Purpose of Bulletin

The effective renewal of a course of study requires the commitment and support of administrators. In the case of Health Education at the Middle Level, (grades 6-9), support is also available through a provincial team of catalyst teachers.

This document is designed to provide information and assistance to administrators, catalyst teachers, and classroom teachers; all of whom must play an active role in curriculum renewal. In particular, this bulletin:

• sets Health Education at the Middle Level in the context of curriculum renewal
• outlines the aim and goals for Health Education, K-12
• provides an overview of the curriculum for the Middle Level
• describes considerations for curriculum renewal such as key resources and the suggested role that administrators, catalyst teachers, and the health education liaison committees can play to support curriculum renewal
• suggests starting points for a comprehensive school health program that includes the home, school, and community.

Curriculum Renewal

In 1984, Directions identified Health Education as one of the Required Areas of Study for all kindergarten to grade 9 students.

Health Education at the Middle Level is the first curriculum to enter the renewal phase of the curriculum development process. Health Education for grades 7-9 was implemented in 1985 through 1988. Those were the early years of Saskatchewan's curriculum reform known as Core Curriculum.

The implementation of the Health Education curriculum for grades 7-9 was evaluated in 1994. The provincial evaluation project included over 350 teachers, 200 school-based administrators, 50 school division administrators, 5000 students, and 2400 parents. Findings indicated that some components of the curriculum had been implemented in some Saskatchewan classrooms while others had not. Health Education for grades 6-9 has been revised based upon the recommendations of the Curriculum Evaluation Report: Health Education 7, 8, and 9(Saskatchewan Education, March 1996) and upon the advice of a curriculum reference committee.

Curriculum renewal for Middle Level Health Education pivots on a comprehensive approach that features meaningful connections among the school, home, and community. It involves people working together toward common goals. The next section outlines some of the people who might be involved and the roles they might play.

Roles within Curriculum Renewal

Discussion about the roles within curriculum renewal assumes that school divisions are committed to delivering the renewed Middle Level Health Education curriculum as designed.

Role of Administrators

As educational leaders, administrators are key to successful curriculum renewal. Administrators facilitate the curriculum renewal process by having knowledge of both the change process and of comprehensive school health, and by developing strategies to assist with both. In general, it is helpful if administrators:

• understand that curriculum renewal requires change and that change is a process that takes time
• recognize that teachers will progress through various stages in the curriculum renewal process
• create an environment of trust and support to facilitate the risk taking that is necessary for change to occur
• become informed about the renewed curriculum and its basic philosophy, content, and processes
• understand that health education is a shared responsibility among school, home, and community, and strive to develop a comprehensive school health program
• develop a plan for comprehensive school health that includes the creation of connections with the health district and community agencies for purposes of supporting the school health programs while working toward common goals for youth
• ensure that teachers have the opportunity to attend curriculum renewal inservice
• inform students, parents, and the community of the aim, goals, and philosophy of the renewed Health Education curriculum for the Middle Level
• create and nurture a Health Education liaison committee that reflects the community in which the school resides and operates
• support teachers who wish to expand their repertoire of teaching strategies and methods, of assessment and evaluation techniques, and of professional and student resources
• ensure that the school division resource selection policy reflects Saskatchewan Education initiatives and guidelines and recognizes the resource needs of a Middle Level Health Education program
• consider how assessment and evaluation suggestions in the curriculum affect the school's evaluation policy and reporting of student progress
• attend, when possible, inservice and awareness sessions related to Health Education curriculum renewal
• support professional development opportunities such as networking, peer coaching, and action research by classroom teachers (see Appendix A)
• check informally and regularly with the health education teacher to provide support, guidance, and recognition.

Role of Classroom Teachers

New teachers and teachers new to Health Education will need time and opportunities to develop an awareness, and to explore, refine, and become adept with the philosophy and expectations outlined in the curriculum guide. Naturally, they will be in the early stages of the implementation process. Experienced Health Education teachers will be at different stages of the change process depending on the degree to which they implemented the previous Health Education curriculum for grades 7-9. While individual teachers will be at different stages in their change processes, they may experience growth in stages similar to the following.

Awareness

Initially, teachers might:

• become aware of the aim, goals, and philosophy of the curriculum
• become familiar with the decision-making process used throughout the Middle Level, the perspective or focus of each grade level, and the required and optional units for each grade
• review teacher and student resources
• participate in professional development activities (see Appendix A)
• relate new knowledge to past beliefs and experiences
• notice similarities and differences with other Core curricula
• provide information and other opportunities for parents or guardians to become familiar with basic principles and practices of health education, and their implications
• reflect on personal teaching philosophies and their implications.

