Teacher Health Literacy: Why Does It Matter?

Abstract

It is obvious, that education is one of the main social factors having influence on health. Health education is most effective at school, because it reaches a man at his most receptive period of life - childhood and adolescence. A demand to live a healthy life is formed not only by family, but also by school. Teachers’ role in health education process is very significant, therefore, their health literacy and health competence are the main components realising health education at school. During the studies at university pre-service teachers in one way or another develop health competence, however hopefully not enough attention is paid to this, and study process poorly contributes to health literacy improvement, health competence formation.

Gesundheitskompetenz und Gesundheit von Studierenden unter besonderer Betrachtung der Lehramtsstudierenden

“…Eine frühzeitige Förderung der GK von LS kann sich nicht nur positiv auf den Vorbereitungsdienst und die spätere Arbeitssituation auswirken, sondern schon für die individuelle Studiensituation sowie das Praxissemester konstruktiv genutzt werden und die Gesundheit von LS während ihrer Ausbildung an Hochschulen fördern. Der GK wird laut Lamanauskas [15] im Studienverlauf noch nicht genügend Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt und durch den Studienprozess kaum beeinflusst.…”

ACTIVE YOU: Teacher Attributes and Attitudes Predicting Physical Activity Promotion

“…These are valuable findings for two reasons. First, teachers’ health and well-being are essential, as healthier teachers are more likely to provide ample physical activity to produce academically successful students [ 37 , 38 ]. Additionally, there is a direct relationship between the amount of physical activity educators participate in and their willingness to promote physical activity for their students [ 39 ].…”

Teacher Trainees’ Well-Being—The Role of Personal Resources

“…Accordingly, our results draw attention to the importance of health literacy in the context of teacher education [ 62 , 63 ]. Regarding the structural model of health literacy, these findings necessitate promotion measures and follow up on Lamanauskaus’ claim that health-related competences have been neglected in teacher education [ 64 ]. Its early promotion has been widely discussed in the school setting [ 65 , 66 ], but (trainee) teachers should have well-developed health literacy as health promoters [ 67 , 68 ].…”