environment
Compulsory directions of work on creating health promoting environments in Russian general education institutions are formulated in the letter of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation from 26.08.2002 № 13-51-104/13 “On work of experimental general education institutions within Health promoting technologies”:
• Rational organization of educational processes in accordance with sanitary norms and hygiene requirements;
• Rational organization of physical activity of children, including physical education classes
provided by the program, dynamic breaks and active breaks in the
daily routine, as well as sports and mass activities;
• The organization of nutrition of children;
• The system of work on the formation of health values and healthy lifestyles.
Taking into account the health promoting technologies specified in the letter, directions of health promoting activities in educational institutions, based on the above-mentioned legal documents regulating the process of preserving and strengthening the health of children, allow to distinguish the following components of a health promoting learning environment:
Optimization of sanitary conditions for learning (physical position of educational institution; its premises, building, facilities, air temperature regime and, natural and artificial illumination, water and sanitation; premises and facilities of educational institutions situated in adapted buildings, its sanitary and maintenance condition)
For example, the building of an educational institution must be located in a residential area; its territory must be fenced and landscaped with greenary.
Greenary must be not less than 50% of its territory. When the territory of an educational institution borders with a forest or gardens, its area may be reduced by 10%. The school territory should include areas for recreation, sports and maintenance. It is also allowed to have a zone for learning and experiments.
As for the buildings themselves, it is recommended to allocate a separate
block or building for primary school classrooms, rooms for first grade pupils should be located up to the second floor and rooms for the second and third grade puplis up to the third floor. For secondary school pupils it is allowed to allocate separate rooms for each school subject.
In educational institutions located in rural areas, it is allowed to use one classroom for two or more subjects, also equipment should be placed with respect to good visual conditions, working posture and preventing posture disorders in children.
Buildings of educational institutions are equipped with centralized heating and ventilation systems that must comply with design and construction and provide optimal parameters of the microclimate and air. The air temperature in the classroom with normal windows must range between18-24 degrees Centigrade and the relative humidity between 40-60%. In extracurricular time with no children inside the temperature should be maintained at not lower than 15 degrees Centigrade.
In order to maintain optimal air and temperature mode, which is necessary for normal performance of children it is important to keep a ventilation regime during the breaks, before and after classes. Duration of ventilation is determined by weather conditions. On warm days, it is advisable to keep the windows open.
There is a number of requirements for natural and artificial lighting. Classrooms should have a left side natural lighting.
The main light should not be in front of or behind the students. Classrooom windows should be oriented on the southern, south-eastern and eastern side of the horizon. To the northern side of
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the horizon there can be classrooms for drawing, painting, andcomputer studies.
It is recommended to have curtains of light-colored fabric with a sufficient degree of light penetration, good light scattering that should not reduce the level of natural light. Artificial lighting in classrooms is provided with appropiate light levels and light quality indicators in accordance to the hygienic requirements for artificial lighting. At schools fluorescent lighting is used with lamps of different spectrum: white, warm-white, and natural white.
The building of educational institutions should be equipped with centralized systems of domestic water supply, sewerage and drainage in accordance with the requirements for public buildings and facilities in terms of drinking water supply and sanitation.
Educational institutions are provided with water that meets the hygiene requirements for quality and safety of drinking water (Resolution of Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation 2010).
Rational organization of learning processes and the study
workload
Indicators of rational learning process organization are: optimal amount of study workload - number of lessons and their duration, including the time spent on homework; minimum amount of extracurricular classes; physical activities, short excercises before classes, PT lessons, sport events (Resolution of Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation 2010).
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Ensuring adequate nutrition for children in an educational institution
Two hot meals a day (breakfast and lunch) should be organized for school pupils. Children attending a day care group should be provided with an additional afternoon meal. School catering should be organized in accordance with sanitary and epidemiogical requirements for the catering organizations (Resolution of Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation 2008; 2010).
