Investigating health education programs in secondary education

Abstract

 

The present article investigates the content of the approved school programs of health education in secondary education and the specialities of the teachers carrying them out, using the content analysis method. The approved health education school programs carried out in secondary education schools in the 1st Department of Secondary Education of Athens and in the regional units of Heraklion, Kozani and Evros for the school years 2012 to 2017 were classified under the criteria of title and relevant ministerial degree. These particular regions were selected by virtue of their size: they are the largest within their educational districts, containing 27.9% of the total student population and 38.33% of the total secondary education teachers. Therefore, the research may be considered to be representative.
The statistical analysis, carried out using the SPSS 24 statistical package, yielded the conclusion that health education programs in secondary education focus on matters of health, mental health and socioemotional development, while their subject range displays a satisfactory diversity and their number is gradually waning. An additional conclusion is that a limited number of teachers carrying out health education programs have the corresponding qualifications (teachers of biology, chemistry, physical education and home economics, doctors, nurses etc), while the majority are not directly related to health education.

 

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