Exploration

As teachers work with the curriculum, they might:

• try new instructional and assessment and evaluation strategies, and reflect upon their successes and areas of need
• incorporate new health content
• add new practices to their health education programs
• add new resources to their health education programs
• try out the sample units in the curriculum guide
• observe student responses to new practices and materials
• discuss positive outcomes, problem areas, and solutions with others
• assess their own professional needs and address these within a personally reasonable time frame.

Refinement

As teachers continue to work with the curriculum, they might:

• increase their comfort level with the decision-making process as a means of teaching health content and assessing student learning
• integrate the grade level perspective throughout the decision-making process of extending knowledge, making a decision, and designing action plans
• increase opportunities for connections with community agencies, health districts, and local resource people as students extend their knowledge, make decisions, and carry out action plans
• personalize sample units to meet student needs
• plan required units to reflect students' needs, interests, and experiences

Comprehensive School Health

As teachers become increasingly familiar with the curriculum and comfortable with health education content and processes, they will be able to:

• create an environment in which students collaborate and co-operate as they acquire and evaluate information
• create an environment in which students feel safe working through the process of generating alternatives, exploring consequences, and comparing choices for purposes of making informed decisions
• create an environment in which students work alone, in peer groups, or with community members or organizations to design and carry out action plans
• use a range of instructional, assessment, and evaluation strategies effectively, continuing to expand their repertoire
• use a variety of resources comfortably, continuing to expand their collection, community network, and reviewing processes
• develop optional units independently and in collaboration with colleagues in the school division, health district, and community
• reflect upon their classroom practice in order to contribute to a comprehensive school health program
• provide mentoring support for colleagues new to the curriculum
• develop professional growth plans that support a comprehensive school health program
• communicate effectively with students, colleagues, parents, and community agencies and organizations

Role of Catalyst Teachers

Saskatchewan Education has advertised for, selected, and provided professional development for catalyst teachers in order to support the renewal of Health Education at the Middle Level. The role of these catalyst teachers is to:

• internalize the philosophy and practices advocated in the renewed curriculum in order to be an in-school resource as well as a school division and provincial resource
• deliver a range of inservice sessions designed to meet the needs of schools and school divisions in renewing health education
• promote the curriculum in their respective schools, school divisions, and inservice sessions in a variety of ways
• become a mentor for health education teachers
• support comprehensive school health in Saskatchewan.

Role of Health Education Liaison Committees

Saskatchewan Education continues to recommend a local liaison committee to support health education teachers and to facilitate co-ordinated planning. The role of the committee may vary from one community to another but the basics are to:

• provide support to the classroom and total school health education program
• provide liaison with health-related programming in the community and/or health district
• provide a forum for discussion of parent/student/school ideas and concerns related to health education.

Health Education Overview

Aim and Goals

The aim of Health Education from kindergarten to grade 12 is to enable students to apply health knowledge in daily life in order to increase health-enhancing behaviours and decrease health-risking behaviours.

The goals of Health Education from kindergarten to grade 12 are to:

• acquire and evaluate health-related information
• make knowledgeable decisions to improve health
• apply decisions to improve own physical, mental, and social well-being and that of peers, families, and communities.

Philosophy: A Comprehensive School Health Approach

A comprehensive school health program is designed to influence positively the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of students. Through the involvement of home, school, and community, a comprehensive school health program relates to the emotional, intellectual, moral, physical, and social aspects of a student's life.

A comprehensive school health program includes a wide range of school and community personnel collaborating to enhance the well-being of students. The health instruction component of the program should be co-ordinated with health services, within a healthy school and community environment. The foundational pillars to comprehensive school health include instruction, support services, healthy school environment, and social support.

Comprehensive school health programs achieve their goals through:

• formal and informal instruction
• support services
• healthy school environment
• social support of peers, families, school, and community.

Appendix B features a sample checklist that can be used to observe the elements of comprehensive school health that exist within a school and those that need yet to be attained.

Health Education Liaison Committee

The committee structure and mandate of a health education liaison committee vary from one area to another.

Membership should include:

• the school principal
• a local school trustee
• a health professional.

It might also include:

• a wellness or health promotion staff member of the health district
• a member of the clergy
• a parent
• a senior student from the SRC or peer support group
• a representative from a local youth club
• a representative from the business and professional community
• representatives from the Indian or Métis communities
• a teacher from a subject other than health education
• others who have a special contribution to make.

The health education liaison committee might strive to work with the school, community, and health district toward comprehensive school health. Examples of other duties that can be carried out by the committee are included in the curriculum guide.