Improving the system of physical education (including proper distribution of students in medical groups for physical training)
One of the most important aspects is proper distribution of students in different medical groups for physical training. School children are divided in different medical groups according to the following criteria: the level of health;
anatomical and physiological characteristics of the organism (physical development); functionality; physical fitness (it is determined by the physical education teacher). Distribution of students in medical groups is held by a pediatrician or school doctor (based on the previous data from polyclinics or routine check ups) at the end of the school year. In this case, it is necessary to take into consideration opinion of the P. E.
teacher. (Letter of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation 2002 № 13-51-263/123.)
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Ensuring psychological comfort to all people involved in the learning process
Psychological comfort in the whole educational institution and in separate classes can be judged by the criteria that allow us to estimate the level of psychological well-being of the students.
This above all is: the level of anxiety at school; formed learning motivation;
social status of child in class (recognized or not recognized by peers, leaders or rejected children). A good psychological climate in class is reflected in the absense of rejected children and the presence of at least 4-leaders among 20-22 pupils; and an individual teaching style. According to the pupils’ test results a teacher chooses the appropriate communication style. At the same time the following criteria are taken into account: sympathy, empathy, humanism, and the individual characteristics of the pupil.
The use of health promoting learning technologies
This means avoiding the forms of authoritarian pedagogy, which usually focuses on the ”average” pupil. Desire to stick to those learning of technologies, which have a large health promoting effect: pedagogy of cooperation;
developing learning of technologies using the potential of each child.
Widespread use of educational programs in the field of health
Since 1990 in pedagogy the concept of a
”Promoting School Health” has been firmly established. This is a school which implements a system of activities with the leading role of health education. The problematic side of this issue is that the proposed ”health” programs are recommended as extracurricular activities, which consequently increase the total academic workload and are an additional disease risk factor.
Integrating health measures in the learning process:
a) aimed at enhancing adaptive capacity of the organism: optimization of pupils nutrition, cold water treatment, massage of biologically active points and areas (BAP), breathing exercises; b) aimed at the removal of visual fatigue: use ophthalmologic training devices, gymnastics for the eyes during the lesson, teaching literacy in the mode of distance vision; c) measures to reduce the static tension of the musculoskeletal system:
exercises that form a correct posture and strengthen the muscular corset, outdoor games; d) activities aimed at reducing emotional stress and improving functions of central nervous system (CNS): muscle relaxation, and the use of functional music.
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Providing family counseling aimed at improving health and social adaptation
Family counseling is usually carried out by a school psychologist and by a recommendation from physicians, social workers and teachers. The main value of this kind of work is: providing psychological assistance to children and families, aimed at improving children’s mental health, preventing and overcoming deviations in emotional state, personal development, and social maladjustment.
In recent years the number of online and other electronic forms of counseling through the use of official school website has increased. Very often, a school psychologist or a social worker receives questions, which need to be answered no later than in three days. The sender of the message gives his real name or a nickname thus making communication anonymous. After receiving a response, the question with detailed answer from a specialist is put on the website so other users who have similar problem situations could read it.
Organization works to improve teachers’ health A teacher, being a role model for the students, an example for them, should demonstrate his/her commitment to a healthy lifestyle. School teachers are regularly sent for medical examinations.
Training teaching staff on children’s health
In order to increase the teachers’
awareness and competence of factors that increase the possibilities for school health promotion, they are regularly sent to participate in various conferences, seminars and training courses.
Health monitoring
Monitoring is carried out in order to obtain information necessary to make justified management decisions to improve the health of the population; it allows to determine the causal relationship between the state of physical health, physical development of children, adolescents and young people and the impact of factors of the human environment (Resolution of Russian Federation Government 2001 № 916).
Health monitorings, conducted regularly by schools, allow identifying the dynamics of the health status of students, and thus carrying out the control over the implementation of the above mentioned measures, preserving and strengthening the health of children.
In the future, it promotes the search for new means of preserving the health of children, applicable in schools, and keeping those that are effective at this stage.