Topical Issues in Health Education_ANG.indb

SCHOOL AND HEALTH 21, 2009Topical Issues in Health Education

Evžen Řehulka et al.

Brno 2009

SCHOOL AND HEALTH FOR THE 21st CENTURYSupported by the research intent of Ministry

of Education, Youth and Sports of the CR (MSM00216224721)

Research Editorial BoardIn cooperation with the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University within the research project

School and Health for the 21st Century.

Prof. PhDr. Blahoslav Kraus, CSc.Faculty of Education, University of Hradec Kralove, CZ

Prof. RNDr. Vratislav Kapička, DrSc.Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ

Prof. PhDr. Josef Maňák, CSc.Faculty of Education, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ

Prof. PhDr. Vladimír Smékal, CSc.Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ

Prof. PhDr. Eva Sollárová, CSc.Faculty of Social Sciences and Health Care, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, SK

Prof. PhDr. Ing. Josef Šmajs, CSc.Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ

Prof. PhDr. Hana Válková, CSc.Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacky University, Olomouc, CZ

Prof. MUDr. Jan Žaloudík, CSc.Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ

Book viewers: Univ.-Doz. Dr. Pehofer Johann Die Pädagogische Hochschule Burgenland, AT

Prof. PhDr. Vladimír Smékal, CSc. Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ

© Masarykova univerzita, 2009© Evžen Řehulka et al., 2009© MSD, 2009

ISBN 978-80-210-4930-7 (Masarykova univerzita. Brno)ISBN 978-80-7392-097-5 (MSD. Brno)

CONTENT

INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 7Evžen ŘEHULKA

THE CZECH PUBLIC’S OPINIONS ON HEALTH EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS .................................................................................................................... 9Leona MUŽÍKOVÁ

THE CZECH PUBLIC’S OPINIONS ON PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS .................................................................................................................. 19Vladislav MUŽÍK

PERCEPTION OF HEALTH IN THE CONTEXT OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AMONG STUDENTS OF THE FACULTY OF EDUCATION MASARYK UNIVERSITY ............................................................................................................. 33Hana HORKÁ, Zdeněk HROMÁDKA

SELF-EVALUATION OF KINDERGARTENS IN THE NET OF THE HEALTH SUPPORTING SCHOOLS PROGRAMME .............................................................. 51Zora SYSLOVÁ

THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AND SELECTED ASPECTS OF QUALITYOF LIFE IN CZECH CHILDREN .............................................................................. 57Eva HLAVÁČKOVÁ, Lenka HODAČOVÁ, Ladislav CSÉMY, Eva ČERMÁKOVÁ, Jindra ŠMEJKALOVÁ

TEACHING ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF NON-PROFITABLE ORGANIZATIONS FOR STUDENTS IN THE BRANCH „EDUCATION TOWARDS HEALTH“ AT PF SBU .................................................. 65Renáta ŠVESTKOVÁ

STRESS IN SCHOOL ................................................................................................. 69Marie BLAHUTKOVÁ, Michal CHARVÁT

COPING STRATEGIES IN HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS .............................................. 75Eva URBANOVSKÁ

HOW DO FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD ADOLESCENTS SPEND THEIR FREE TIME – RESPONDENTS OF THE STUDY ELSPAC .......................................................... 89Jana ŘEHULKOVÁ

HEALTHY INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS DEVELOPMENT AT SECONDARY SCHOOLS FROM ADOLESCENT STUDENTS‘ PERSPECTIVE ................................. 95Ilona GILLERNOVÁ, Lenka KREJČOVÁ

COMPARISON OF OPINIONS OF TEACHERS, PARENTS AND PUPILS OF SOCIAL HEALTH ASPECTS IN FORM TEACHER ACTIVITIES ................. 105Stanislav STŘELEC, Jana KRÁTKÁ

CORRELATION BETWEEN NEUROTIC STATE OF TEACHER TRAINERS PROFESSION AND THEIR LIVING SATISFACTION .......................................... 119Jana MIŇHOVÁ, Božena JIŘINCOVÁ, Vladimíra LOVASOVÁ

TEACHER FATIGUE ................................................................................................ 125Evžen ŘEHULKA

CHANGES OF THE QUALITY OF VOICE MEASURED BY THE DSI IN RELATION TO THE TEACHING PROFESSION ....................... 135Jana FROSTOVÁ

HEALTH-IMPROVING NOURISHMENT AS A METHOD OF STRENGTHENING THE HEALTH OF PARTICIPANTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS ........... 147Olena KONOVALOVA, Nataliia SAMOILOVA, Oleksiy POLUBOIAROV, Igor TSYMBALOV

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN ADOLESCENCE ......................................................... 155Magda TALIÁNOVÁ

A CONTRIBUTION TO THE RESEARCH OF OBESITY INCIDENCE AMONG CHILDREN OF YOUNGER SCHOOL AGE ........................................... 161Jana JUŘÍKOVÁ, Jan ŠIMŮNEK, Marcela BUDÍKOVÁ

BODY IMAGE AND EATING HABITS OF OLDER SCHOOL CHILDREN ...... 169Sylva ŠTAJNOCHROVÁ

RESULTS OF THE STUDY ON THE PROGRAM NON-SMOKING IS A NORM IN THE THIRD CLASS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ..................... 181Iva ŽALOUDÍKOVÁ, Drahoslava HRUBÁ

EVALUATION OF THE PRIMARY ANTIDRUG PREVENTION OF MASARYK UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ........................................................... 195Petr KACHLÍK, Marie HAVELKOVÁ

IMPLEMENTATION OF MINIMAL PREVENTIVE PROGRAMME IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL CONDITIONS ................................ 209Petr KACHLÍK, Marie HAVELKOVÁ

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS´ AWARENESS OF LOBBING AND THEIR EXPERIENCE FROM THE ENVIRONMENT OF CZECH SCHOOLS ................ 219Tomáš ČECH

READINESS OF THE FUTURE TEACHERS TO PREVENTION AND PROTECTION IN EMERGENCY .................................................................. 227Eva MARÁDOVÁ, Jaroslava HANUŠOVÁ

CLINICAL USEFULNESS OF COGNITIVE-BEHAVIOURAL TREATMENTS FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS CAUSED BY TERRORIST ATTACKS WITH HIGH VICTIM RATES .................................................................................. 239María Paz GARCÍA-VERA

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF USING CHAT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS ..................................................................................................... 251Jiří STRACH

INTEGRATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES INTO MATHS LESSONS AT 1ST LEVEL OF PRIMARY SCHOOL – OUTCOME ANALYSIS ............................259Drahomíra HOLUBOVÁ

COMPARISON OF SLOVENE AND CZECH STUDENTS’ IDEAS ABOUT HUMAN EVOLUTION ............................................................................................ 265Barbara BAJD, Jiří MATYÁŠEK

DETERMINANTS OF TRAFFIC EDUCATION IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES IN SECONDARY TECHNICAL SCHOOLS (SOŠ) AND SECONDARY VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS (SOU) ....................................... 275Mojmír STOJAN, Pavel PECINA

THE LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS OF FIRST AID PROVISION AMONG PUPILS OF THE 8TH GRADE OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS ..................... 285Marie HAVELKOVÁ, Petr KACHLÍK, Milana HURNÍKOVÁ

ENFORCING COMPETENCIES IN CHILDREN WITH THE RISK OF BEHAVIORAL DISORDER IN CONDITIONS OF CHILDREN’S HOME AND PRACTICAL PRIMARY BOARDING SCHOOL .......................................... 299Věra VOJTOVÁ, Marie PAVLOVSKÁ

THE LEVEL OF SCHOOL MATURITY AND INTELLECTUAL LEVEL OF CHILDREN FROM SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED SETTINGS IN THE CONTEXT OF (NON-) PARTICIPATION IN THE SCHOOL PREPARATION .... 313Dagmar KOPČANOVÁ

STRAINING OF THE ENVIRONMENTBY POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS IN EAST SLOVAKIA ......................................................................... 323Tatiana KIMÁKOVÁ

BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................... 329

LIST OF AUTHORS ................................................................................................ 351

NAME INDEX .......................................................................................................... 357

SUBJECT INDEX .................................................................................................... 365

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School and Health 21, 2009, Topical Issues in Health Education

INTRODUCTION

Works concerning the research design of Faculty of Education of Masaryk Uni-versity SCHOOL AND HEALTH FOR 21st CENTURY started in 2005.

This project was based, apart from other things, on the results and experien-ces gained in the previous research design named “Teachers and health”, which was carried out in years from 1999 to 2004. The basic conception is basically included in the title of the research tasks: to fi nd the connection between the educational sys-tem and health service in such areas, where these two social institutions infl uence each other, and to fi nd the possibilities that would use the positive transmission of practical philosophy, methodology, theory, practice and experience for mutual enhancement. Educational system and health service does not only solve the current issues set by the needs of our society but, in the core, focusing on the future and in its general targets, it leads to development of a human being and society. When we formulate these targets we use categorising like “personality”, “health”, “the quality of life” and others.

Over the years, which we have dedicated to investigation in the given project, we have gained not only a large amount of results but also there have been many changes in pedagogy, psychology, sociology, hygiene and prevention medical science, social medical science and other scientifi c branches, in which workers have been involved in solving our questions. The time we have dedicated to the issue “school versus health” has shown many movements and changes, therefore some questions have now become more relevant than they were before, or on the contrary some problems have been trans-formed or newly created.

When we look at the publications of this project from the very fi rst issues and ide-as, theories and researches, we can see that the issue fi eld of our investigation does not narrow down in any way but it grows and new relations and connections have occurred throughout the time. However the thing that stays the same is the permanent seriousness of our research targets, with which the research design SCHOOL AND HEALTH FOR 21st CENTURY was composed, and we even think that these issues are more obvious in terms of society.

The publication, which we are presently publishing and which we have named TOPICAL ISSUES IN HEALTH EDUCATION, presents several reports that are inte-grated by the topic “school and health”. They have developed as partial researches, theoretical studies, they present further stages of investigations that have already been published in previous volumes, or have been presented in conferences or seminars under the terms of this research design. Their diversity is a refl ection of both the complexity of the problem and the wide fi eld of interests that this issue evokes. This is the reason why we suppose that any reduction of this publication would be misleading and would appeal unnatural.

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All the authors, whose studies are published here, carry a full responsibility for the origin of their texts and their results and they have published them as fully graduated expert in their fi elds.

Finally we are pleased to express our gratefulness to Ministry of Educational sys-tem, youth and physical training, the leadership of Masaryk University and Pedagogic Faculty, who have enabled us to carry out our work in this research design.

Evžen ŘehulkaInvestigator of the Research Intents

SCHOOL AND HEALTH FOR 21st CENTURY

9


THE CZECH PUBLIC’S OPINIONS ON HEALTH EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Leona MUŽÍKOVÁ

Abstract: The paper deals with the Czech public’s opinions on health education in primary schools. The results have been obtained by means of representative sociolo-gical research into health and healthy lifestyle. The research was joined by the author of this paper within pursuing the School and Health for the 21st Century research plan and was carried out in cooperation with the Medical Information Centre and the INRES Agency. The research involved 1606 Czech citizens aged over fi fteen and was repre-sentative in terms of age, gender and regions of the Czech Republic. Its results helped to identify main reasons for dissatisfaction with health education in primary schools among the Czech public, revealing that the primary factors leading to dissatisfaction are the extent of classes, educational content and the teacher’s personality. The fi ndings inspire a range of concrete ideas for improving the quality of the Humans and Health educational area and show which spheres of health education and family education should attract most attention.

Keywords: health education, family education, primary school, education

IntroductionThe Czech educational system is currently undergoing a curricular reform, which

involves deepening a new concept of health education and launching it within all school stages. This innovated course of study has become an integral part of the educational system and is defi ned by educational documents.

Health education should promote health awareness and improve people’s beha-viour. In this context, the term health literacy is frequently used to describe “a cogni-tive and social skill determining individuals’ motivation and ability to get access to health information, understand it and take advantage of it to improve and maintain their health.”

Health literacy should represent a precondition for healthy lifestyle of a particular population. According to Liba (2005: 5), healthy lifestyle involves “a balance between psychic and physical strain, deliberate physical activity, rational diet, harmonious relati-onships among people, cautious sexual life, refusing addictive substances, responsibili-ty in work and life, personal and work hygiene etc.” Healthy lifestyle affects the quality

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of life, which refl ects the overall satisfaction with life and overall feeling of personal ease and spiritual harmony.

The Standard for Basic Education (1995), representing a fundamental document of primary education (which is in the centre of attention in this paper), defi nes the edu-cational fi eld of health education in primary education and classifi es it, together with physical education, within the Healthy Lifestyle educational area.

The same document also determines existing educational programmes for pri-mary education (2006): the Primary School (1996), the General Primary School (1997) and the National Primary School (1997). The majority of Czech schools pursue the Primary School programme; however, the above educational programmes are gradually being replaced by the Framework Educational Programme for Basic (i.e. primary and lower secondary) Education (FEP BE) (2005, 20071), which represents a national cur-ricular document and defi nes a general framework for individual educational stages. All schools are obliged to observe this document when creating their own school educati-onal programmes; these serve as curricular documents at school level and are designed by each school according to its specifi c wishes and needs.

The term curriculum is perceived as a fundamental pedagogical category. In the broadest sense of the word, it is defi ned as a “set of problems related to answering questions: why, whom, in what, how, when, under what conditions, and with what expected effects educate”; in the narrow sense of the word it is understood as a curricular document or as educational content (Maňák, Janík, Švec 2008). The term health education curriculum is therefore understood as educational content of the educational fi eld of health education.

The theory of curriculum distinguishes between different curricular lines, concepts and forms. This paper focuses on the projected form of curriculum, which is according to Průcha (2002) represented by educational programmes, educational plans, syllabi, educa-tional standards etc., and on the realised form of curriculum, which is the subject matter passed on to pupils by concrete teachers in concrete schools and classrooms.

The above mentioned Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education introduces nine educational areas, among them also the educational area of Humans and Health. This area includes health education and physical education (which also compri-ses remedial physical education).

