Elementary School Teachers' Perspectives on Health Instruction: Implications for Health Education

Abstract

Limited literature is available on the barriers and enablers of elementary school health instruction, and even less is known about teachers' experiences that influence their decision to teach health. The purpose of this research was to obtain information to assist public health educators in creating an infrastructure to support school health education instruction. The question guiding the research was, “From the perspective of elementary school teachers' experience, what are the barriers and enablers to teaching health in the classroom?” During January-March 2000, qualitative research methods, including 56 one-on-one interviews and 9 focus groups with 51 elementary school teachers, were conducted. Findings relate to three general thematic areas: existing policies or guidelines for instruction, limited instruction time, and teacher preferences. Recommendations are provided for creating a partnership between public health educators and school health educators to establish an educational environment that supports classroom health instruction, as well as recommendations for enhancing teacher capacity to teach health.