(An item from ISHN Member information service) A Canadian study reported in the November 2012 issue of Pediatrics reports that about one-quarter of over 1200 students who returned a mail-in survey reported tnhat they were active for about 50 minutes twice per week. The authors report that "Nearly one-quarter (24%) of participants reported exergaming. Exergamers played 2 days per week on average, for ∼50 minutes each bout; 73% of exergamers played at a moderate or vigorous intensity. Exergamers were more likely than nonexergamers to be girls, to play nonactive video games, to watch ≥2 hours of television per day, to be stressed about weight, and to be nonsmokers. Many adolescents exergame at intensity levels that could help them achieve current moderate-to-vigorous PA recommendations. Interventions that encourage exergaming may increase PA and decrease sedentary behavior in select youth subgroups, notably in girls". Read more.
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(From UCLA School Mental Health Project) Educating the whole child" is a phrase that has been in and out of style for over 100 years, but as the engines rev up for the re-authorization of ESEA ... At the core of the "whole child" concept is the understanding that children grow physically, emotionally, and intellectually; therefore, school should attend to all of these areas of growth.(Center for Inspired Teaching). A whole school has three primary, essential, and overlapping primary components: (1) curriculum and teaching, (2) a learning supports system
to address factors that interfere with learning and teaching, and (3) school governance/management. While every school pursues functions related to all three, each component continues to be the focus of what often are controversial school improvement efforts. Given available findings, the consensus is that schools are more effectiveand caring places when they have family engagement and are an integral and positive part of the community. State and local education agencies all over the country have recognized the importance of school, family, and community collaboration. The aim is to sustain formal connections and strong engagement over time. The frequent calls for enhancing parent and community engagement with schools, however, often are not accompanied by effective action. This undercuts efforts to focus on whole student and whole school development. Read more. (An item from ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #4, 2012 of Educational Research presents a theory-based explanation as to how experienced teachers develop professionally. The authors note that : "The review is framed by theories within the constructivist paradigm. From this perspective, knowledge is perceived as the construction of meaning and understanding within social interaction. The social surroundings are seen as decisive for how the individual learns and develops. It is argued that courses and lectures, or ‘times for telling’, and teachers’ development of a metacognitive attitude are decisive factors for teachers’ learning within a constructivist frame of reference." The review of articles shows that both individual and organisational factors impact teachers’ learning. Teacher co-operation has importance for how they develop, and some of the teachers can lead such learning activities themselves. Moreover, a positive school culture with a good atmosphere and understanding of teachers’ learning, in addition to co-operation with external resource persons, may impact the professional development of teachers. The article concludes with the reflection that learning in school is the best arena for further development of teachers. Read more.
(An item from ISHN Member information service) An article in issue #5, 2012 of the International Journal of Educational Policy and Leadership notes that teachers and administrators had some differences in their perceptions about bullying. Teachers felt more strongly that educators played an important role in bullying prevention; however, administrators felt more comfortable communicating with the parents of bullying victims. Interestingly, teachers were significantly more likely than administrators to perceive a need for increased bullying prevention training. Significant gender differences concerning the inclusion of bullying prevention in school curriculum were also found. Read more.
(An item from ISHN Member information service) Several articles in Issue #8, 2012 of Teaching & Teacher Education continue that journal's tradition of describing teachers, student teachers and their norms, beliefs and practices. These offer excellent insights for advocates of health and social development programs in schools. Read more.
(An item from ISHN Member information service) An in-depth report from the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada on their regular national report on student achievement in mathematics reveals that student and school characteristics account for 78% of the variance between student scores. Student characteristics include socio-economic status, support at home for learning, gender, aboriginal status, after school activities, student use of technology etc). School characteristics include size, demographics, presence of special needs students and teacher experience/qualifications). The report suggests that the other factors including the liking school, having friends at school, curriculum, teaching methods, student assessment practices and staff attitudes towards testing can make the learning more equitable and more effective. One of the interesting items is that playing with computer games after school helps math learning (but may not be so good for physical activity). The high quality of the report makes it good reading for advocates of health and social development advocates in that it demonstrates the need for a "whole child" approach to learning. It also may prompt the question as to why educational authorities are not issuing similar reports on the social role of schooling and student learning on health, social development and safety. Read more.
(An item from ISHN Member information service) All of the articles in Supplementary Issue #3, November, 2012 of Journal of Health Communications examine different aspects of research related to health literacy. They include HL and culture, disadvantage, skills, english langauge skills and information technology. It should be noted that the core use of the term "health literacy" remains focused on the advancement of individuals and groups with disadvantages in society and is therefore true to the original use of the HL term as a derivative of the term "literacy" used to describe the basic literacy and numeracy knowledge, skills and access required for daily living. Read more.
(An item from ISHN Member information service) An article in the October 2012 issue of BMC Public Health presents the study protocol of a study underway in Sydney Australia that will examine how PE teachers can be taught to motivate students to be more active. This study is to compare the effect of three motivational strategies, each based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), on PA levels, and their hypothesized antecedents, during year 8 PE lessons. The primary outcomes were lesson time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA, and motivation towards the lesson. Secondary outcomes were perceptions of teacher behavior, psychological needs satisfaction, and lesson time spent in sedentary behavior. Read more.
(An item from ISHN Member information service) A Canadian study in the October 2012 issue of BMC Public Health examined the reasons why parents choose to have their children walk to school or if they will be driven or escorted. The objective of this study was to compare family demographics and AST related perceptions of parents who let their children walk unescorted to/from school to those parents who escort (walk and drive) their children to/from school. By comparing these groups, insight was gained into how we may encourage greater AST and independent mobility in youth living in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Canada. Findings revealed that unescorted children were: significantly older, the families spoke predominantly English at home, were more likely to live within one kilometer from school, and their parents agreed to a greater extent that they chose to reside in the current neighborhood in order for their child to walk to/from school. The parents of the escorted children worried significantly more about strangers and bullies approaching their child as well as the traffic volume around school. The authors conclude that "research and practice should focus on the development and sustainability of non-infrastructure programs that alleviate parental safety concerns" Read more.
(An item from ISHN Member information service) As we realize that complex ecologies and systems require multiple, linked interventions that address the whole of the problem and modify different parts of the multiple, inter-locking systems that form the environment around individuals and organizations, we need practical tools to help sort out the complexity. An article in the October 2012 issue of Social Science & Medicine suggests that careful document analysis is one such method. "This paper explores issues of implementation and sustainability by examining the case of PRISM (Program of Resources, Information and Support for Mothers), a community randomised trial in Victoria, Australia aimed at improving maternal health and wellbeing. It examines documents placed on the project website. Three groups of documents relating to implementation of the intervention were examined – implementation reports, media reports and community newsletters. Analysing these documents allowed a focus on the ‘work’ of the intervention – who does the work and what activities comprise the work – in order to examine implementation as it relates to sustainability. Read more.
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