The educational fi eld of health education is within the Framework Educational Programme for Basic Education defi ned as follows:

“The educational fi eld of Health Education provides pupils with fundamental information on the human body as related to preventative health measures. Pupils learn to actively promote and protect health in all its forms (social, emotional and physical) and to be responsible for their own state of health. In its educational content, this fi eld is closely linked to the educational area of Humans and Their World. Pupils reinforce their hygienic, nutritional, work and other preventative healthcare habits, expand their ability to refuse harmful drugs, avoid injuries and deal with personal threats in everyday and emergency situations. They expand and deepen their knowledge of family, school, peer group, nature, humans and interpersonal relationships, and learn to see their activities through the prism of the health-related needs and prospects of a growing young individ-ual and to make decisions benefi cial to their health. In view of the individual and social 1 Up-dated version of the FEP BE.

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dimension of health, the educational fi eld of Health Education is closely linked with the cross-curricular subject of Personal and Social Education.” (FEP BE, 2005: 76)

On research into the realised form of health education curriculumResearch into the realised form of curriculum can be based on a wide range of

research approaches and methods; the commonly recognised research method into this area is observation, which can be either direct or mediated (e.g. by means of a lesson video-recording – the so called video-study). Due to the fact that observation is both time-consuming and fi nancially demanding, it is commonly substituted by survey, more typically in written than oral form.

So far, there have not been many research projects into the realised form of curricu-lum at the level of education in the Czech Republic relevant in respect to the topic of this paper. Marádová (2007), who has been engaged in studies of this area for a relatively long time, carried out a questionnaire survey accompanied by interviews in 2004–2006. Its aim was to gain information about implementation of health education in contemporary primary education from the lower and upper primary school teachers’ perspective. The respondents’ answers (380 lower primary school and 417 upper primary school family education teachers) indicate that “... to the question asking about the thematic area of health education pupils are most interested in, most teachers (76%) stated that that of family and sexual education. ... However, the teachers include this topic into education with certain constraint, and in the overall evaluation it occupied the position of the least favourite topic” (240).

Research projects lead by Mužíková (Mužíková 2006a, 2006b, 2007; Běličková 2008; Hloucalová 2008) analysed head teachers’ opinions about the ways of realisation of health education in schools. The fi ndings obtained from 536 head teachers of comprehensive primary schools and 148 semi-comprehensive primary schools confi rmed that the status of health edu-cation as an independent educational fi eld is in many schools rather low and the projected form of health education curriculum is not fulfi lled in an expected and appropriate way.

Other fi ndings about health education are based on research projects by Žalou-díková (2003, 2004). Even though the attention was paid especially to the result form of curriculum2, some of the fi ndings can also be related to the realised curriculum. The research, among other things, points out that the respondents (pupils, teacher trainees and teachers) miss suffi cient information about most threatening factors to human heal-th, and health prevention of serious diseases. The author also explores the child concep-tion of health and diseases, but the outcomes have not been published yet.

Partial fi ndings about health education can be also found in a study by Hajero-vá-Müllerová, Doulík and Škoda (2005) whose aim was to assess changes in the child conception of drugs. Similarly, many other authors focus on partial health education topics, but a complex research into its curriculum is still absent.

Research problem The research presented in this paper was motivated by results of a questionnaire

survey which was carried out in 2005-2006 and dealt with existing implementation of health education according to the Standard for Basic Education (1995). The results were 2 In the area of pupils, students and teachers’ health risks awareness.

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obtained by analysing responses to closed and semi-opened questions. The research addressed a sample of primary school head teachers. The survey results have been alrea-dy published (Mužíková 2006a, 2006b, 2007); therefore we present only a summary of the most important fi ndings.

The head teachers were not suffi ciently familiar with current requirements for health education as defi ned in the Standard for Basic Education. The majority of schools had not designed thematic plans for health education; most head teachers stated that “health education penetrates school education as a whole”. Only 20% of schools were well equipped with didactic aids and materials for health education. The head teachers claimed a lack of fi nancial resources was a major cause of this unsatisfactory state. Even though the Primary School educational programme, implemented in 96% of the selected schools, integrates health education in upper primary school within the educational fi eld of family education (and within the subject of family education), nearly two thirds of schools did not interconnect the two educational fi elds in practice. Only 13% of schools employed a qualifi ed teacher of family education, in the rest of the selected schools family education was taught by teachers without required qualifi cation. Nearly all head teachers found the results of the implementation of the Minimal Prevention Programme useful. There were various educational activities organi-sed in schools within health education; nevertheless, they were mostly one-off discussions, competitions etc. At the time of the survey, nearly one third of head teachers were not acquainted with the Health 21 programme (approved by the Czech government resolution No. 1046, 2002); the same percentage admitted being informed only partially. Most head teachers claimed they considered health education important and they would enable teachers to obtain further education in this area.

The above results have revealed that health education is not implemented in con-cordance with the projected form of curriculum presented in the Standard for Basic Education (1995) in many primary schools, and thus inspired us to carry out an additi-onal research survey. The aim of this research was to fi nd out Czech public’s opinions on the current level of implementation of health education in primary schools and to identify main reasons for satisfaction or dissatisfaction with this educational fi eld in Czech schools.

This research was carried out in cooperation with the Medical Information Cen-tre and the INRES Agency.

Research sampleCzech public’s opinions were obtained from the sample of 1606 respondents;

individuals were selected randomly by means of quotas. The sample was representative of the Czech population over the age of fi fteen. Representativeness was derived from

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

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the population of the Czech Republic aged over fi fteen.3 It can be argued that the results stated below are representative of the Czech population aged over fi fteen in terms of gender, age and region.

Other signs, which were not representative but were observed within the research, included education, marital status, number of children, size of the respondent’s residen-tial municipality, occupation, net monthly family income, attitude to religion and type of accommodation. Cases where statistical signifi cance was proven are pointed out. Never-theless, due to the fact that these data are not representative, the revealed statistically signifi cant correlations can be interpreted only as tendencies.

Research methodThe research was designed as a sociological one and was based on questions

proposed by the author of this paper and commented on by competent workers of the research organiser. The survey was carried out by means of a standardised guided inter-view between an interviewer and a respondent.

Data were gathered by 350 INRES Agency interviewers across the whole of the Czech Republic. The INRES Agency was also responsible for visual and logical inspecti-on, coding and computerising the data; results tabulating was performed by the workers of the Institute for Health and Healthy Lifestyle Studies and interpretation of the results by the author of the questions (and this paper).

The data were statistically processed by the SASD 1.3.0 program (statistical ana-lysis of social data). One-factor analysis and contingency tables for the selected signs of two-factor analysis were processed. The correlation level of selected signs was defi ned by means of χ2 method and other testing criteria, applied according to the character of signs. This analysis served as a basis for subsequent data interpretation.

The respondents’ answers were recorded in a written form; answer sheets were verifi ed in a pre-research. Each sheet completed by a respondent was logically and visu-ally inspected – the focus was placed on logical relations and information credibility. The sheets with non-functional illogical links and incomplete sheets (when the respondent refused to answer the questions and decided to end the interview leaving a part of the sheet blank) were excluded. These sheets were placed in the “non-respondents” category.

The assessed items often contained continuous answers, which had to be trans-formed in such a way that would enable making a clear summary of the main results. The continuous answers were divided into partial statements, and thus the character of the transformed variable signs changed from a continuous into category form.

Research scheduleThe research project was designed in September and October 2007 and was

subjected to objecting in the beginning of November 2007. The pre-research verifying the research techniques and formulating the questions to be asked involved a sample of 240 respondents and was carried out in November 2007. Simultaneously, all inter-viewers were instructed.

3 See the Population Structure of the Czech Republic by Major Age Groups in 2006. (31 Dec. 2006) Prague: Czech Statistical Offi ce, 2007.

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The actual survey was organised across the whole of the Czech Republic at the turn of November and December 2007. Gathering the answer sheets, their visual and logical inspection and computerising the obtained data was accomplished in December 2007. The next step involved adjusting the data, their basic mathematical and statistical analysis, processing frequency and selected contingency tables, and primary data inter-pretation including objecting a signal report by the author of this paper.

The results were interpreted by the author in the beginning of 2008.

Results The opinions of the representative sample of Czech citizens on the quality of

health education in primary schools were surveyed by means of open questions. The research was carried out in 2007 and addressed 1606 respondents aged over fi fteen.

The answers to the question “In your view, what are the main strengths of cur-rent health education in primary schools?” can be neither categorised nor statistically processed. The overwhelming majority of respondents stated “I have no idea”; “I don’t know that health education is taught in schools”; “I don’t have enough information” or they did not answer at all. Only 29 respondents (1.8%) stated that healthy lifestyle was promoted in their school and the school paid attention to neatness, changing shoes and hands washing, or that “everything was o.k.”.

The question “In your view, what are the main weaknesses of current health education in primary schools?” was specifi cally answered by 689 respondents (42.9%); 917 respondents (57.1%) stated they did not know, did not have enough information, could not answer the question etc., or gave no answer.

The number of 689 specifi c answers was subjected to content analysis, which established the following categories for placing the concrete answers. This procedure led to identifi cation of main reasons for dissatisfaction with the quality of health edu-cation:

Extent of education – typical answers: few lessons, insuffi cient extent, few lectures, few outdoor stays etc. Educational content – typical answers: health education is uninteresting, too theoretical, suffers from a lack of materials and aids, without conception, not suffi ciently focused on prevention etc. Teachers’ quality – typical answers: teachers are under-qualifi ed, have bad atti-tude to classes, are not an example to pupils etc. Pupils’ attitude – typical answers: children are not interested in this subject, are not serious about it, take it as a game, do not take advantage of what they have learned in practice etc. Family support – typical answers: family does not respect what is taught at school, bad attitude of the parents, not respecting health habits in family etc. Financial expensiveness – typical answers: a lack of money on classes, inappro-priate materials and aids, expensive courses etc. Other reasons – examples: there is a need to improve children’s habits, drinking regimen, low quality of schools canteens etc.

a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

f)

g)

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The most common reason for dissatisfaction with health education (34% of responses) is the insuffi cient extent of education (see Table 1 and Graph 1). The frequency of answers related to educational content (15.2%) and the quality of teachers (14.5%) is quite identical; a sum of statements within these two categories indicates that 29.7% of respondents are not satisfi ed with the quality of education. Pupils’ attitude to health education is criticised by 13.8%, family support by 5.1% and fi nancial expensi-veness by 1.4% of respondents. Other reasons do not matter from the viewpoint of the realised form of curriculum.

Correlation analysis of the frequency of answers within particular population groups (p < 0.05) performed by means of two-factor analysis generated these statistical-ly signifi cant results:

The low extent of education is more frequently pointed out by women, students and the single, but in particular by young people under the age of 24. Men more often than women opt for the “I don’t know” answer. This answer is also statistically more frequent in respondents aged over 55.

Category Absolute frequency of the answers

Relative frequency of the answers (%)

Extent of education 234 34,0Educational content 104 15,2Teachers’ quality 100 14,5Pupils’ attitude 95 13,8Family support 35 5,1Financial expensiveness 10 1,4Other reasons 111 16,1Total 689 100,0

Table 1: Reasons for dissatisfaction of the Czech population with the quality of health education

Graph 1: Reasons for dissatisfaction of the Czech public with the quality of health education

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Due to the fact that there is a statistically signifi cant difference in the frequen-cy of answers between young population aged 15–24 and older age groups (p < 0.05), the answers of the former group were separated and interpreted independently. What is more, the answers provided by the young age group are of a greater information value for assessing the present implementation of health education, since most of its respondents experienced health education which was supposed to be realised in concordance with the Standard for Basic Education (1995) during their compulsory school attendance.

Respondents’ answers were categorised and quantifi ed separately for groups aged 15–19 and 20–24. The obtained rates were for illustration compared with the sta-tement frequency of the entire research sample of respondents aged over 15 (see Table 2 and Graph 2). A statistically signifi cant difference in the frequency of answers (p < 0.05) between both selected groups of young population was proved in two individual catego-ries: the extent of education and the quality of teachers.

Young respondents in particular object to the low extent of health education (44.5% and 37.5% of answers). The lessons were supposed to be integrated within the subject of family education from the sixth till the ninth grade of primary school; the extent being one class a week. (In lower primary school, health education topics are integrated within several subjects, especially biology and science.) The views of young generation seem to confi rm the already presented fi nding from a previous research (Mužíková 2006a) that two thirds of selected schools failed to suffi ciently integrate health and family education.

The educational content appears to be a relatively frequent reason for dissa-tisfaction too (14.9% and 14.4% of answers). A statistically signifi cant difference (p < 0.01) was shown up in the category of teachers’ quality – their qualifi cation or attitude towards health education (7.4% and 17.7% of statements). This result again corresponds with the previous research fi nding stating that teachers quali-fi ed in family education (and thus also in health education) taught only in 13% of schools at the time of the research. On the other hand, the difference in dissatisfacti-on between the youngest group (7.4% of statements) and the next group aged 20–24 (17.7%) may indicate improving quality of health education teachers. This result could refl ect increasing qualifi cation of teachers in the area of health education, in particular thanks to education of school prevention methodologists and other ways of involving teachers in further education.

The frequency of other answers is not suffi cient for assessing the implementation of health education.

When compared with the entire population, the young generation is less critical of the pupils’ attitude towards health education (9.3% and 8.8% of statements). Criti-cism towards the family attitude is more or less constant within all observed groups (approximately 5% of statements). The other critical statements concern especially edu-cational conditions and correspond with the results presented in the previous chapter.

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Category Age 15-19 Age 20-24 Population 15+

Extent of education 44,5 37,5 34,0Educational content 14,9 14,4 15,2Teachers’ quality 7,4 17,7 14,5Pupils’ attitude 9,3 8,8 13,8Family support 5,6 5,5 5,1Financial expensiveness 1,9 0,0 1,4Other reasons 16,5 16,1 16,1Total 100,0 100,0 100,0

Table 2: Reasons for dissatisfaction of the young population of the Czech Republic with the quality of health education (% of statements)

Graph 2: Reasons for dissatisfaction of the young population of the Czech Republic with the quality of health education (% of statements)

Findings and conclusion The research gathered 1606 answers from a representative sample of respond-

ents. Due to very low public awareness of health education and its educational content it failed to identify the reasons for satisfaction with the quality of health education.

