Abstract:In this study, we examined the sustainability of health-promoting practices in Norwegian schools that were enrolled in the European Network of Health-Promoting Schools from 1993 to 2003. The research questions were: How do the principals perceive that health-promoting practices have been sustained in the schools following the schools' membership of the health-promoting schools network? In what way is school leadership related to the sustainability of health promotion? The study draws on qualitative data consisting of interviews with seven principals in 2008 and school documents. The schools determined their own priorities for action based on assessment of needs in 1994. After 14 years, health promotion practices were sustained in six of the seven schools. Two factors emerged as vital for sustained health promotion practices: the health-promoting school experience and the maintenance and development of practice. The health-promoting school experience relates to staff who internalized the potential link between health promotion practices, school satisfaction, and learning. This also emphasizes the importance of the transfer of experience in sustaining health promotion practices as the staff turned over. The maintenance of vision and practice relates to the principals' commitment to school health promotion, leadership practices that encourage health promotion practices, and external collaboration with the surrounding community in health promotion.
Abstract:The aim of this study was to investigate conditions related to teacher participation in the planning and implementation of the Norwegian part of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools. One hundred and four teachers responded to the questionnaire at baseline and at three year follow-up. Teachers' personal interest and regard for the program aim were the main predictors of their self-reported participation in the program. Conditions perceived as enabling or hindering program implementation, as well as baseline characteristics of school culture and professional discretion were to a high extent related to participation in the program (Multiple R 2 = .52). Health promotion aiming at increasing the students' wellbeing and improving the school environment seemed to have been well received by teachers, and enabled their participation in the program. The findings imply that programs encouraging networking are likely to be successful in engaging teachers, and that such networking yields ample opportunities for professional learning.Keywords: Health promoting school, teacher participation, network, professional learning, professional discretion, supportive culture.Teacher participation is considered an important precondition for school development processes. However, there is no general "recipe" for how to facilitate teachers' participation in such processes, just as there is no "recipe" for how to facilitate school development processes in general [1,2]. This study investigates factors enabling or hindering teacher participation in the planning and implementation of the Norwegian part of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools.The 'Health Promoting School' (HPS) is a relatively recent concept, but the notion that the school setting can have a wide and varied role in meeting and influencing the health of young people and future adults is not new [3][4][5]. A HPS initiative is grounded in a holistic view of health, with the target being not just individual lifestyle, but the wider organisational and socio-environmental context of the whole school community [6][7][8]. Consequently, the development of a HPS involves a move from practices that rely mainly on classroom-based health education models to a more comprehensive, integrated construct of health promotion [6]. THE NORWEGIAN NETWORK OF HEALTH PROMOTING SCHOOLS The Norwegian Network of Health Promoting Schools is part of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools (ENHPS eu/).The HPS program differs from other health-promoting and preventive measures in schools by being an overall policy program presupposing and facilitating changes in schools' traditional methodology and policy. The uniqueness of the HPS program lies in the way it focuses on including the whole school community in developing and implementing health promoting interventions [10,11].The ENHPS initially developed 12 criteria for a HPS [12]. Included in these criteria were guidelines about health enhancing physical and psychosocial environments, changes in curriculum in terms...
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce the official statement of the Fifth European Conference on Health-Promoting Schools.Design/methodology/approachThe Fifth European Conference on Health-Promoting Schools was held on 20–22 November 2019 in Moscow, Russian Federation, with over 450 participants from 40 countries. A writing group was established to prepare a draft version of the statement before the conference. On the basis of an online and offline feedback process, the opinions of the participants were collected during the conference and included in the finalisation of the statement.FindingsThe final conference statement comprises six thematic categories (values and principles; environment, climate and health; schools as part of the wider community; non-communicable diseases (NCDs); evidence base; and digital media), with a total of 23 recommendations and calls for action.Originality/valueThe recommendations and calls for action reflect current challenges for Health Promoting Schools in Europe. They are addressed to all actors in governmental, non-governmental and other organisations at international, national and regional levels involved in health promotion in schools and are to be applied for the further development of the concept.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.