HEALTH AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF NATIONAL CULTURE

(Using of various educational techniques in investigating the health problems)

Zosė Aškinienė, a biology teacher-expert

Vilija Zdanevičienė, a biology teacher-methodologist

Diana Petkevičienė, a senior teacher of information sciences

Gabija Gymnasium in Vilnius

SUMMARY

Relevance. The health is both social and economic value, therefore it is a part of the national culture. The health should be considered as priority in the value system, while educating people to adopt the value-based determination for caring and strengthening of health and proper approch to their own health and that of others.

The Lithuanian general education programmes and education standards stipulate that the education process is an integral part of the system for preparing pupils to life since it help in developing of their world outlook and spiritual values. The education process should help a pupil to find out the advantages of the healthy way of life and to choose it. The school and ecological education in particular should provide the oportunities for discovering ones own organism, comprehending the basics of healthy lifestyle, realising what are inevitable consequences of certain lifestyles for the health of ones own and of other people. The school-leaving exams programme also stipulate that the pupils should know to employ scientific knowledge and skills for solving of everyday life problems, i.e. be able to analyse and evaluate an information in avertisements and food labels, perceive the nutrition effects on the health, know agents of diseases and ways of their spreading.

Purpose of the research: Finding out what role is attributed for the healthy lifestyle in the education process in Gabija Gymnasium in Vilnius.

Subject of the research: 9-11th classes, lessons in various subjects.

Tasks of the reasearch: Showing that teachers of various subjects may systematically make their contribution in healthy lifestyle education, and enhance the interrelation between the teacher and the pupil by integrating the topics regarding the healthy lifestyle.

Methods of the research: Analysis of scientific and methodologist sources, analysis of documents (thematic and daily plans), conduction and analysis of integrated lessons.

The process of the research. Hypothesis: Teachers of various subjects should integrate healthy lifestyle topics into the education content. We have analysed thematic plans, conducted open lessons, organised projects of lessons, and the conmpetition of scientific projects. Below we present the analysis of the results.

Gabija Gymnasium have joined the international project of schools for heatlth strengthening. Therefore, considering the problems of children health and in order to find the appropriate solutions, we, teachers, modificate our work methods and integrate the healthy lifestyle programme into lessons of biology, physical culture, ethics, course of basic knowledge about the world for primary school and other subjects. The greatest number of elements of the healthy lifestyle programme were intergrated into the lessons of biology and physical culture. But some elements of the programme were integrated also in lessons of other subjects. Below are presented a few examples of healthy lifestyle topics integrated into other subjects in 9-10th classes, taking into account that pupils who completed the basic school programme already have their key attitudes formed.

The lesson project is an important technique in the contemporary didactics. It is of particular importance in humanitarian classes. The following project were organised in third classes: “Weave to me a way, my mum”, “Letters of the unborn child”, “The tree of proteins, fats and hydrocarbons”. “Our home is our small world”, “White smile”, “Do your pets always bring the joy?”, “A non-smoker boy is far more attractive” and “My purchases” are the projects created for the basic school.

Here follows some excerpts as an illustration:

“Letters of the unborn child”: Hello, my beloved Mummy and Daddy. It’s me, the recently set fruit of the great love. I’m on my way to the great and colourful world where you live <…> Mum, I would like that you adhere to healthy nutrition since you now have to eat for two; for yourself and for me. I would like that you both, my mummy and my daddy, talk to me, sing lullabies because here it’s vary dark and I sometimes am feeling lonely.<…> Daddy, I would like to ask you to take care of Mummy, don’t allow her to worry or feel some other negative emotions because in such a case I also would feel it. I don’t want to be nervous and irritable when grown-up. I dream of coming into the harmonious and happy family.<…> Mummy, love me and take care of yourself. Jurgita.

Not only during lessons we encourage the pupils to choose the healthy lifestyle. We also organised actions such as: “The week of healthy food”, “The non-smoking day” and “Let’s clean the world”. We co-operate with a variety of institutions: E. Šimkūnaitė foundation, Association for Embelishment of Lithuania, Office of the Head of Pašilaičiai, Verkiai Regional Park, other school participants in the projects: “Healthy School” and “Agenda-21”, Centre of Young Naturalists, and develop joint projects.

Expeditions are excellent lessons of the health and communication, which are organised on an every year basis in defferent locations of Lithuania by the natural sciences methodology. During such expeditions pupils investigate the ecological state of farm-steads, carry out water tests, measure the illumination in rural cottages. When carrying out social surveys, pupils have the oportunity to get from old people an interesting information about the traditional cure with medical plants, by means of witchcraft, home-made medications, the role of astronomical bodies in the human life, natural phenomenons or the bees and bee products. The communication with rural people teach pupils of open-hearted and sincere conduct.

The competition of scientific projects for pupilshave been organised in our gymnasium from 1996, in which took part pupils from all types of classes. The data collected during expeditions are used for scientific projects. Here are a few examples of the projects: “Desodorants and their effects”, “The efficacy of dental pastes”, “Medical plants in the Lithuanian pharmacy”, “Headaches in pupils”, “The healthy soul in the healthy body”, “Disorders of vision”, “Measurements of illumunation in classes”, “Allergy”, “Pesticides in fruits and vegetables”.

The long-term project “Persons of the same age: one to the other” investigates the problems of inter-relations of pupils and look for solutions. Pupils of 11-12th classes united in the youth group discuss the sexuality, diseases spreading by sexual way and contraception means. Pupils-project coordinators conduct short lessons in the primary school and the basic school.

During additional education lessons we organise competitions such as “Let’s be healthy”, “Diseases as the consequences of bad habits”, “Making a mistake is a disaster but it’s a crime when you know but act otherwise”. The following integrated assignments are given during events: healthy lifestyle and biology, healthy lifestyle and physical culture, healthy lifestyle and history, healthy lifestyle and geography. The healthy lifestyle is propagated and intergrated in lessons of a variety of lessons as well as highlighted on stands.

We share our experience with teachers on national level, organise workshops entitled “Health education in Gabija Gymnasium”, conduct open lessons.

The health state of pupils is determined by genetic and environmental factors (physical, social, psychological). “Nature has no time to pity for me. It is absolutely objective with regard to me. Such objectivity makes me howl”. (J. Marcinkevičius). The duty of a teacher is to help a pupil to live in harmony with natural and social environment.