The main reason for dissatisfaction with the quality of health education in prima-ry schools is the low extent of education and the way this educational fi eld is taught (i.e. educational content and teachers’ quality). These results confi rm the fi ndings obtained by the analysis of head teachers’ views (Mužíková 2006a, 2006b, 2007). This fi nding should be taken into account especially in teacher training.

The observed socio-demographic signs of respondents – gender, education, place of living etc. – do not have a signifi cant infl uence on satisfaction or dissatisfaction with

18

health education. The only exception is respondents’ age; when compared with the en-tire population, statistically signifi cant differences were shown up especially within the population aged 15–24. This result confi rms that in spite of paying an increased atten-tion to health education in schools over last years, the quality of education is perceived as rather low.

The obtained fi ndings urge us to make a comparison between the projected and realised form of health education curriculum but we do fully realise that such a com-parison can again lead only to descriptive results. Therefore, we will attempt to defi ne concrete starting points for implementation of health education within the school edu-cational programmes.

NÁZORY ČESKÉ VEŘEJNOSTI NA VÝCHOVU KE ZDRAVÍ V ZÁKLADNÍM ŠKOLSTVÍ

Abstrakt: Příspěvek seznamuje s názory občanů České republiky na výchovu ke zdraví v základním školství. Výsledky byly získány na základě reprezentativního sociolo-gického výzkumu k problematice zdraví a zdravého způsobu života. Výzkum, do něhož se zapojila autorka příspěvku v rámci řešení výzkumného záměru Škola a zdraví pro 21. sto-letí, byl realizován ve spolupráci s Lékařským informačním centrem a agenturou INRES.Výzkumu se zúčastnilo 1606 občanů České republiky ve věku nad 15 let. Soubor byl reprezentativní z hlediska věku, pohlaví a regionů České republiky. Výsledky pomoh-ly identifi kovat hlavní důvody nespokojenosti české populace s výchovou ke zdraví na základní škole. Dokumentují, že stěžejními důvody pro nespokojenost jsou rozsah výuky, obsah výuky a osobnost učitele. Získané poznatky poskytují řadu konkrétních podnětů pro zkvalitnění práce ve vzdělávací oblasti Člověk a zdraví. Ukazují, na kterou oblast tělesné výchovy a výchovy ke zdraví je třeba zaměřit hlavní pozornost.

Klíčová slova: tělesná výchova, výchova ke zdraví, základní škola, výuka

19


THE CZECH PUBLIC’S OPINIONS ON PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN PRIMARY

SCHOOLS

Vladislav MUŽÍK

Abstract: The paper deals with the Czech public’s opinions on health educa-tion in primary schools. The results have been obtained by means of representative sociological research into health and healthy lifestyle. The research was joined by the author of this paper within pursuing the School and Health for the 21st Century research plan and was carried out in cooperation with the Medical Information Centre and the INRES Agency. The research involved 1606 Czech citizens aged over fi fteen and was representative in terms of age, gender and regions of the Czech Republic. Its results helped to identify main reasons for dissatisfaction with physical education in primary schools among the Czech public, revealing that the primary factors leading to satisfac-tion and dissatisfaction are the extent of classes, educational content and the teacher’s personality. The fi ndings inspire a range of concrete ideas for improving the quality of the Humans and Health educational area and show which spheres of physical education and health education should attract most attention.

Keywords: physical education, health education, primary school, education

IntroductionThe Czech Republic is currently undergoing a curricular reform, which in par-

ticular affects primary education. Since the professional public is familiar with the cur-ricular aims of Czech education, we will only mention some basic facts concerning physical education.

The fi rst educational document defi ning the physical education curriculum is the Standard for Basic Education (1995). This document introduced a new educational area of Healthy Lifestyle, which encompasses a traditional educational fi eld – physical education, and a brand new educational fi eld of health education; the emphases were thus placed on the function of physical education within enhancing pupils’ health awareness.

In 2007 the Framework Educational Programme for Basic (i.e. primary and low-er secondary) Education (2007) was launched. This document contains nine educational areas, including the Humans and Health educational area encompassing health educa-tion, physical education and remedial physical education educational fi elds. The actual

20

order in which the fi elds are listed and the act of their defi ning even further strengthen the importance of complex education of pupils in health education, and the role of phys-ical education as a subject closely linked to health education.

Physical education (PE) facilitates, on the one hand, learning about own physi-cal possibilities and interests; on the other hand, experiencing the effects of concrete physical activities on physical condition and psychic and social ease. It proceeds from a spontaneous physical activity to an activity that is controlled and selective; the point is to be able to assess the level of personal fi tness. A daily regimen should include physical activities satisfying personal physical needs and interests, optimally enhancing fi tness and performance, enabling regeneration and compensation for different strains, and sup-porting health and life protection.

Such a conception of physical education makes more demands on the ways of realisation as well as teachers’ qualifi cation. Teacher training in physical education is not oriented on the whole of the Humans and Health educational area, but it is com-monly expected from physical education teachers to facilitate this area within the school curriculum in its full complexity.

If we are to place new requirements on an educational fi eld, we should know how successfully it has coped with the already existing ones. We attempted to obtain such fi ndings by means of a survey.

Research problem Recent experience and research fi ndings indicate (e.g. Průcha 2002, 2006) that

there is a discrepancy between the so called projected curriculum, i.e. the declared edu-cational content, and the so called realised curriculum, i.e. the realised educational con-tent. The causes of this discrepancy have been explored by means of various methods in physical education1 as well as health education (e.g. Mužík, Trávníček 2006; Mužík, Janík 2007; Mužíková 2007).

If we draw our attention to assessing the level of realised curriculum in a particular educational fi eld, we can, among other things, consider the opinions of the school-leavers or graduates in this subject and their retrospective view of the quality of education. There-fore, we have tried to fi nd out what opinions about physical education there are among the Czech public, if these opinions depend on respondents’ age and gender and if the con-ceptual changes in physical education are refl ected in respondents’ views. We focused on assessing the quality of physical education during the compulsory school attendance and also on assessing the contemporary quality of physical education in primary schools.

The research problem and the research objective can be expressed by means of the following questions:

1) Is the Czech public satisfi ed with the quality of physical education which they experienced during their compulsory school attendance?

2) What are the main reasons for satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the Czech public with the quality of physical education during their compulsory school attend-ance?

1 Methodological starting points and a review of research into this area were published e.g. in studies by Mužík, Janík (2007), Janíková, Janík, Mužík, Kundera (2008) and others.

21

3) What are the main strengths and weaknesses in the current quality of physical education perceived by the Czech public?

4) Is there any difference between the opinions of the younger and older genera-tion?

5) Is the conceptual change in the physical education curriculum emphasising the close link between physical and health education refl ected in public opinion?

Research sampleCzech public’s opinions were obtained from the sample of 1606 respondents;

individuals were selected randomly by means of quotas. The sample was representative of the Czech population over the age of fi fteen. Representativeness was derived from the population of the Czech Republic aged over fi fteen.2 It can be argued that the results stated below are representative of the Czech population aged over fi fteen in terms of gender, age and region.

Other signs, which were not representative but were observed within the re-search, included education, marital status, number of children, size of the respondent’s residential municipality, occupation, net monthly family income, attitude to religion and type of accommodation. Cases where statistical signifi cance was proven are pointed out. Nevertheless, due to the fact that these data are not representative, the revealed statisti-cally signifi cant correlations can be interpreted only as tendencies.

Research methodThe research was designed as a sociological one and was based on questions

proposed by the author of this paper and commented on by competent workers of the research organiser. The survey was carried out by means of a standardised guided inter-view between an interviewer and a respondent.

Data were gathered by 350 INRES Agency interviewers across the whole of the Czech Republic. The INRES Agency was also responsible for visual and logical inspec-tion, coding and computerising the data; results tabulating was performed by the work-ers of the Institute for Health and Healthy Lifestyle Studies and interpretation of the results by the author of the questions (and this paper).

The data were statistically processed by the SASD 1.3.0 program (statistical anal-ysis of social data). One-factor analysis and contingency tables for the selected signs of two-factor analysis were processed. The correlation level of selected signs was defi ned by means of χ2 method and other testing criteria, applied according to the character of signs. This analysis served as a basis for subsequent data interpretation.

The respondents’ answers were recorded in a written form; answer sheets were verifi ed in a pre-research. Each sheet completed by a respondent was logically and visu-ally inspected – the focus was placed on logical relations and information credibility. The sheets with non-functional illogical links and incomplete sheets (when the respondent refused to answer the questions and decided to end the interview leaving a part of the sheet blank) were excluded. These sheets were placed in the “non-respondents” category. 2 See the Population Structure of the Czech Republic by Major Age Groups in 2006. (31 Dec. 2006) Prague: Czech Statistical Offi ce, 2007.

22

The assessed items often contained continuous answers, which had to be trans-formed in such a way that would enable making a clear summary of the main results. The continuous answers were divided into partial statements, and thus the character of the transformed variable signs changed from a continuous into category form.

Research scheduleThe research project was designed in September and October 2007 and was sub-

jected to objecting in the beginning of November 2007. The pre-research verifying the research techniques and formulating the questions to be asked involved a sample of 240 respondents and was carried out in November 2007. Simultaneously, all interviewers were instructed.

The actual survey was organised across the whole of the Czech Republic at the turn of November and December 2007. Gathering the answer sheets, their visual and logical inspection and computerising the obtained data was accomplished in December 2007. The next step involved adjusting the data, their basic mathematical and statistical analysis, processing frequency and selected contingency tables, and primary data inter-pretation including objecting a signal report by the author of this paper.

The results were interpreted by the author in the beginning of 2008.

Results Satisfaction of the Czech public with the quality of physical education during their compulsory school attendance

The opinions of the public on this matter were surveyed by means of the fol-lowing question: “Were you satisfi ed with the quality of physical education during your compulsory school attendance?” The question was formulated as semi-open. Respon-dents could choose one of the common answer alternatives “Yes, defi nitely”, “Yes, qui-te”, “Rather not” and “Defi nitely not”; they were also asked to briefl y comment on reasons leading to their satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

More than three quarters of the Czech public (76.8%) expressed either greater or lesser satisfaction with the quality of physical education during their compulsory school attendance. Out of these respondents, 37.7% are fi rmly confi rmed about their satisfac-tion (those opting for “Defi nitely yes”) and 39.2% prefer satisfaction to dissatisfaction (the “Yes, quite” answer). Less than a quarter of respondents (23.1%) were dissatis-fi ed with the quality of physical education during their compulsory school attendance. Strong dissatisfaction was expressed almost by 5% of respondents.

When comparing opinions of the entire public with opinions of respondents aged 15–19 and 20–24 (Picture 1), we can trace lesser explicit satisfaction with the quality of health education in the younger generation (a statistically insignifi cant difference) and greater explicit dissatisfaction with the quality of physical education in respondents aged 15–19 (a statistically signifi cant difference, p = 0.05). The 20–24 years age-group differs from the mean especially in “Yes, quite” assessment, but insignifi cantly.

23

Picture 1 Satisfaction of the Czech public with the quality of physical education during the compulsory school attendance (%)

Picture 1 shows that satisfaction with the quality of physical education during the compulsory school attendance predominates markedly in the entire research sample. The mode equals 2 (“Yes, quite”); the same is true for the median. The weighted mean is 1.904. All means are found within the positive segments of the scale which indicates predominating satisfaction with the quality of physical education.

Testing the correlation between the socio-demographic signs and satisfaction with the quality of physical education during the compulsory school attendance has not revealed any statistically signifi cant deviations. The observed statistical differences are not signifi cant and can be interpreted rather as tendencies. Satisfaction with the quality of physical education during the compulsory school attendance is not determined by the region where a respondent lives, their gender, age, education, occupation or the size of their residential municipality.

It has been already mentioned that the question surveying satisfaction with the qua-lity of physical education was formulated as semi-open and the respondents could express concrete reasons for their satisfaction or dissatisfaction in their own words. Their answers were subjected to content analysis, which served as a basis for defi ning a scale of nine basic groups of reasons for satisfaction (together for “Yes, defi nitely” and “Yes, quite” answers) and nine basic groups of reasons for dissatisfaction with physical education during the com-pulsory school attendance (together for “Rather not” and “Defi nitely not” answers).

Reasons for satisfaction with the quality of physical education during the compul-sory school attendance

A total number of 1330 reasons for satisfaction were gathered. The groups of answers showing the reasons for satisfaction with physical education are listed below:

37,7 39,2

18,2

4,9

32,2

39,7

19,0

9,1

32,3

45,7

18,1

3,9

0,05,0

10,015,020,025,030,035,040,045,050,0

Yes, definitely Yes, quite Rather not Definitely not

Total population (n=1606) Age15-19 (n=121) Age 20-24 (n=127)

24

1) Interest in PE and sport – typical answers: I enjoy sport; I am keen on sport; I am good at sports; I like PE; I love exercise; I am happy when I move; I am talented in sports; Sport is my hobby; I like exercising/working out etc.

2) Opportunity to let off steam and regenerate – typical answers: PE was fun,a break from learning, relaxation, venting one’s energy etc.

3) Opportunity to be active and move – typical answers: we could stretch our body in PE classes; we could move; we could do various physical activities; we could make up for endless sitting at the desks by means of physical activities etc.

4) Sound physical and mental development – typical answers: keeping in shape; healthy development; forming important character traits – e.g. obedience, dis-cipline and team spirit; overcoming obesity; learning right ways of spending leisure time etc.

5) Teacher’s personality – typical answers: a good, young, handsome, likable, sen-sible, appreciatory teacher etc.

6) Well organised PE – typical answers: PE was varied, attractive, diverse and not monotonous; we did different sports, played ballgames; we never got bored etc.

7) Good conditions and facilities for PE – typical answers: a well-equipped gym, swimming pool, ice-ring; new and modern sports equipment and gear; a great sports ground etc.

