Creating Healthy Schools and Student Engagement: The Got Health? Initiative

Authors

  • Stephen Berg University of British Columbia Okanagan
  • Sally Willis-Stewart University of British Columbia Okanagan
  • Stephanie Kendall University of British Columbia Okanagan

Keywords:

School Health, Leadership, Inquiry, Connectedness

Abstract

 

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the findings from a study entitled Got Health? and its initiative to discover how student-led health inquiry projects lead to healthy school environments, student engagement and connectedness. The intention was to empower students to create healthy change in their school settings by providing them with training, teacher guidance and opportunities to be change agents. Ten schools participated in the study. Each school identified a teacher champion and a team of students to actively address and promote health issues through student led inquiry projects. Semi-structured focus groups were used to collect data and a framework analysis approach was used for analysis. Results revealed that most participants gained a sense of connectedness to their school and peers, improved their health awareness and facilitated student engagement. With adult-led support, schools should consider utilizing student-led initiatives to assist in health-related activities.  

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Published

2016-06-09

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2016): Revue phénEPS-PHEnex Journal

Section

Feature Articles / Articles de fond

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