly aim to provide teachers with a contextualised understanding of health issues and practical experience.


2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-149
Author(s):  
Rima D. Apple

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evolution of school nursing in the USA in the early decades of the twentieth century, highlighting the linkages between schools and public health and the challenges nurses faced. Design/methodology/approach This historical essay examines the discussions about school nursing and school nurses’ descriptions of their work. Findings In the Progressive period, though the responsibilities of school nurse were never clearly defined, nurses quickly became accepted, respected members of the school, with few objecting to their practices. Nonetheless, nurses consistently faced financial complications that limited, and continue to limit, their effectiveness in schools and communities. Originality/value Few histories of school health have documented the critical role nurses have played and their important, although contested, position today. This paper points to the obstacles restricting the development of dynamic school nurse programs today.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaughan Cruickshank ◽  
Casey Mainsbridge

PurposeThe forced shift to online teaching delivery during COVID-19 suppression measures in 2020 was a complex challenge for Australian teachers. Teachers were given very little time to prepare online content and very little professional development to teach online. Their experiences prompted discussion about the abilities of pre-service teachers (PST) to adapt content to online delivery if another pandemic occurred while they were teaching in the future.Design/methodology/approachPST majoring in Health and Physical Education were required to adapt a 4-weeks high school health education unit for online delivery. This study analysed data from PST personal reflections and focus groups to gain a better understanding of their perceptions about teaching health education online and their confidence to adapt tasks and activities from face-to-face delivery or develop unique online tasks.FindingsPST reported varied confidence and competence to plan for and engage in online health education teaching. PST were concerned about student learning and engagement online, and unsure how to best differentiate activities to ensure all student could meet the intended outcomes.Originality/valueLittle is known about the confidence and competence of PST to deliver fully online school health education. It is important to know more about this phenomenon to inform teacher education and teacher professional development to ensure teachers are better prepared for online delivery in the future.


2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deana Leahy ◽  
Dawn Penney ◽  
Rosie Welch

Purpose Public health authorities have long regarded schools as important sites for improving children and young people’s health. In Australia, and elsewhere, lessons on health have been an integral component of public health’s strategy mix. Historical accounts of schools’ involvement in public health lack discussion of the role of health education curriculum. The purpose of this paper is to redress this silence and illustrate the ways health education functioned as a key governmental apparatus in Victoria in the 1980s. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on governmentality studies to consider the explicit governmental role of official health education curriculum in the 1980s in Victoria, Australia. The authors conduct a discourse analysis of the three official curriculum texts that were released during this period to consider the main governmental rationalities and techniques that were assembled together by curriculum writers. Findings School health education functions as a key governmental apparatus of governmentality. One of its major functions is to provide opportunities to responsibilise young people with an aim to ensure that that they can perform their duty to be well. The authors demonstrate the central role of policy events in the 1970s and how they contributed to conditions of possibility that shaped versions of health education throughout the 1980s and beyond. Despite challenges posed by the critical turn in health education in the late 1980s, the governmental forces that shape health education are strong and have remained difficult to displace. Originality/value Many public health and schooling histories fail to take into account insights from the history of education and curriculum studies. The authors argue that in order to grasp the complexities of school health education, we need to consider insights afforded by curriculum histories. Historical insights can provide us with an understanding of the changing approaches to governing health in schools.


2017 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 310-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neha Rathi ◽  
Lynn Riddell ◽  
Anthony Worsley

Purpose School-based nutrition education programmes have the potential to reinforce healthy dietary behaviours in adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to understand the views of secondary school students in Kolkata, India, regarding the food and nutrition curriculum, food skill acquisition at school and home and barriers to learning food skills. Design/methodology/approach The sample of 1,026 year nine students was drawn from nine private, English-speaking secondary schools in Kolkata, India to participate in a cross-sectional, self-reported paper-based survey. Data analyses including descriptive statistics and χ2 analyses were performed. Findings The majority of the respondents (65.3 per cent) were female. Biology, Home Science and Life skills classes were the main places in which students acquired food and nutrition knowledge. Almost two-thirds of the respondents acknowledged the importance of acquiring food-related knowledge and skills. Approximately half (48.3 per cent) reported that the food and nutrition curriculum involved excessive memorisation while around the same proportion described the curriculum as interesting (47 per cent) and easy to comprehend (50.3 per cent). However, relatively few students said they enjoyed attending food and nutrition classes (38.7 per cent). Only a minority reported receiving food skills training, i.e. cooking skills (23 per cent), meal planning skills and food purchasing skills (12.3 per cent) at school. Despite some parental support received at home, time constraints (50.5 per cent) and lack of interest (26.3 per cent) were cited as prominent barriers to learning food skills. Practical implications These data underscore the need for a skills-focussed food and nutrition curriculum to improve Indian adolescents’ food-related skills, nutritional knowledge and dietary behaviours. Originality/value This is the first cross-sectional survey to investigate the delivery of nutrition education and food skills in the Indian school context.


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