This article was published in Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol 26, Issue 4, Author(s): L. Paakkari, P. Tynjälä, and L. Kannas, “Student Teachers' Ways of Experiencing the Objective of Health Education as a School Subject: A Phenomenographic Study“, Pages 941-948, Copyright Elsevier (May 2010).
The purpose of this phenomenographic study was to identify student teachers' ways of experiencing health education as a school subject.
20 student teachers participated in the study.
Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and essays.
The findings indicated that the target phenomenon was discussed through the general objective of the subject in five ways:
health education as 1) a context for delivering theoretical knowledge,
2) a channel for providing pupils with practical knowledge and skills to contribute to health-related choices,
3) a means to promote pupils' self-regulative knowledge and independent thinking,
4) a context for personal growth, and
5) a means for developing responsible behavior in society.
The hierarchically-ordered categories arrived at varied along six themes of expanding awareness.
The findings can be used as a basis for planning educational settings, with a view to deepening student teachers' understanding.
Related items:
- Learning for Professional Life: Student Teachers' and Graduated Teachers' Views of Learning, Responsibility and Collaboration
- Mentors' Written Lesson Appraisals: The Impact of Different Mentoring Regimes on the Content of Written Lesson Appraisals and the Match with Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions of Content