8) Other reasons – this category includes answers that could not be placed within either of the previous categories: e.g. we were a great team; we were dressed in the same way etc.

9) Answers such as “I don’t know”, “I can’t remember” or without stating the reason.

The most frequent reason for satisfaction with physical education was good orga-nisation of this subject during the compulsory school attendance. The respondents stated that they liked PE because it was attractive, varied and diverse, and they became famili-ar with a great deal of sports and played various games. The reasons of this type account for one fi fth of all reasons leading to satisfaction with physical education.

The fact that respondents like sport and movement and it is their interest or hob-by represents a relatively frequent reason for satisfaction. These reasons for satisfaction account for 15% and other 14% consist in an opportunity of movement and physical activity. Other frequent reasons include a good teacher, representing an important moti-vating factor for satisfaction, and then an opportunity to let off steam, regain physical and mental strengths, and entertainment (in both cases these reasons account for 10% of the total number).

On the contrary, the fact that physical education contributes to sound physical and mental development appears to play a less important role. Similarly, material and technical equipment and facilities for physical education are not considered important, which means that even a modern gym with superb equipment cannot guarantee that physical education will be popular among pupils; the way PE classes are organised and their appeal and attractiveness for pupils play a much greater role.

The reason for satisfaction with physical education was not stated in one fi fth of cases, mainly because the respondents could not remember it. It was not possible to

25

carry out correlation analysis in this case due to an insuffi cient number of items in the individual squares of the contingency tables.

Picture 2 Reasons for satisfaction with physical education during the compulsory school attendance (%; n=133)

Reasons for dissatisfaction with the quality of physical education during compul-sory school attendance

A total number of 389 reasons for dissatisfaction were obtained. These reasons were also subjected to content analysis which led to constituting the following groups of reasons for dissatisfaction:

1) No interest in PE and sport – typical answers: I’m not interested in sport; I’m not a sportsperson; I wasn’t keen on PE; I don’t like exercising etc.

2) PE is physically demanding – this category contains answers stating the fact that PE is too demanding as a reason for dissatisfaction.

3) Low number of classes – respondents in this group were dissatisfi ed because they did not experience enough PE classes, PE was often replaced by other sub-jects, it was marginalised in their school etc.

4) Evaluation – respondents in this group did not like the way of assessment in PE (they often got bad marks).

5) Bad teacher – respondents in this group have gone off PE because of a bad tea-cher who discouraged them from this subject.

6) Poorly organised PE classes – typical answers: the classes were boring, unat-tractive, monotonous, identical, and stereotypical; the same activities were done again and again etc.

7) Poor conditions and facilities for PE – the cause of dissatisfaction in this case consists in the non-existence of a sports ground or gym, outdated apparatus, absent aids etc.

8) Other reasons – the remaining reasons for dissatisfaction, such as the need to wear kit.

1,7

5,1

5,3

9,8

10,4

13,6

14,9

18,7

20,5

0 5 10 15 20 25

Good conditions and facilities for PE

Other reasons

Sound physical and mental development

Opportunity to let off steam and regenerate

Teacher’s personality

Opportunity to be active and move

Interest in PE and sport

“I don’t know”, “I can’t remember” or no reason

Well organised PE

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9) Answers such as “I don’t know”, “I can’t remember” or without stating the reason.

The most frequent reason for dissatisfaction with the quality of physical educa-tion during the compulsory school attendance is poorly organised classes. This reason is stated in more than one fi fth of all responses (21.1%). According to these answers, physical education was unattractive, boring, monotonous, dull, one-sidedly oriented etc. The next group of reasons which is nearly equally frequent is represented by no interest in physical education and sport and aversion towards it, followed by the fact that PE is too demanding, often beyond respondents’ own physical possibilities, and fi nally by a bad teacher. These causes constitute the main factors of dissatisfaction with physical education.

Picture 3 Reasons for dissatisfaction with the quality of physical education during the compulsory school attendance (%; n=389)

The main strengths of the current quality of physical education in Czech primary schools

Physical education in Czech primary schools has been researched also from a dif-ferent perspective. The aim was to fi nd out what main strengths of physical education in primary schools there are according to the Czech population.

In order to give a true picture of public opinion of this matter, we put an open question: “In your view, what are the main strengths of the current quality of physical education in primary schools?”

Respondents were offered no answer options and they were invited to express what they considered the main strength in their own words. All obtained answers were subjected to content analysis and categorised into the following groups:

1) Encouragement to physical activity – typical answers: PE allows taking exer-cise; contributes to the variety of school activities; forces children to be active;

1,8

6,2

8,7

9,5

11,3

13,4

13,9

14,1

21,1

0 5 10 15 20 25

Evaluation

Poor conditions and facilities for PE

Other reasons

“I don’t know”, “I can’t remember” or no reason

Low number of classes

Bad teacher

No interest in PE and sport

PE is physically demanding

Poorly organised PE classes

27

restricts children’s passivity; counterbalances sitting at computers and classroom desks; enables children to get some entertainment, play with each other, take a rest from thinking, let off steam, relax, vent their energy etc.

2) Health promotion – typical answers: PE serves as prevention of health-threate-ning phenomena and obesity; improves fi tness; allows for sound physical deve-lopment and healthy growth; improves motor development etc.

3) Forming character traits and effective ways of spending leisure time – typical answers: PE teaches discipline, conscientiousness and obedience; leads to acqui-ring basic skills and abilities; promotes team spirit; inspires pupils with effective ways of spending their free time; prevents drug use/addiction and thefts etc.

4) Greater variety in PE – typical answers: the classes are more varied than in the past; offer more types of physical activities, various sports, swimming, skiing courses, sports courses, aerobic, outdoor exercise, unusual sports etc.

5) Better equipment in gyms and other sports facilities – typical answers: more gyms and sports grounds; higher quality of sports facilities; more sports appara-tus, fi tness rooms, swimming pools, ice-rings etc.

6) Better PE teachers – typical answers: better approach of the teachers, better-qualifi ed teachers, better lesson plans, modern teaching methods, better ability to motivate the pupils etc.

7) Other strengths– typical answers: pupils do not have to wear a vest and shorts; it is modern times; better cooperation between pupils and the teacher etc.

8) No strengths – typical answers: the quality has deteriorated; I cannot see any strengths; it is good for nothing etc.

9) Do not know – typical answers: I do not have enough information; I do not have suffi cient knowledge etc.

The actual process of answer coding and categorising was performed by a sin-gle expert, because it was necessary to decide about many cases not only in terms of logic but also intuition. Involving more experts might have resulted in applying dif-ferent approaches and categorising the same type of answers within different answer groups.

Nearly half of respondents (47.6%) were not able to mention any strengths of the current quality of physical education in primary schools and answered “I don’t know.” These respondents mostly do not have children attending primary school and they do not encounter physical education either directly or vicariously (i.e. by means of media, relatives or acquaintances), therefore they are not competent to answer the question.

More than a fi fth of respondents fi nd the major strength of physical educa-tion in encouraging physical activity in children, counterbalancing their sitting at classroom desks and computers, entertaining them and enabling them to relax and rest up actively.

The comparison of the opinions of the entire research sample with the opinions of the youth aged 15–19 in this category shows up a statistically signifi cant difference (p = 0.05). Physical activity is considered the main strength nearly by 28% of young people.

The next group of respondents (10% of total population, 13% of youth respon-dents) assumes that the main strength of physical education in primary schools consists

28

in the fact that it is more varied and offers a greater deal of physical activities and sports, including the unusual ones. Nearly as equally numerous groups of population (10.5%) and young population (12.4%; 13.0%) appreciate better equipment in the gyms. Other answer categories are less frequent and they account for 3% to 7% of answers. A statis-tically signifi cant difference (p = 0.05) appears only when comparing the opinions of the entire research sample with the youth aged 15–19 in the sixth category: better PE teachers (4.1% and 7.3%).

Two-factor analyses reveal that the “I don’t know” answer is preferred by men (at level α = 0.001). It has been proved that the older generation has the least information about the quality of physical education in primary schools (respondents over 55 more frequently opt for “I don’t know”), while the younger generation aged under 34 state this answer signifi cantly less frequently (only 23% of the youth under 19). In terms of education, respondents with vocational training represent the least informed category. Age matters also by means of marital status, because “I don’t know” answer is heavily preferred by the married and especially by the widowed, while the single opt for this answer less frequently and attach some of the stated strengths to physical education.

The main weaknesses of the current quality of physical education in Czech prima-ry schools

The research surveyed not only the strengths but also the weaknesses that the Czech public attach to the current quality of physical education. The question inquiring about this matter was formulated in the following way: “In your view, what are the main weaknesses of the current quality of physical education in primary schools?”

Similarly to strengths identifi cation, an open question without a pre-defi ned scale of possible answers was used. Content analysis of all relevant statements enabled defi -ning categories for individual answers. The list of categories related to major weaknesses of the current quality of physical education in primary schools is presented below:

1) Insuffi cient extent of PE – typical answers: few PE classes; PE twice a week is not enough; it is necessary to increase the number of PE classes etc.

2) Weaknesses in the PE curriculum – PE is monotonous; the curriculum is bad; there is not enough gymnastics, athletics, swimming; PE is unattractive; children always play the same games; there are few creative and new ideas etc.

3) Low quality of PE teachers – typical answers: teachers are under-qualifi ed; they are not professionals; they are not interested in children; they are not able to motivate them or attract their attention; they are inconsistent; there are only a few good teachers etc.

4) Bad attitude of children towards PE – typical answers: children are lazy, indo-lent, passive, not interested in PE; they avoid PE, do not obey the teacher, do not respect the teacher; their attitude to PE is generally negative etc.

5) Insuffi cient physical and technical conditions – typical answers: few gyms and sports grounds, few sports aids, outdated apparatus and aids, low-quality equipment etc.

6) Considerable fi nancial expenditure – typical answers: expensive outfi t, kit, aids, sports courses, skiing courses etc.

29

7) Other weaknesses – typical answers: the main weakness is the Minister of Edu-cation, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic; low family support; air pollution in big cities etc.

8) No weaknesses – typical answers: everything is o.k.; the quality of PE is really outstanding; I cannot see any weaknesses etc.

9) Do not know – typical answers: I don’t have any information; I don’t go to school; I don’t have children attending primary school etc.

More than half of respondents (53.1%) were not able to mention any weakness in the current quality of physical education in primary schools. These respondents stated “I don’t know”, or “I can’t form an opinion of it”, or “I don’t have enough information”. As in the case of strengths, this group involved especially respondents without any di-rect or indirect information about this area. They will be characterised in greater detail later, in connection with two-factor analysis.

Respondents specifying weaknesses in physical education in primary schools point out especially a bad attitude of children towards physical education (12.8%), low number of PE classes (12.0%), low quality of PE teachers (9.5%) or weaknesses in the PE curriculum (7.2%). The other weaknesses are less frequent and they account for up to 5% of responses.

The younger population aged 15-19 is statistically different from the entire re-search sample in the following categories: weaknesses in the PE curriculum (12.0% of youth respondents; p = 0.05), insuffi cient quality of PE teachers (13.5%; p = 0.05) and “do not know” category (36.1%; p = 0.01).

Population aged 20–24 is statistically different from the entire research sample in the category of insuffi cient quality of PE teachers (16.7%; p = 0.01), other weaknesses (8.3%; p = 0.01) and “do not know” category (31.9%; p = 0.01).

The remaining analyses carried out by means of two-factor analysis signal a similar correlation to the one which has been traced in the case of strengths:

The higher the respondent’s age, the more frequent incidence of the “I don’t know” answer. On the contrary, the frequency of this response in younger generation is much lower. Age is also indirectly refl ected in the other socio-demographic signs. “I don’t know” answer is more common in the widowed, the retired, persons living alone, and persons with the lowest net month household income. The same answer is also preferred by male respondents and respondents with vocational training, likewise as for the strengths. Students are, more than the others, critical of weaknesses in the cur-riculum of PE classes and teacher’s personality. Bad teachers are also more frequently named as the main cause of weaknesses by women.

ConclusionThe authors are not aware of the existence of a similar sociological survey that

would focus on physical education in the Czech Republic. The obtained fi ndings are therefore considered as pilot and descriptive. Their evaluation can contribute to better understanding of physical education and become a starting point for further improve-ment of the realised curriculum of physical education in schools.

30

In conclusion, we would like to recap the responses to the survey questions:

More than three quarters of respondents were defi nitely or quite satisfi ed with the quality of physical education during their compulsory school attendance, less than a quarter of respondents were rather or defi nitely dissatisfi ed. The observed socio-demographic signs (gender, education, place of living etc.) do not have a sig-nifi cant infl uence on satisfaction with physical education. The only exception is respondents’ age; the 15–19 age-group is statistically more signifi cantly dissatisfi ed with the quality of physical education they experienced than the rest of respond-ents.

Satisfaction with the quality of physical education is determined mostly by the way the subject is taught, then the respondent’s attitude to sport and physical educa-tion in general, and fi nally, by their attitude to physical activities and the teacher’s per-sonality. On the contrary, inappropriate organisation of the subject, negative attitude of respondents towards sport and physical education, excessive physical demands and negatively perceived personality of the teacher represent the most important reasons for dissatisfaction.

Approximately half of respondents were not able to define the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary quality of physical education in primary schools. When mentioned, the strengths commonly included encouragement to physical activity, a greater variety of activities and improved quality of equipment in gyms and sports grounds. The weaknesses are perceived especially in a bad attitude of children towards physical education, low number of PE classes, insuf-ficient quality of teachers and the PE curriculum. The older the respondents are, the greater difficulty in stating the weaknesses of the current quality of physical education in primary schools they have. Age acts vicariously even in the other socio-demographic signs, so the “I don’t know” answer is more frequent in the widowed, the retired, persons living alone and persons with the lowest net monthly household income.

The opinions of relatively “fresh” primary school leavers represent an impetus to further exploration of physical education. 28.1% of respondents within the 15–19 age-group are rather or totally dissatisfi ed with the quality of physical education dur-ing the primary school attendance. The most frequent reasons are badly organised PE classes (boring, unattractive, monotonous, dull, stereotypical etc.) and poor teachers putting the pupils off physical education by their bad approach.

