Motivating secondary school students to raising the level of health literacy

Abstract

Recent decades have brought many changes in the concepts and implementation of health education. Contemporary health education of children and teenagers accounts for all aspects of health (physical, psychic and social health) as well as for their conditioning factors. One of the main challenges of the twenty-first century public health is the promotion of 'health literacy'. The article presents changes that have been taking place in health education in Polish schools in recent years. It will also focus on the position and status of health education after the latest curriculum reform (Ministry of National Education 2009). The new core curriculum significantly increases the status of health education making it an important objective for the schools and the teachers. The aim of the research conducted in year 2011/2012 was to investigate the level of motivation of secondary school students to learn aspects connected with health, as well as to measure their level of awareness and health literacy after a series of classes devoted to preventing the use of stimulants and psychoactive substances. The outcomes of documents analysis were researched by means qualitative approach, and the results of the applied pedagogical experiment were analyzed statistically. Students’ motivation was measured by a survey, in accordance with the assumptions of Likert scale (Brzezinski, 2006). The initial motivation and final motivation after the experiment were measured among 153 students from five grade 2 classes of the upper secondary school. After the experiment, a test research was applied to investigate the level of comprehension of issues connected with maintaining good health. The comparison of initial and final motivation of students participating in the research indicated that after the series of preventive classes their levels of positive motivation, as well as moderately positive motivation, have risen. The research indicated that the main aim of health education classes should be the continuous motivation of young people to undertake pro-health activities and avoid health risks. It is important to draw teenagers' attention to the interlinks between their behaviour (in particular actions which put health at risk) and the regularities resulting from their development, and to make them aware about the necessity to lead a healthy lifestyle adjusted to their age