Educator Preparedness to Teach Health Education in British Columbia

Overview & Synopsis

Background: To date, few studies have been conducted to investigate the preparedness of health educators in Canadian school systems. Purpose: This study assessed practicing and pre-service teachers' self-perceptions of preparedness to teach health education in British Columbia K-12 classrooms. It also investigated factors related to their preparedness. Methods: In 2006, 166 practicing teachers and 78 pre-service teachers participated in a self-designed questionnaire. Results: Significant positive relationships were found between pre-service teachers' knowledge, skill, preparedness, beliefs toward health education, and satisfaction with the provincial health curricula in assisting them to teach health education. Practicing teachers with more experiences in health education reported higher levels of knowledge, skill, and preparedness, as well as more positive beliefs toward health education, but their satisfaction with the curriculum was negatively associated with those variables. They also reported higher levels of skill and satisfaction and more positive beliefs than the pre-service group. Discussion: In light of these results, further explorations are needed to understand current contexts within Canadian school health education. Translation to Health Education Practice: Findings support the need for training and implementation of health-related programs into the education system, particularly the deliberation on how to transform curricula into a more supportive vehicle for health education programming. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)