The research does not imply that the Czech population is aware of the conceptual changes in the educational content of physical education. The acquired opinion tenden-cies appear to be rather stable in time. According to the obtained answers, greater dis-satisfaction of younger population with the contemporary quality of physical education cannot be attributed to modifi cation of the educational content of physical education, but rather to the teacher’s personality, organisation of the classes, their content etc.

Nevertheless, it will be necessary to explore the presented fi ndings in greater detail and defi ne the prospective weaknesses in the realisation of physical education more specifi cally.

31

NÁZORY ČESKÉ VEŘEJNOSTI NA TĚLESNOU VÝCHOVU V ZÁKLADNÍM ŠKOLSTVÍ

Abstrakt: Příspěvek seznamuje s názory občanů České republiky na tělesnou výchovu v základním školství. Výsledky byly získány na základě reprezentativního sociologického výzkumu k problematice zdraví a zdravého způsobu života. Výzkum, do něhož se zapojil autor příspěvku v rámci řešení výzkumného záměru Škola a zdra-ví pro 21. století, byl realizován ve spolupráci s Lékařským informačním centrem a agenturou INRES. Výzkumu se zúčastnilo 1606 občanů České republiky ve věku nad 15 let. Soubor byl reprezentativní z hlediska věku, pohlaví a regionů České republiky. Výsledky pomohly identifi kovat hlavní důvody spokojenosti a nespokojenosti české populace s tělesnou výchovou na základní škole. Dokumentují, že stěžejními důvody pro spokojenost i nespokojenost jsou obsah výuky a osobnost učitele. Získané poznatky poskytují řadu konkrétních podnětů pro zkvalitnění práce ve vzdělávací oblasti Člověk a zdraví. Ukazují, na kterou oblast tělesné výchovy a výchovy ke zdraví je třeba zaměřit hlavní pozornost.

Klíčová slova: tělesná výchova, výchova ke zdraví, základní škola, výuka

33


PERCEPTION OF HEALTHIN THE CONTEXT OF ENVIRONMENTAL

ISSUES AMONG STUDENTSOF THE FACULTY OF EDUCATION

MASARYK UNIVERSITY

Hana HORKÁ, Zdeněk HROMÁDKA

Abstract: The current state of the environment is perceived as problematic, as a source of health risks. Active health care is a part of balanced lifestyle, which isa prerequisite of well-being, personal and social self-fulfi lment. Responsible lifestyle in pursuit of health refl ects attitude towards the environment. Following previous studies devoted to the description of pattern of thinking on environmental issues in teachers and student teachers, we now present results of an investigation focusing on students´ perception of health in the context of environmental issues. Our main assumption is that interest in the environment as the determining agent of optimal health is expressed in personal involvement of every individual. With regard to the signifi cant role of the teacher in school ecological/environmental education we examined attitudes of respon-dents towards protection of the environment, the form of participation in its protection, ways of decision making and conduct corresponding with active health care in life situa-tion. The results of the investigation will contribute to the development of the system of teacher training which will correspond with the concept of health support and sustai-nable development.

Keywords: health, lifestyle, health care, health education, protection of the environment, attitudes, thriftiness, environmental education, sustainable development.

In our research focusing on environmental aspects of education for health we have so far defi ned the basic issues and topic areas in ecological/environmental educa-tion in the context of the research project „School and Health for the 21st Century”. In this extensive topic we are concentrating mainly on the issues of school curriculum1 and 1) Personal health supporting competences are formulated in the basic education curriculum: recognising health as the key value in life, understanding health as a balanced status of physical, mental and social well-being; recognition of a person as a biological individual dependent on the way of decision-making, level of interpersonal relationships and quality of environment at various stages of life; basic orientation in what is healthy and good for one’s health, what harms and jeopardises health; use of adopted preventive measures for

34

teacher’s participation in its formulation and implementation. This is why our goal is to offer a theoretical and empirical document for reforming the pre-graduate and post-graduate teachers training. Following-up on previous studies dedicated to describing the image of environmental thinking in teachers, student teachers and primary school chil-dren (e. g. Horká, Bubeliniová, 2004; Horká, Hromádka 2008) this paper offers results of a survey refl ecting ways of perceiving health in the context of environmental issues in student teachers. They will become the point of departure for preparing the teachers training standard in this fi eld. In the theoretical points of departure we briefl y outline the pedagogical aspects of the relationship between the environment and health, its value dimension and the role of a teacher.

Theoretical Points of Departure Environment and Health

The present condition of environment is perceived as problematic, as a source of health risks. It is the consequence of the present state of civilisation progress – local ecological crises, pollution of the environment, worsening quality of water and cleanli-ness of air, etc. The programme of education for clean and aesthetical environment2 as an initial stage of a comprehensive ecological/environmental education (EE) has been present in the school curricula since 1970s. This programme aims at developing public awareness of the quality of water, air, food, quality (pollution) of the environment. In the range of reasons for protecting the environment (such as utilitarian economic, aesthetical and ethical) preference is given to health reasons for ensuring an environ-ment that does not jeopardise human health and the nature as the place for physical and mental recreation. Protection of the environment as the shared home of people is connected with the care for human health and maintenance of ecological balance (cf. Novotná, 1997: 180–181). These trends are refl ected in the EE concept.

Values and Care for the Environment Our deeds, behaviour and emotional experiencing are conditioned by the

awareness of values. The scale of values (of what people consider as their legitimate needs, to what they are prepared to commit their interest, money, effort) infl uences the size of people’s demands. It is namely the need that stands at the foot of the evaluati-on process. According to dynamic psychologists values can be perceived in relation to dynamic trends among which we rank for example the need of physical well-being (satiation, warmth, exercise, relaxation, sleep), the need of security and stability, need to investigate, discover, the need of excitement, change, manipulation, company, ten-derness, protection, care, the need to resemble others, to be recognized, admired, loved by members of a group, to be successful. The fundamental needs bring to life an entire infl uencing health in the daily routine, for strengthening ways of decision-making and acting in line with an active health support in every situation in life; connecting health with healthy interpersonal relationships and fundamental ethical and moral attitudes, with voluntary effort, etc.; active participation in activities supporting health and in health-supporting activities in school and community. 2) The concept of organisms as the bio-indicators of environment condition, monitoring and eutrofi zation were used in teaching programmes.

35

complex hierarchy of higher needs. The carnal needs in humans are humanized; the whole process of life is thus not only natural but also cultural. Human needs have beco-me part of new contexts, more demanding, fi ner, spiritual.3 However, after saturating our needs to a certain level their escalation begins to work in a contradictory way and leads to jeopardising the saturation of fundamental needs (drinking water and breathable air).

If the aim of our interest is to describe the student’s perception of health in the context of environmental protection, we can recall the criteria of behaviour and decisi-on-making in the context of sustainability according to the Steads (1998: 141–4). The authors defi ne supporting, operating, instrumental values4, among which they rank: wholeness, posterity, community, appropriate scale, diversity, quality, dialogue, and spi-ritual fulfi lment. Our respondent is orientated at wholeness, if he is able to recognize and realize the impact of his decisions on other parts of the ecosystem. If he realizes that we „did not inherit the earth from our parents. We borrowed it from our children”5 and this is why it is our obligation to keep clean water, air, rich resources, bio-diversity and natural beauty for next generations, for the posterity, then he respects the value of „posterity”.

If he understands the change in values from wholeness to appropriate scale, he can investigate the basic differences between wanting and needs in the society, for example using less non-renewable resources, looking for ways to save energy, use of renewable resources, reducing material consumption, choosing suitable technology (re-cycling). In this respect it is appropriate to mention the appeal by E. Kohák (1998: 81) to „demanding selection”, to making „high demands for clean water and clean air, to health care and public transport, to maximum energy effi ciency and joy of life – not the most expensive gathering of knick-knacks… what is less costly and less demanding, what troubles less the nature and human community, is better”.

The value of „community” underlines the feeling of self-consciousness of an individual living „on a certain piece of land” (Stead 1998: 151). Quality of work is connected with the psychological satisfaction with work well done reducing the desire of a person to achieve contentment through consuming an increasing amount of goods, quality of life with the right to physical well-being, permanent happiness, personal ful-fi lment and hopeful future (Stead, 1998: 155).

Spiritual fulfi lment as an instrumental value expresses human goals – happi-ness, joy, well-being, self-actualisation in a spiritually full life. A development in quality of life and new lifestyle are emphasised. 3) S. Kučerová (1994: 19) illustrates this fact on the example of satisfying the need to eat and drink. She demonstrates how many branches, professions and techniques are employed thanks to a single fundamental biological need „to be satiated„. She aptly points to its transformation into a civilisation and cultural need satisfi able through the values of use and comfort that do not exist in the nature without humans. For a human it is not suffi cient to satisfy the hunger in any way. They want regular meals independently on the season containing varied, healthy diet without risks to health, tasty food eaten in a quiet and nice place, often without any making any personal effort put into its preparation, without wasting time, in a pleasant company, with music in the background, etc. In a similar way it is possible to demonstrate the change in the fundamental need to protect the body from cold and bad weather with clothing and shelter; how many civilisation values were created through this need, etc. 4) These values (central and auxiliary) originally meant for the economic area can be transported as key values into the pedagogical area. 5) Kenyan proverb

36

The above-mentioned values as part of the cultural aspect of the EE curriculum content are thus becoming an important part of the ecological/environmental standard of teachers training (cf. Environmental Education, Wales 1996, Environmental Educa-tion An Active Approach, 1993, Palmer 2003, Horká, 2005). In it one cannot omit the element of active citizenship with an emphasis on attitudes and personal values demon-strated in the care for the environment: interest, accountability, aesthetic sense and need to create and enjoy beauty, tolerance, willingness to change lifestyle, co-operation on addressing problems.

It is well-known today that the dangerous imbalance between the disproportio-nately developing material aspect of the western civilisation and the spiritual aspect of the culture, the so-called cultural gap (Kluckhohn, Strodtbeck, 1961, Vavroušek, 1994, Nekvasil, 2000), can be fi lled only if people realize that they do not stand above the nature but are part of it. It is an important precondition for fulfi lling values headed toward sustainable development6. Together with another new phenomenon, ecological culture, it requires a radical change in the current people’s attitude to the nature. It tou-ches on the material as well as spiritual spheres of the society and each individual and is always refl ected in education.

Environment and Education Education is viewed as a distinct phenomenon that through its function must and

can help to overcome the crisis of the contemporary human kind toward implementing new desirable qualities of life. This brings to life the efforts of Komenský (1948: 39) to „amending human affairs” as well as one of his many defi nitions pointing to the fact that education is above all self-knowledge and self-control.

It should be outlined as a cultural activity in the sense that it is a process of mastering the rules of behaviour that cannot be biologically inherited and yet are to be shared by all people. Thus orientated education cannot be limited to a sum of knowledge about the nature and assuming an attitude to it but it fosters respect for the environment and knowledge that it has to be modifi ed in such way that it does not lose its ability to satisfy the needs of living creatures. An indifferent attitude to the environment proves the inability to perceive problems in a wider context as a result of an insuffi cient know-ledge of the fundamental biological and ecological laws and principles. Another cause is a value orientation lacking identifi cation with the ideas of solidarity, unity, tolerance, altruism, respect for life in all its forms, emphasis on spiritual, intellectual life and tradi-tion. The teacher has an important role in forming and developing the ecological culture in a person.

6) Among new values associated with sustainable development are accountability to future generations, quality of life, conscious modesty, denial of redundant things, refusal of consumerism, awareness of negative impacts of human activities, respecting the principle of prudence, development of human rights and freedoms while increasing the awareness of joint responsibility for the development of human society and condition of the nature, self-consciousness of each individual based on the possibility of free decision-making connected with the awareness of solidarity of each person with the human society, solidarity and altruism, tolerance, aware-ness of unity with the nature, respect for life in all its forms (Vavroušek, 1994, s. 97–99).

37

Teacher and Environmental Education

The structure of the teacher’s professional competencies newly includes the „environmental competence” focusing on the „area of maintaining the environ-ment, active effort for protecting the environment”. Care for the environment is connected with the care for health and this is why from the EE point of view one must not omit the professional competence in healthy lifestyle (Vašutová, 2001: 33–37). In our survey we follow namely the subjective dimension of ecopedago-gical (environmental) competence encompassing a committed way of thinking about the world, concept of life, values, attitudes and life orientation, empathy, interest, culture of conduct. We believe that the value – eco-social – life-orientated competence is the fundament of all teacher’s competencies (Horká, 2005: 98).

Environmental sensitivity based upon a long-term formative experience and formed by a complex interaction of many life experiences and their inter-pretations by an individual is the main precondition for learning about the natural environment, perceiving its damage and feeling the need to protect it. Emotional dissatisfaction along with the insufficient protection of the nature („We do so very little”), emotional alliance with the nature and cognitive interest in the nature are the key components in a relationship with the nature (e.g. Kals, Schumacher and Montada, 1999 – In Franěk, 2004). In the light of these findings we try to establish whether our respondents perceive the damage to the environment, feel the need to protect it, show (though verbally) emotional alliance with the nature and emotional dissatisfaction with the insufficient protection of the nature. We understand interest in the environment and personal commitment of each individual as the determinant of optimum health. Education for health (healthy lifestyle) thus becomes and effi-cient strategy for improving the environment.

It is obvious at the present day that consumerism leads not only to the exploi-tation of natural resources, to de-naturalisation, but also to the devastation of moral values, to losing the purpose of life and disrespect to life. It is important to review the values of the contemporary people which should lead from mere hominisation to actual humanisation contributing to a more adequate assessment of people’s place in the contemporary world and their harmonious inclusion in the system in relation to the nature, culture, humanity. The education strategy should therefore be based on strengthening and supporting accountability in the name of the health connected not only with rejecting the forms of behaviour that harm it but also with creating an environment supporting health and showing a positive attitude to the environment.

Survey Goal of the survey: describing the perception of health among students at the

Faculty of Education, Masaryk University in Brno (FE MU), in the context of issues related to the environment.

