ARTISTIC AND SCIENTIFIC SELF-EXPRESSION OF PUPILS IN HEALTH AND ECOLOGY EDUCATION

By ALINA KADIKIENĖ,

Biology teacher at the Secondary School No 2 in Nemenčinė

Natural sciences include not only knowledge and achievements but also healthy and ecological way of life, ecological approach, and social support for those who failed as yet to decide. In broader sence, it means love and tolerance for surrounding world. Our children want a different lifestyle, they strive for a different field of activity and self-expression. My experience show that it is not difficult to stimulate their motivation and interest in natural sciences. I have been coordinating a project entitled “Healthy school” in the Secondary School No 2 in Nemenčinė from 2003. The group of the project coordinators and executors are optimistic and plan and organise the activities in such a way that every pupil could answer the following question: “What you and I should do in order to ensure that everybody would prefere a healthier way of life?”

The project “Healthy School” is aimed at strengthening of health of the pupils, improve knowledge and skills regarding health, create integrated and wide health strengthening and education system by joint effort of teachers, medical professionals, family and general community.

The project objectives are the following: establishing what influence on the health of pupils have the family and school, exploring the pupils ideas as to how the others influence their opinions and conduct and vice versa, helping them in care of themselves and their health, developing in pupils self-respect, responsibilty for their actions and strong will, educating the children and adolescents to care of their health.

A preventive play entitled “The Trial of the Nikotine” is one of the events implementing the said purposes and objectives. The best effect is when the roles are played by pupils of higher classes, especially smokers, who are admired by the younger ones. After such a play they are ashamed to smoke, at least in the territory of the school. Characters of the play are as follows: clerk of the court, president of pupils of the school, public prosecutor, judges, barrister, prosecutor, defenders, witnesses and “the accused”. A speech of every character is interesting, suggestive, based on real facts and full of irony. The play is enlivened by music at the moments of coming in and going out of the president and the court, at bringing in and bringing out of “the accused” – big-sized paper cigarettes – and at the beginning and at the end of the play. A court decision, which was met with thunderous ovation of the approving audience, says as follows:

1. From now on every pupil who would smoke in the territory of our school and at any other place shall befall a shame and he shall fall into disgrace of the school administration and teachers. All area that see the eyes of teachers shall be considered school territory.

2. Any smoking means found with a pupil may be confiscated.

3. Smokers have to clean by themselves all illegal smoking sites near the school.

4. Smokers from he higher classes have to write long essays and deliver lectures on the harmfull efects of the smoking on health, environment and younger pupils.

5. Those pupils who should fail to get rid of bad habits could not obtain higher evaluation than 6.

6. The nikotine and smoking are condemned to shame. With the sounds of a funeral march, “the accused” should be removed from the courtroom and burned after taking them to the remotest dumping ground.

Such plays with participation of the children themselves are of great educational effects on the youth. At first the plays have been created during lessons, later developing into great after-school events. In addition, presentations of pupils’ art (excibitions of drawings, reading of poems and concerts) were organised as an alternative to the meaningless time-spending by some pupils. The children like the performaces of their friends. Our play, “The Trial of the Nicotine”, with packed audience, was followed by a pithy creative part, at the end of which the audience have been chanting “thank you” for a long time.

By taking care of physical and spiritual health of our pupils, the Secondary School No 2 in Nemenčinė is implementing the principle according to which every child and adolescent, in our town as in all Europe, has the right to study in a health-caring school.

The interest of children in biology and chemistry was enhanced by conferences organised by two young scientists, R. Žilinskaitė and I. Ingelevič, pupils of 12 class, where they presented their scientific research work carried out with scientists of the Department of Gene Engineering, Institute of Biochemistry: “The evaluation of modification of T4-related bacteriofags by means of specific restriction endonucleases”, “The search of bacteria utilising 4-hidroxypyridine and 4-carboxypyridine” and “Laboratory animals”. While carrying out this research, the girls have mastered the use of complicated equipment for laboratory chemical and mycroscopic analysis, learned to present the results in scientific form and prepare computerised presentations. Those pupils who take part in scientific research very carefully prepare themselves for lessons of biology and chemistry, extend their knowledge into these matters, often prepare reports and essays, carry out various research works in the school, and collect the data for their work. A number of pupils from the 10^th class are also enthusiastic to participate in such scientific activity.

A great deal of the teacher’s success depends on his abilities in detecting inclinations of a pupil, helping him to disclose his best qualities, encouraging him to take part in processes of self-perception and investigation of the nature as well as in creative activities.