Content areas of health education
Content ares in health education should be selected on the basis of many pertinent factors. These include the interests and needs of children in any given locality; attitudes, understandings, and behaviour of any particular group; type of community in which the school is located; resources available; and the philosophy of the school and community. Health knowledge is important and can be justified only as the pupils apply it to their own lives and the lives of individuals around them. Problems that affect them personally must be selected in preference to detailed information on general health.
There is no one course of study or
genera. l'ealth format that may be stated as being the best. Although the basic
health needs of all individuals are similar in some aspects, the application of
specific facts and information will be governed by the local situation.
It has been pointed out that content
areas in health education should be selected, to a certain degree, on the basis
of the needs and interests of the children being served. Therefore, the
question arises as to how such interests and needs can be determined. The
Ainerican Association of School Administrators suggests seven ways in which
this vital information may be obtained. First, interests and needs may be
determined through an analysis of health records, which every school should
keep in a cumulative manner and which certain such valuable information as the
result of health appraisal and health counselling. Second, the teacher's
observation offers some indication of interests, desires, and health problems.
Third. tests of knowledge, attitudes, and habits uncover superstitions and
other health problems, together with the accuracy of the health knowledge
possessed by the student. Fourth, conferences with parents, teachers, and
pupils reveal many health interests and needs. Fifth, a student-interest survey
will offer an indication of the interests in the field of health, as the students
themselves see them. Sixth, a study of current literature concerned with
scientific information in the field of health is essential. New knowledge and
new health problems are revealed each day through experimentation and research
on the part of the medical and other professions. Finally, a study of the
health of the community is imperative, in order to know the health problems
that are peculiar to the local setting with its own industrial, housing,
sanitation, water supply, and other problems which characterize it.