38

Survey Group

163 students of Faculty of Education, Masaryk University in Brno 1st year 29 17.8%2nd year 66 40.5%3rd year 28 17.2%4th year 40 24.5%men 4 2.5%women 159 97.5%

Students7 were selected from 1st to 4th year student tea-chers of junior basic school stu-dies on the basis of availability at the Faculty of Education at Masaryk University. As such the selection is not random and this is why the informative value of

the sample group (FE MU students) is rather limited.

Survey tool: questionnaire with close-ended and open-ended items8.

Descriptive Analysis of Survey In the introductory descriptive section of the survey we will outline the survey

assumptions (we do not refer to them as hypotheses, as in this part of the survey we do not test the strength of relationships between variables but describe the group).

Survey Assumptions:(applicable on our group of FE MU students)

P1: Respondents’ attitude toward protecting the environment is rather positive9.P2: Most respondents participate in protecting the environment in one way or another.7) In the text we refer to them as students or respondents even though both women and men are included in the group. It is not an expression of gender ignorance we merely believe that using genders would make the text confused. 8) We elected a quantitative survey where the resulting information is reduced to a great extent. We select only some items from the questionnaire. 9) In case of our survey it is essential that we „cannot monitor the attitude directly as a construct but we derive it from the behaviour and manifested opinions” (Jandourek 2001: 189). The construct attitude is explained in the evaluation context. „Relationship with values forms the content of attitudes; attitude to something – any-thing can be the subject – expresses the evaluation of an object by an subject that exists in a continuum whose poles are formed by the absolutely positive and absolutely negative attitudes, i. e. for example an absolute agreement or disagreement with a certain statement” (Nakonečný, 1998, s. 118.).

COLLEGE STUDENTS

PUPILS OF THE 8 AND 9

GRADE OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS

TH TH

39

P3: Most respondents highly value their own health.P4: Most respondents try to take good care of their health.P5: Students perceive some forms of pollution (or damage) as health risks.

Survey Results Attitude to environment protection

In the following two selected items we survey the students’ attitude to protecting the environment. For comparison we offer results of a survey undertaken with 8th and 9th form pupils at primary schools in Brno last year (cf. Horká, Hromádka, 2008).

Item no. 5: Do you agree with this statement? „I want to participate in protecting the nature.”

FE MU students; from 160 valid respondents

a yes, absolutely 42.5%b yes, rather 57.5%c rather not 0.0%d absolutely not 0.0%8th and 9th form pupils at primary schools in Brno; from 223 valid respondentsa yes, absolutely 31.8%b yes, rather 55.2%c rather not 10.8%d absolutely not 2.2%

Item no. 5: How much do you agree with the following statement: „I want to live a life that is always considerate to the nature.”

FE MU students; from 160 valid respondentsa yes, absolutely 43.6%b yes, rather 55.2%c rather not 1.2%d absolutely not 0.0%8th and 9th form pupils at primary schools in Brno; from 223 valid respondentsa yes, absolutely 31.4%b yes, rather 60.2%c rather not 7.1%d absolutely not 1.3%

COLLEGE STUDENTS



TH TH

COLLEGE STUDENTS



TH TH

40

It seems that students in our group have a considerable potential to protect the environment. Their attitude to participating in environmental protection is positive, the more so that it is so much better than in primary school pupils.

Participation in protecting the environment Item no. 7 looked into waste separation, that is whether respondents separate

waste and which.

FE MU students;from 163 valid respondentsa do not separate 4.3 %b separate 95.7 %

Types of separated waste

a glass 79.1 %b paper 80.4 %c PET bottlesd other plastics 30.1 %e metals 46.0 %f hazardous waste 49.1 %g other waste 14.7 %

Most students participate in waste separation at least in three main categories: glass, paper and the very popular PET bottles. This corresponds with the general trend in the Czech Republic where the number of people separating waste grows thanks to the increasing general awareness of possibilities and reasons for recycling was-te. Waste separation is gradually becoming a social standard. Nowadays it is embar-rassing not to separate waste (also thanks to the mass media campaign promoting separation).

92,0 %

SEPARATE

41

Item no. 15: level of consent with the statement on an interval scale: „I deliberately buy products with regard to their environmental friendliness.”

FE MU students;from 162 valid respondents

a always 0.0 %b very often 3.1 %c often 12.3 %d sometimes 58.6 %e never 25.9 %

Item no. 16: level of agreement with the statement on an interval scale: „I deliberately use cosmetic products of which I am absolutely certain that they were not tested on animals.”

FE MU students;from 162 valid respondentsa always 7.7 %b very often 18.1 %c often 13.5 %d sometimes 32.3 %e never 28.4 %

We were interested to know how students behave as consumers. As well as waste separation this category of so-called „undemanding care for the environment” 10 includes the preference and search for products that are not harmful (or less harmful) to the en-vironment. There are a number of alternatives for such behaviour. It may be preference to organic product certifi ed goods (environmentally friendly products, BIO – organic farming products, FSC – responsible forest management product, Blaue Engel, Organic A+ A++, Energystar, products made with recycled paper, etc.). Another criterion could 10) G. Pfl igersdorffer (1993) differentiates the area of behaviour in favour of the environment associated with shopping and waste recycling („undemanding area”) from behaviour associated with transport („demanding area”).

42

be the recyclability of packaging, choosing among paper, glass, TetraPack and plastics (environmentally friendly plastics – PP, PET, PE and other – PS and PVC).

A product’s impact on the environment is closely connected with the amount of energy consumed to transport the product to the consumer, product’s chemical compo-sition, ecological rucksack (impact of product manufacture measured in kilograms of generated waste), etc.

We left this item in a general format. We were rather more interested in the sub-jective views of students with which they evaluate their participation in environmental protection in a certain area. It transpired that in case of preference to environmentally friendly products students are doing remarkably worse than in waste separation.

The preference of products that were not tested on animals falls within the sphere of ethics rather than environmental protection; nevertheless it is associated with the „respect for life” value which is an important component in the theory of ecological eth-ics (cf. Kohák 1998). Even though in this respect the students are rather „half-hearted”, there were 7.5% of those who always knowingly use cosmetic products that were not tested on animals and 18.5% of those who say they do it very often. In relation to the respect for life ethics we were interested to know how many vegans or vegetarians were in the group and it turned out that there were none.

Open-ended item no. 30 „What do you do yourself for the environment?”


a waste separation 87.0%

benvironmentally friendly transport

23.0%

c saving energy 6.8%d saving water 5.0%e active work for the nature 3.7%f not making mess11 32.3%

gpreference to organic or environmentally friendly food products

3.1%

hpreference to environmentally friendly products

4.3%

ch saving plastic bags 3.7%i other answers 9.9%

The important thing in the item above is that it is open-ended. The subsequently formed categories refl ect the respondents’ answers. It is not surprising that students 11) This category includes various ways of “not making mess”, for example “I do not dispose of litter outside”, “I drop litter in the bins only”, “I do not drop papers on the ground”, “I do not wash my car outside”, etc.

FOR THE ENVIROMENT

43

profess mostly to the popular waste separation. The passive „not making mess” came second in the relative frequency. Surprisingly, „environmentally friendly transport” oc-cupied the third place. In this respect respondents mention their intentional self-restric-tion in car traffi c. Such activity falls in the „demanding area” of behaviour in favour of the environment.

Value of One’s Own Health Item no. 17 tries to establish how important the value12 of their own health is for

the respondents. The respondents were asked to chose fi ve most important values and rank them by importance (offered values: wealth, money, good results at school, good friends, good relationship, own health, clean environment, plenty of leisure time, no stress, good relationships in the family, sense of security, good results at sports, settled housing, career, satisfactory political situation, mental balance, own appearance).

We wanted to fi nd out how often respondents will put their own health in the fi rst place among the other offered values.

FE MU students; from 151 valid respondents

aown health in the fi rst place

49.7 %

banother value in the fi rst place

50.3 %

It appears that students highly value their health. Almost one half of them put the value of their health in the fi rst place among other values.

Care for One’s Own Health The following items look into individual possibilities of caring for one’s health.

The following tables (and diagrams) offer the relative frequency of agreement (disa-greement) with submitted statements (for better orientation the originally ordinal varia-bles were transformed into dichotomic ones).

12) „We consider as a value the positive importance of the object for an individual” (Nakončený 1998, p. 118)

44


av: I try to eat a healthy diet

81.2%

bv: I try to keep a drinking regime

82.8%

cv: exercise is important for me13 93.7%

dv: good sleep is important for me

96.8%


av: smoking is dangerous

95.1 %

bv: smoking cigarettes is all right

3.1 %

cv: smokers are better company thannon-smokers

8.1 %

regime

smoking

13) Full wording of the item: „Exercise (e.g. gymnastic exercises, long walks, riding a bicycle, active sport, etc.) is very important for me”.

AGREEMENT WITH

SUBMITTED STATEMENT

AGREEMENT WITH

SUBMITTED STATEMENT

45


av: occasional consumption of alcohol is all right

92.6 %

bv: frequent consumptionof alcohol is all right

30.8 %

cv: using soft drugs is all right

43.1 %

dv: using hard drugs is all right

1.2 %

ev: smoking marihuana is quite common today

37.2 %

We are aware that the selected indicators of care for one’s health are far from exhaustive. This is why we offered an open-ended item for the respondents to specify their ideas of care for their health.

Item no. 29 „What do you do for your health?”

FE MU students;of 161 valid respondents

a exercise 84.5%b healthy food 69.6%c not using drugs 20.5%d drinking regime 20.5%e mental well-being 14.9%f suffi cient sleep 15.5%g going outside 16.5%h nothing for health 3.1%

It appears that the main part of care for the students’ health takes place in the area of healthy diet and exercise. We were surprised at their resistent attitude toward smoking cigarettes. Without regard to how many smokers there are in the group, their attitude is clearly at the negative end of the continuum between rejecting and accepting this phenomenon.

other addictive substances

AGREEMENT WITH

SUBMITTED STATEMENT

FOR HEALTH

46

„Intersection” of Care for Health and Environment

The area of nutrition represents an interesting conceptual structure on the inter-section of „care for health” and „care for the environment”. Putting other ethical dimen-sions aside, the most environmentally friendly (least energy demanding) nutrition is that of vegans (or vegetarian, fl exitarian). As mentioned above, in the group there was no-one falling in any of these categories.

In terms of the global environmental impact, especially problematic are namely the supra-national chains producing fastfood (wasting food, material, energy, insuffi cient supervision of production and distribution impact on the environment) (cf. Keller 1995). The survey group was submitted various alternatives of places where they would like to eat, should they have the opportunity. The „McDonald’s (or KFC)” alternative was chosen by a mere 0.6% (while in the group of 8th and 9th form pupils it was 25.3%). The alternative „At home” became modal (71.6%). Fastfood products even pose a „health risk” for 10% of our respondents in their answers to the open-ended item no. 27:

Write what you consider as a health risk in the city life

FE MU students;from 158 valid respondentsa car traffi c 53.8%b smog – polluted air 68.4%c crime – violence 11.4%d infections 5.1%e stress – hurry 33.5%f obesity 1.3%g waste – pollution 17.7%h lack of exercise 8.2%ch drugs – addictive substances 9.5%i industry 7.0%j lack of green areas 13.9%k noise 20.9%

lin this category we included various manifestations of xenophobia (mainly racism)

3.2%

m fastfood 10.1%

Using the above-mentioned responses to the open-ended item no. 27 (Write what you consider as a health risk in the city life – offer at least three examples) with common features we formed the following categories: car traffi c, smog – polluted air, crime – vio-lence, infection, stress – hurry, obesity, waste – pollution, lack of exercise, drugs – addicti-ve substances, industry, lack of green areas, noise, xenophobic statements, fastfood.

FOR HEALTH

47

This may be the focal point of our survey. In several variants the students asso-ciated their health concerns with environmental issues (car traffi c, smog – polluted air, waste – pollution, industry, lack of green areas, noise). In terms of relative frequency, smog – polluted air is the most signifi cant category (68.4%) and car traffi c (53.8%)14. It is transpiring that students, when staying in the city, feel threatened with what is specifi c absolutely natural for urban areas nowadays, i. e. car traffi c and associated air pollution. It is not surprising that emissions from traffi c (especially microscopic dust particles contaminated with exhausts) pose a truly serious threat to human health (satisfying the natural human need for breathing fresh air is becoming very diffi cult in cities).

It is remarkable that this type of violence against human health is so generously tole-rated in the society, even though its malignant character is no secret. Some sociologists (cf. Keller. 1998) maintain that it is the higher socio-economic status enjoyed by the car owner and the irrational illusion of personal freedom associated with the idea of higher mobility that is behind the generally positive attitude to the problematic individual car traffi c, even though paradoxically this freedom means a voluntary subordination to the police regime of car traffi c regulations and the idea of unlimited mobility for cars in cities is largely overestimated. The very political situation (basically in all parts of the world) is being strongly deformed by the powerful transport and oil lobby and building contractors lobby making money on public con-tracts for road and motorway construction to facilitate a further economic growth and welfare in the form of increasing mobility in a landscape cut with concrete borderlines.

Relational Analysis of the Questionnaire Survey Hypotheses:(the following hypotheses relate to our group of FE MU students)

H1: There is a correlation between the attitude to one’s own health and environmental protection.

H2: Respondents who highly value their own health wish to participate in protecting the environment.

H3: Respondents who consider car traffi c as a health threat intentionally chose more environmentally friendly means of transport.

H4: There is a correlation between the attitude to environmental protection and actual behaviour in favour of the environment.

h115: There is a correlation between the attitude to environmental protection and „variety of separated waste”16

h2: There is a correlation between the attitude to environmental protection and preference to environmentally friendly transport.

14) For comparison we are offering results of the survey that was carried out with 8th and 9th form pupils in Brno primary schools: 53,3 % (of 246 valid) considered smog – polluted environment as a health risk; 43,3 % (of 246) considered cars (car traffi c) as a health risk.15) Based on recommendations (Pelikán 2004) we formally divided the hypotheses to main (such as H1) and auxiliary (such as h1).16) Separing waste is a kind of social standard for young people nowadays – this is supported by the result of a descrip-tive survey within the questionnaire item no. 7 („Do you separate waste?“). 95,7 % respondents answered they did. There are differences within the group as to how many types and which types of weste are being separated.

