Changed lifestyles during the COVID-19 pandemic: the need for health education in the curriculum of pedagogical students

Abstract

The health education in schools became the focus of public attention during the global pandemic of COVID-19. Teaching practice changed to meet the increased demand for pupils’ health, triggering a reevaluation of higher education curricula for pedagogical students. Therefore, this mixed methods study aimed to investigate the lifestyle of university students of pedagogy in Slovenia during the COVID-19 pandemic. One hundred and four students (87.4% females and 12.6% males) met the criteria and participated in an online survey in which they self-assessed their physical activity, eating habits, mental well-being, and sleep quality. The convergent parallel mixed methods design was used to obtain qualitative descriptions of student experiences with lifestyle domains and quantitative data on their attitudes towards the impact of lifestyle on physical and mental well-being during the pandemic. The results suggest that the pandemic did significantly impact student lifestyles, especially their mental well-being. Although most students maintained a healthy lifestyle during the pandemic, they also reported a deterioration in other measured domains of health-related behaviour. Particular attention should, therefore, be paid to the curriculum of pedagogical students to develop their competences in health education and readiness to assume an active role as educators for their future pupils’ health.

Keywords:

• Health education
• university students
• curriculum development
• education professions
• mixed methods research

Reviewing Editor:

• Lawrence Jun Zhang, Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of Auckland Faculty of Education and Social Work, Auckland, New Zealand

Subjects:

• Psychological Methods & Statistics
• Qualitative and Mixed Methods
• Education Policy
• Curriculum
• Behaviour
• Teacher Education & Training
• Health Education and Promotion
• Mental Health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The dataset related to this manuscript can be made available upon reasonable request.

Ethical approval

The research was approved by the University of Maribor’s Faculty of Arts Commission for Research Ethics [Approval No. 038-12-102/2021/6/FFUM].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency − Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS under the research program grant ‘Slovene Identity and Cultural Awareness in Linguistic and Ethnic Contact Areas in Past and Present’ [number P6-0372].

Notes on contributors

Joca Zurc

Joca Zurc is an associate professor at the Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Slovenia. She has more than 20 years of experience in empirically-based educational research. Her primary interest involves teachers’ competences in promoting a healthy lifestyle and well-being for school children.