Health Education for the Middle Level

The Health Education curriculum for grades 6-9 can be described through an overview of the "Health Action Model" illustrated in Figure 1 on the following page. All of the components identified in the model are considered essential if students are to acquire the skills necessary to transfer health education information into health action in their daily lives.

Shared Responsibility

Shared responsibility is fundamental to health education. An effective health education program exists in the context of complementary programs in the entire school and in the community. Recognition is given to the health education provided by the home and by health care agencies.

Decision-making Process

The three-level decision-making process provides a structure for teachers and students to follow as they address a variety of health education topics. Students repeatedly gain practice in applying lifelong learning skills by extending their knowledge base, making informed decisions, and carrying out action plans.

Figure 1: An overview of the Health Action Model

Required and Optional Units

Teachers draw content from a group of required units and a bank of optional units. The chart on the following page identifies the required units and optional units for each of grades 6 to 9.

Abstinence, STDs, Pregnancy, and Contraception

One grade nine unit entitled Abstinence, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Pregnancy, and Contraception requires the approval of the school division board of trustees. School division board members decide whether this unit is to be included in the health education program taught in their school division.

HIV/AIDS Education

HIV/AIDS Education is a required unit in each of grades 6-9. The decision to strengthen HIV/AIDS education in Saskatchewan schools was made by the Minister of Education and the Minister of Health.

School divisions do not have an option about whether to teach HIV/AIDS education. Schools cannot opt-out of HIV/AIDS instruction. Parents, however, retain the right to remove their child from HIV/AIDS education. Parents decide whether they want their sons and daughters to obtain this information in a school setting.

Communicating with Families

It is recommended that the principal and teachers invite parents of Health Education students in grades 6-9 to an open house early in the school year. It is important that the parents are informed of the objectives, context, and resources that will be used in the required HIV/AIDS Education Units and the optional Abstinence, STDs, Pregnancy, and Contraception Unit.

Appendix C includes a sample parent information bulletin. It can be used in its entirety or parts of it might be used in newsletters to parents.

Grade Level Perspectives

The provincial Health Education curriculum incorporates a specific perspective or focus for each grade level. The perspectives are as follows:

Grade 6	Affirm Standards
Grade 7	Commit Self
Grade 8	Support Peers
Grade 9	Promote Health.

In grade 6, students learn to make decisions that affirm their personal standards. In grade 7, students design and carry out action plans in which they commit themselves to health-enhancing behaviours. In grade 8, students learn the skills of supporting a peer who is working toward health-enhancing behaviours. By grade 9, students design and carry out action plans that promote health in their school or community.

Throughout the Middle Level, student learning is directed toward the curriculum aim of increasing health-enhancing behaviours and decreasing health-risking behaviours.

Foundational Objectives

The goals for Health Education are achieved through the foundational and related specific learning objectives. The following foundational objectives are those that students work toward throughout Health Education from grades 6-9. They are organized according to Levels A, B, and C of the decision-making process.

Foundational Objectives for Level A - Extend Knowledge Base

Students will:

• understand the role of personal standards in applying health-related information
• acquire and evaluate sources of information about a variety of health-related topics
• use personal commitment in applying health education information to various aspects of daily living over which an individual has more or less control
• acknowledge that adolescents have options in choosing how to act or react in given situations
• understand the functions of support persons and support networks
• realize that adolescents have specific roles and responsibilities, within their families, that change throughout the life cycle
• recognize that gender stereotyping limits choices and makes unfair assumptions about people's skills, abilities, and behaviours
• understand that there are many ways of taking a leadership role in health promotion
• understand the purpose of advertising and promotions, and why manufacturers target specific groups of consumers
• understand that a realistic self-concept is the foundation on which to build meaningful relationships
• realize that adolescents have control over "who they are" at home and at school, and can support their friends in developing the same control
• know that violence is unacceptable behaviour and that support and assistance is available for families involved in violence
• understand the role of self-respect and respect for others in relationships
• understand that people with chronic illnesses want and need to be treated as much like the general population as possible.

Foundational Objectives for Level B - Make an Informed Decision

Students will:

• develop the lifelong skills of making health-enhancing decisions
• understand the role of personal standards in decision making
• understand the role of personal commitment in making decisions and attaining goals
• understand the role peer support plays in making decisions and attaining goals
• understand the role health promotion plays in decision making.

Foundational Objectives for Level C - Design and Carry Out an Action Plan

Students will design and carry out action plans:

• to meet health-enhancing goals that affirm their personal standards
• for responsible health action
• to support peers who are taking responsible health action
• to promote responsible health action in their communities.