48

h3: There is a correlation between the attitude to environmental protection and preference to environmentally friendly products.

h4: There is a correlation between the attitude to environmental protection and preference to cosmetic products that were not tested on animals.

H5: There is a correlation between preference to cosmetic products that were not tested on animals and preference to environmentally friendly products.

In order to establish the strength of correlation between variables, in testing the hypotheses we elected suitable summarisation statistics (association and correlation coe-ffi cients) by the type of variable (ordinal, nominal) and by the number of variations.

In hypotheses H1, H2, H3, and auxiliary hypotheses h1, h2 to hypothesis H4 we were not able to prove the existence of a correlation between the variables.

There is a slight correlation (Tc17 = 0.31) in case of the correlation between the

attitude to environmental protection18 and preference to environmentally friendly produ-cts (auxiliary hypothesis h3 to hypothesis H4). And there is also a slight correlation (Tc = 0.22) in case of the correlation between the attitude to environmental protection and preference to cosmetic products that were not tested on animals (auxiliary hypothesis h4 to hypothesis H4). An almost half correlation (Tb = 0.47) appeared in the correlation between variables preference to cosmetic products that were not tested on animals and in preference to environmentally friendly products (hypothesis H5).

In the relational section of our survey we were not able to prove a correlation between the attitude to one’s own health and attitude to environmental protection. There appeared to be a slight link between the attitude to environmental protection and some forms of behaviour in the context of protecting the environment.

Conclusion When the Business Leaders Forum awards its prize for health and environment,

it puts an emphasis on the synergy between economic development and effi cient pro-tection of the environment and human health. It is noted every year that the support of health and sustainable development is based on the premises that it is not only necessary but also possible to harmonise both. In the teachers training system it is also necessary to harmonise the health support concept with sustainable development. It is clear that ecological and environmental education must be multi-disciplinary and comprehensive, i. e. that the knowledge must be understood and applied in the overall context, in the holistic sense, systematically, to support the knowledge of continuity and deeper spiritual anchoring.

The presented survey results will be used for the preparation of the teachers tra-ining system. It is possible to rely on the fact that students perceive the damage to the environment, feel the need to protect it and to participate in the care for it. Their interest in the environment and personal commitment are considered as the determinants of

17) We use this symbol for the correlation coeffi cient of Kendall`s tau-c used to measure the strength of corre-lation between the ordinal variables for the rectangular table (Kendall`s tau-b for square table).18) This ordinal variable is represented by the close-ended item that establishes the level of agreement with the statement „I want to participate in protecting the nature“.

49

optimum health. The respondents’ health concerns can be motivating for changing the behaviour in favour of the environment.

EE is an indispensable instrument in environmental protection. Since it is part of the curriculum as a cross-section topic, it touches the teachers’ work in all subjects. It is crucial to make their professional training, be it pre-graduate or post-graduate, more effi cient. It is equally crucial to overcome the isolated informative, non-appealing con-cepts detached from the recipients and their local or regional possibilities and needs. We cannot do without a proper preparation of teachers capable of teaching people to learn effi ciently.

VNÍMÁNÍ ZDRAVÍ V KONTEXTU PROBLEMATIKY ŽIVOTNÍHO PROSTŘEDÍ MEZI STUDENTYPEDAGOGICKÉ FAKULTY MASARYKOVY UNIVERZITY

Abstrakt: Současný stav životního prostředí je vnímán jako problémový, jako zdroj zdravotních rizik. Aktivní péče o zdraví se realizuje ve vyváženém životním stylu, který je předpokladem životní pohody, osobní a společenské seberealizace. V zodpovědném jed-nání ve jménu zdraví se promítá postoj k životnímu prostředí. V návaznosti na předchozí studie věnované deskripci obrazu myšlení o environmentálních tématech u učitelů a stu-dentů učitelství, uvádíme nyní výsledky výzkumného šetření sledujícího, jak studenti oboru učitelství vnímají zdraví v kontextu problematiky životního prostředí. Vycházíme z toho, že zájem o životní prostředí jako určující činitel optimálního zdraví se projevuje v osobní angažovanosti každého jedince. S ohledem na významnou roli učitele ve školní ekologic-ké/environmentální výchově nás zajímají postoje respondentů k ochraně životního prostře-dí, forma participace na jeho ochraně, způsoby rozhodování a jednání v souladu s aktivní podporou zdraví v životní situaci. Výsledky šetření přispějí k vytváření systému učitelské přípravy, který bude odpovídat konceptu podpory zdraví a udržitelného rozvoje.

Klíčová slova: zdraví, životní styl, péče o zdraví, výchova ke zdraví, ochrana životního prostředí, péče o životní prostředí, postoje, šetrnost, ekologická/environmen-tální výchova, udržitelný rozvoj.

51


SELF-EVALUATION OF KINDERGARTENSIN THE NET OF THE HEALTH

SUPPORTING SCHOOLS PROGRAMME

Zora SYSLOVÁ

Abstract: The paper tries to capture the process of evaluation of the kindergar-tens accepted into the net of the Support of Health in Schools Programme.

Attention will be paid in particular to creation of the criteria for assessment of the results, which the team of lecturers and management of the Support of Health in Kindergartens Programme are worked on for the time being.

In conclusion the author will present information about the prepared publication which should contain all the tools for self-evaluation of the school elaborated by the team of authors within the Support of Health in Kindergartens Programme.

Keywords: evaluation, assessment, indicators, criteria, school educational pro-gramme, fi eld of assessment, tools, school self-evaluation

The issue of evaluation (assessment), though representing a newly introduced duty in the educational system, has been the integral part of the strategy of health supporting schools from the very beginning. Entering the schools into the net of the Support of Health in Kindergartens Programme is conditioned by creation of the School Curriculum and continuance in the net depends on results of assessment of the School Curriculum after three-year term and subsequent elaboration of the innovated School Curriculum. In order to reach conformity with requirements of the Regulation No. 15/2005 Sb., which requisites of long-time plans, annual reports and school self-evalua-tion are determined by, the three-year cycle has been modifi ed to the four-year one.

The Support of Health in Kindergartens Programme has created the evaluation tool named INDI MŠ for the schools accepted into the net of the Health Supporting Schools in CR (Havlínová et all., 2004). It is the set of indicators for evaluation of conditions. They are identical with two integrating principles Respect to Natural Needs of Individuals and Development of Communication and Cooperation and twelve rules – conditions of the formal curriculum – having the same name in the evaluation tool named INDI MŠ.

We are speaking about the following conditions: 1. Health Supporting Teacher

52

2. Mixed-age Classes 3. Rhythmical Rules of Life and Day 4. Physical Comfort and Free Movement 5. Healthy Nutrition 6. Spontaneous Game 7. Inspiring Material Environment 8. Safe Social Environment 9. Participative and Team Management10. Partner Relations with Parents11. Cooperation of Kindergarten with Primary School12. Incorporation of Kindergarten into Municipal Life

Through them the kindergarten assesses to what extent it manages to develop and thoughtfully utilize the principles and rules - conditions for fulfi lment of educational obje-ctives leading to development of competences in children by the end of the preschool period. Each indicator is described by a number of specifi c and explicitly expressed items. They are broken down by the person they refer to (children, teachers, headmaster, kinder-garten, primary school and/or parents, school kitchen, etc.). They are formulated from the positive point of view, i.e. as fulfi lment of the relevant indicator should look like.

INDI MŠ has been elaborated in the form of a questionnaire. When evaluating and assessing, the evaluators (teachers, parents, cooks and/or other engaged partners) fi ll in their answers into the Record Sheets. They use the fi ve-point scale depending on how frequently the phenomenon described under individual items appears in the kindergarten (according to the evaluator):

1) never – no, we do not do it, such behaviour and actions do not occur among the children;

2) exceptionally – we know about this phenomenon (situation), but we succeed to meet it only sporadically, rather randomly;

3) occasionally – we try to meet the objective deliberately and lead the children correspondingly, we succeed from time to time, but we also sometimes fail;

4) frequently – we know very well how to arrange the things, but we fail to reach the optimum result every time, the children can express their needs in the desirable way, but not always;

5) regularly – we succeed to reach the optimum results reliably, all children always behave in the desired way, such way of actions and behaviour goes without saying.

The mathematically assessable method helps to avoid subjective statements like ”I think..., I like...” etc. and enables to evaluate better and more precisely to what extent the relevant indicator is really fulfi lled and met.

Tables of individual indicators represent the underlying document for fi lling in the Record Sheet by individual evaluators and the summary report on behalf of the kindergarten. Information from individual classes is important for the headmaster - whether or not the teachers come to an agreement in individual items. Material differen-ces should not occur in their assessment. Their uniform approach and at the same time identical view of manifestation of the children is of great importance.

53

In the long-time horizon the teachers can monitor any positive shift, i.e. quality impro-vement of their work which is refl ected by higher score in valuation of individual items.

To reach objective assessment of the INDI MŠ questionnaire, the evaluators must base their assessment on the information acquired continuously through other tools. One comprehensive chapter of the innovate book Kurikulum PZMŠ (Havlínová et all, 2006) is devoted to how to proceed when evaluating and assessing one’s own work.

INDI MŠ also contains questionnaire for the parents. Items of this questionnai-re correspond to certain items of other questionnaires. The kindergarten staff can thus compare whether or not their “vision” conforms to assessment made by the parents. This approach helps to objectivise the overall assessment of work in the kindergartens. Resultant outcome of the process of evaluation contributes to higher effectiveness of the whole process of planning and implementation of the school curriculum. The results show to what extent the kindergarten meets requirements of the Support of Heal-th in Kindergartens Programme and whether or not the kindergarten has the necessary preconditions and prerequisites for continuance in realization of the Programme.

The seminars focused on self-evaluation of the school have been prepared for the kindergartens working in the net of the Health Supporting Schools Programme in CR; they have also been granted the INDI MŠ questionnaires and other materials free of charge (e.g. CD with tables of competences and partial tasks). The so called external evaluator – EVA – evaluating the school from outside, based on the same criteria serving for own internal school evaluation, assists materially to the kindergartens accepted into the net of the Support of Health in Kindergartens Programme. These two views are then confronted and differing opinions are identifi ed. Eva has been chosen from among the lecturers and members of the management team of the Support of Health in Kindergar-tens Programme. Evan shall assist the kindergarten in its real situation.

Based on the experience of the seminars intended only and exclusively for the schools accepted into the net of the Support of Health in Kindergartens Programme, the trained lecturers have also prepared seminars focused on the issue of self-evaluation for other kindergartens. On this very day ca 500 kindergarten teachers and headmasters have been trained in the South Moravian region.

Processes and results (outcomes) belong, besides conditions, to the fi elds (sectors) subject to evaluation and assessment in the kindergarten. The Regulation No. 15/2004 Sb. and RVP PV (General Education Programme for Preschool Education) show more fi elds than necessary for evaluation. When examining them in details, we can say that they concern in general the three sectors shown above. The criteria which can be named “benchmark for comparison or approach for assessment” have to be ela-borated for all sectors above (Linhart 2003: 212).

As already mentioned, the evaluation questionnaire INDI MŠ has been elaborated for evaluation of conditions. The set of questionnaires does not comprise only indicators for 14 conditions (2 principles and 12 rules). The fi fteenth questionnaire contains the set of items – criteria concerning the formal curriculum, i.e. the process of education. When examining them in details, we can establish that even the other indicators, in particular the indicator “Heal-th Supporting Teacher”, contain the items concerning the process of education, i.e. the intrinsic teacher’s work. They comprise the method of planning, capability of the teacher to became a partner for the child, the art of empathic and supporting communication, utilization of modern

54

methods and forms of work with children of preschool age, e.g. the method of experience teaching, diagnostic capabilities of the teacher, etc. The questionnaire No. 1 Respect to Natural Human Needs, items 14–26 (Havlínová et all, 2004: 6), can serve as an example.

P 1 Respect to Natural Human needs 1 2 3 4 5Answer: never exceptionally occasionally frequently regularly Be so kind and monitor whether your answer really concerns each individual child, not only those who are able to attract attention.

the child: 1. with low need to sleep, it rests half an hour as a maximum - irrespective of the age 2. - slow - can complete its activity (drawing, toy cleaning, dressing, etc.) at its own pace 3. - quick - is busy with another activity before all other children complete their work 4. with specifi c needs has the conditions created in the kindergarten and can be integrated

upon request of the parents and recommendation of the specialists 5. rests (sleeps) in the afternoon as long as it needs 6. uses WC separately according to individual needs 7. has its privacy and rest, when using WC 8. is adapted to kindergarten attendance accompanied by the parent as long as necessary 9. notices emotional outbursts of other children and tries to calm the negative ones10. has accepted the agreed rules of coexistence11. participates in creation of comfort in the class12. starts new activities boldly13. looks for mutual agreement, compromise - contacts with other children are of cooperating

character

the teacher:14. I apply any of the models of human needs in my work 15. I express my opinion (on a suitable occasion) concerning appearance, clothes, manifestati-

ons of the child to render the feedback to the child 16. I lead the children and ask them to look for solution of their problems by themselves at fi rst17. I communicate with the children not only at the verbal level18. I observe the children purposefully and deliberately in particular during the games19. I monitor individual and age peculiarities of the children and report changes20. I am able to reveal frustration of the child from its behaviour 21. I respect identity and habits of the family22. I accept the problems addressed by the children very seriously (I neither disparage nor trifl e

with them)23. I monitor whether or not a certain child feels itself to be at the edge of group interests24. I monitor relations between the children in the class purposefully 25. I express emotional warmth to all children26. I accept every child unconditionally as it is

the headmaster:27. organises the hours of work so that each employee, incl. the teachers has a break and can

eat in peace28. bases on positive features of each team member and utilizes them in favour of the kinder-

garten29. leads the staff so that each individual team member feels himself/herself be important and

valid for the whole team30. creates conditions for integration of the child with specifi c needs 31. pays attention to adherence to the agreed rules by all others32. herself/himself does not breach the agreed rules

55

For the sector of results (outcomes) the tool containing relevant criteria is being created. Evaluation of results indicates what competences the children reach, what they have “learned” during their kindergarten attendance, what knowledge and skills they have absorbed. The fi fteen-member group of lecturers and authors of the Support of Health in Kindergartens Programme meets regularly for two years already to prepare another tool, the so called SUKy (Associated Indicators for Evaluation of Competen-ces). In the example below you can establish that the team of authors has tried to formu-late the criteria so that the awaited behaviour of the children may be monitored.

