Teaching practice in safety education: qualitative evidence

Abstract

Although health, safety and risk education for school pupils has received growing attention in recent years, for the most part related education programmes and research aimed at assessing those programmes have focused on health education, with relatively little attention paid to the array of immediate safety risks that are confronting pupils within the school context. This article reports on research carried out with teaching staff in seven schools to establish the approaches that teachers adopt when delivering lessons with inherent risks. This research is primarily concerned to investigate how a safety education strategy in a school context is implemented, operationalised, communicated and presented to pupils, and to establish whether approaches depart from the theories and prescriptions advanced by education advisors and other Government bodies or stakeholders. The perceptions of the teachers are used as a basis for a broader discussion about the adequacy of safety education and the potential to enhance and broaden the delivery of a safety education curriculum implemented through state schools.

Keywords:

• Classroom safety
• General teaching requirement
• Health education
• Risk
• Safety education
• Teaching practice

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the Health and Safety Executive for funding the research on which the paper is based. Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy. I thank Andrew Weyman, Simon Pilling and Mike Gray for constructive criticisms and general feedback. I am further indebted to two anonymous referees who provided prompt and constructive criticism.

Notes

1. The National Curricula for England, Scotland and Wales were established by the Education Reform Act 1988. The Parliamentary Act requires all state schools to provide pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum. The National Curricula provide a general statement of learning standards and entitlement. The curricula therefore aim to provide a coherent and continuous system of education for school pupils. The National Curricula are organized and developed by separate curriculum authorities: in England, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA); in Scotland, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA); and in Wales, the Qualifications Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales (ACCAC).

2. The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and its Executive (HSE) are the Government body with responsibility for the regulation of health and safety risks to employees and the public arising from workplace activity.

3. This guidance document is provided as support for PSHE and Citizenship subjects of the English National Curriculum, though there are a number of references to other subjects. The guidance document would plausibly be of equal value to Scottish and Welsh teaching staff for related subjects.

4. In total seven primary units of analysis were developed (‘Risk guidance sources’, ‘Safety policy’, ‘Lesson planning’, ‘Teaching methods’, ‘Teacher’s risk perception’, ‘Teacher’s attitudes’, ‘Barriers’); each unit contained up to nine coding categories (including subcategories). Analysis was also conducted across these units for which further sub‐categories were developed. Analysis involved a considerable amount of to‐ing and fro‐ing between coded quotations, original text and memos.

5. The notable exception is in the case of PSE subject lessons. The curriculum for PSE is distinct from other subjects in that the risk issues addressed rarely relate to hazards within the classroom context. The curriculum topics for PSE often relate to pressing social problems (e.g., drug addiction, crime and pollution).

6. This situation will vary depending on the size of the school and the type of leadership. In some circumstances no structure will be imposed and teachers will be left to make decisions about the shape of their work.

7. This research did not involve an evaluation of internally produced documents. The comments I provide regarding these documents are based on the opinions of teaching staff.

8. Subject teachers for the other subjects provided significantly less evidence that they use group discussion when addressing health and safety topics.

9. Peer education is an important and influential process through which pupils (and adults) learn and collectively interpret the ‘rules from above’. Peer contact is typically more frequent than formal education processes and is based around important cultural codes and shared identities (Milburn, 1995).

10. It will also be important to address the broad understandings of the pupils.