1. Designates parts of the body, sex, important organs correctly. Explains how they can be protected from damage and how do they change with the age.

2. Formulates questions and answers understandably and asks for answers, when it does not know anything. Is interested even in hardly comprehensible and clarifi able things (in its family, in the kindergarten, in the municipality, in the nature (animate and inanimate), in miscellaneous human activities, professi-ons and in the art).

3. Describes certain of its qualities. Notifi es joyfully what it has already maste-red, admits what it still fails to manage, makes fun neither of itself nor of others.

The competences can also be designated as capabilities. Because we are speaking about prerequisites for certain “activities”. Therefore the team has tried to create the cri-teria rather as description of activities and not as properties or features of individuals.

The team of authors intends to prepare both tools – SUKy and INDI MŠ – toge-ther with the methodological procedure of the process of evaluation for publishing. The set of INDI MŠ questionnaires has not appeared as an offi cial publication yet, it is only released as the working material to the kindergartens during the seminars.

VLASTNÍ HODNOCENÍ MATEŘSKÝCH ŠKOL V SÍTI PROGRAMU ŠKOL PODPORUJÍCÍCH ZDRAVÍ

Abstrakt: Příspěvek se pokouší vystihnout proces hodnocení mateřských škol přijatých do sítě Programu podpory zdraví ve školách.

Pozornost bude věnována především tvorbě kritérií pro hodnocení výsledků, na nichž v současné době pracuje tým lektorek a vedení Programu podpory zdraví v mateř-ských školách. V závěru příspěvku bude autorka informovat o připravované publikaci, která by měla obsahovat všechny nástroje pro vlastní hodnocení školy vytvořené týmem autorek Programu podpory zdraví v mateřských školách.

Klíčová slova: evaluace, hodnocení, indikátory, kriteria, školní vzdělávací pro-gram, oblasti hodnocení, nástroje, vlastní hodnocení školy

57


THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTAND SELECTED ASPECTS OF QUALITY

OF LIFE IN CZECH CHILDREN

Eva HLAVÁČKOVÁ, Lenka HODAČOVÁ, Ladislav CSÉMY,Eva ČERMÁKOVÁ, Jindra ŠMEJKALOVÁ

Abstract: School environment and its social climate and atmosphere are impor-tant factors that have an effect on the child´s life. The aim of the study was to assess the infl uence of adaptation to school as well as of teachers´and parents´demands on selected aspects of quality of life (sense of happiness and life well-being as well as sub-jectively perceived health status) in a representative sample of Czech children aged 11, 13 and 15 years.

Methods: Data were collected as part of “Health Behaviour in School-aged Chil-dren: A WHO Collaborative Cross National Study” (HBSC). Subjective evaluations of health status, sense of happiness, and life well-being were compared between groups of well adapted children and groups of poorly adapted children as well as between groups of children where in one group, the children felt high demands exerted on them by their parents and teachers, and in the other group, the children did not experience such demands. The decrease of life well-being was evaluated using Heubner´s scale and Cantril´s index.

Results: Statistically signifi cant relationships between studied items were found. Poorly adapted children and children feeling high demands exerted on them by their parents and teachers evaluated their health status as more negative; furthermore, they felt less happy and achieved a lower score on Heubner´s scale and Cantril´s index com-pared to well adapted children.

Keywords: school, quality of life, Czech children

Introduction School environment and its social climate and atmosphere are important factors

that have an effect on the child´s life. The school fi lls a substantial portion of a child’s time and it is more than a place where pupils obtain education. Interpersonal relations and friendships are formed at school; apart from the formal education children adopt also the so-called hidden curriculum that can infl uence them for the rest of their lives (Mareš, 2001). The school plays a substantial role in the socialisation, forming of personality and

58

development of a child. For these reasons it is obliged to refl ect the needs of children and young people and to respond to them adequately (Helus, 2007). Apart from the prima-ry orientation on education the school is to create a favourable social environment and positively infl uence the children’s quality of life (Csémy et al., 2005). Education should be connected with positive emotions, feelings of success and satisfaction (Helus, 2007). It has been proved that positive emotions expand the creativity of mind and, at the same time, facilitate the solving of problems (Křivohlavý, 2004).

On the other hand, school is a source of many stressing situations. Children have to learn how to cope with success and failure, how to react to being regularly evaluated by teachers, peers and parents, they have to fi nd their place among peers and defend it day by day, they have to keep up to the increasing demands and requirements. Whether they cope or not depends on many factors, the satisfaction with life, peace of mind, feeling of happiness and joy being among them. It has been proved that there is a reci-procal relationship between the subjective perception of health, well-being and school. Children who demonstrate fewer health problems and show a higher level of well-being feel better at school (Currie, 2004).

Inadequate demands not taking into account individual abilities can result lead to disturbing the child’s personality development (Čáp, 2001).

Problems in adaptation to school may be increasingly demonstrated in adolescen-ce. The emotional instability leads to changes in behaviour, attitude and self-assessment; the pursuit of emancipation from the family leads to rejecting previously recognised values, such as school (Vágnerová, 1997).

The relationship between school, health and behaviour of children is the topic of the study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) “Health Behaviour in School-aged Children: A WHO Cross National Study” (HBSC). Its goal is to collect information on the health, well-being and lifestyle of children in the broadest social context and to pro-vide relevant results to all who work in prevention.

The surveys started in 1983 and are carried out at four-year intervals. The last collection of data took place in 2006 involving 41 countries. The Czech Republic has been participating in the surveys since 1993 (Currie, 2004). HBSC results from 2002 indicate that only a small portion of Czech children (6 %) consider the school load as stressing but over one third of boys and one quarter of girls do not like it at school. Chil-dren who do not like school were much more likely to complain about psycho-somatic problems, such as headache, fatigue, exhaustion, nervousness, fear. Answers to questi-ons mapping out the relationships among peers pointed to problems in communication, mutual support and help (Csémy et al., 2005). In assessing their positive attitude to school and peers the Czech children ranked at the last positions in comparison with all other participating countries (Currie, 2004).

Goal The goal of our study was to assess how the adaptation to school and teachers’

and parents’ demands infl uence selected aspects of the quality of life (feeling of happi-ness and well-being and subjectively perceived health status) in a representative sample of Czech children.

59

Survey Sample and Methodology

The survey target population included children aged 11, 13 and 15 years, i. e. befo-re the beginning of puberty (11 years), in the period of remarkable physical and mental changes (13 years) and in the period of important decisions on the future life and career (15 years). Data was collected from 4,782 children in total. The data collection was carried out in a uniform way in line with WHO criteria (identical instruction for children, identical method of administration in class, submission of completed questionnaires in unmarked envelopes). It was implemented in May 2006 at eighty-six randomly selected primary schools and grammar schools in the Czech Republic, after the consent of headmasters had been granted. Pupils completed questionnaires during one teaching period in the presence of trained persons capable of providing any additional explanation to children, if requ-ested. Childrens’ parents had been informed of this survey in writing in advance.

We formulated the school adaptation index using answers to the questions: “How are you feeling at school at present” and “How do teachers treat you”. In the group of well adapted children we included those who answered that they liked it at school (much or quite) and also in the question “How do teachers treat you” the average of their answers to four sub-questions (“teachers encourage me to express my opinions in class”, “teachers are fair with us”, “teachers help me if I need it”, “my teachers are interested in me as a person”) scored up to 2.4 on a fi ve-point scale from “I fully agree” to “I comple-tely disagree”. In the group of poorly adapted children we included those who answered that they did not like it at school (much or not at all) and the average score in answers evaluating teachers was 3.5 – 5.

The level of well-being was evaluated with the help of the Heubner’s scale (HS) and Cantril’s index (CI). HS consists of six sub-questions that evaluate the satisfaction of children with their lives on a four-point scale. It reaches values between 6 and 24. CI is a scale of contentment with values from 0 to 10 where 0 is the worst possible life and 10 is the best possible life.

We evaluated the level of demands on the basis of answers to the question “As regards school, my parents expect too much of me” and “My teachers expect too much of me” (fi ve-point scale from “fully agree” to “completely disagree”). In the group of children under high demands we included those who answered that they “fully agree” or “agree” to both questions. We excluded children who answered positively only one of the questions. In the group of children experiencing adequate demands we included those who answered both questions negatively – they “disagreed”, “completely disagre-ed” – or considered the demands of parents and teachers as neither high nor low. In thus formed groups we surveyed the relationship between the subjective perception of health status, feeling of happiness, CI and HS. Numbers of respondents vary in the interpretati-on of individual areas depending on the methodological processing of collected data.

Results Adaptation to School

1,598 children, i. e. 33.4 %, of the entire group were well adapted, 451 children, i. e. 9.4 %, of the entire group were poorly adapted.

60

After exercising the χ2 test we were able to establish a statistically signifi cant link between adaptation to school and the subjective perception of health status (Table 1), adaptation to school and feeling of happiness (Table 2), adaptation to school and CI and HS values (Tables 3 and 4).

Table 1 – Health Status Subject to the Level of Adaptation to School in %health status good adaptation poor adaptation excellent 30.1 23.8good 60.6 57.6not very good 8.6 15.5bad 0.7 3.1

N = 2,035 p < 0.001

Table 2 – Feeling of Happiness Subject to the Level of Adaptation to School in %I feel good adaptation poor adaptation very happy 30.1 14.2quite happy 62.2 53.2not very happy 6.8 25.9not at all happy 0.9 6.7

N = 2,045 children p < 0.001

A remarkably higher percentage of poorly adapted children assessed their health status as not very good and bad (18.6 % in total) compared to well adapted children(9.3 %). The difference in assessing the feeling of happiness was even more remarkable. As much as four times more (32.6 %) poorly adapted children said they were not happy. In well adapted children it was only 7.7 %.

So as to interpret the relationship between adaptation to school and values on HS we formed three intervals: mean interval that corresponds with the HS mean value in the whole group (16.6) ± 1 SD (3.5) and is valid for the range 13.1 – 19.9; upper interval representing values higher than the mean + 1 SD, i. e. more than 19.9; and lower interval for which values lower than mean will be valid – 1SD, i. e. lower than 13.1. The relati-onships are provided in Table 3.

Table 3 Heubner’s Scale Subject to the Level of Adaptation to School in %Heubner’s scale good adaptation poor adaptation lower (> 13.1) 10.5 36.9mean (13.1 – 19.9) 70.4 58.5upper (< 19.9) 19.2 4.6

n = 1,981 p < 0.001

The results indicate that 3.5x more children from the poorly adapted group indi-cated values in the lower interval on HS and, on the contrary, 4x fewer children in this

61

group indicated values in the upper HS interval as compared to well adapted children. The mean HS value in the entire surveyed group was 16.6.

Table 4 Cantril’s Index Subject to the Level of Adaptation to School in %Cantril’s index good adaptation poor adaptation lower (<5.2) 12.2 30.1mean (5.2 – 9.1) 72.6 62.0upper (>9.1) 15.2 7.9

n = 2,024 p < 0.001

Intervals chosen for CI were formed similarly to those for HS. The mean CI in the entire group was 7.3, SD = 1.9. The upper interval is valid for values over 9.1, the lower interval for values under 5.2, the mean interval ranges between 5.2 – 9.1. Poorly adapted children more than two times more often indicated CI values in the lower inter-val and, on the contrary, two times less indicated values in the lower CI interval.

Level of Demands 1,148 children, i.e. 24 % of the entire group, assessed the demands from teachers

and parents as high, 2,020 children, 42.2 %, considered them as adequate. Following an evaluation against an χ2 test we were able to prove a statistically signifi cant link between the level of demands and subjective perception of health status (Table 5), feeling of happiness (Table 6) and CI and HS values (Tables 7 and 8).

Table 5 – Health Status Subject to the Level of Demands in %health status high demands adequate demands excellent 29.0 25.0good 58.4 64.9not very good 10.7 9.1bad 1.9 1.0

n =3,153 p = 0.00165

Table 6 – Feeling of Happiness Subject to the Level of Demands in %I feel high demands adequate demands very happy 24.5 20.8 quite happy 56.6 65.2not very happy 15.4 12.7not at all happy 3.5 1.3

n = 3,161 p < 0.001

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Table 7 – Heubner’s Scale Subject to the Level of Demands in %Heubner’s scale high demands adequate demands lower (> 13.1) 24.7 15.2 mean (13.1 – 19.9) 63.0 70.9 upper (< 19.9) 12.3 13.9

n= 3,043 p < 0.001

Table 8 – Cantril’s Index Subject to the Level of Demands in %Cantril’s index high demands adequate demands lower (>5.2) 21.2 15.5mean (5.2 – 9.1) 67.0 74.0upper (< 9.1) 11.9 10.5

n = 3,137 p = 0.000063

A higher percentage of children feeling high demands from parents and teachers assessed their health status as not very good and bad (12.6 %). More children in this group also indicated that they felt unhappy (18.9 %) and indicated values in the lower HS interval (24.7 %) and CI (21.2 %). The most remarkable difference between the-se groups was in the perception of happiness. Almost 3x more children feeling high demands said they were unhappy as compared with the group of respondents that assessed the demands from parents and teachers as adequate.

Discussion The survey results indicate that one third of Czech children (33.4 %) like school

and evaluate their teachers mostly positively and almost one tenth (9.4 %) of children do not like school and evaluate their teachers negatively. Over 90 % of well adapted children perceive their health status as excellent or good and feel happy.

In the representative sample of Czech pupils in the fi fth, seventh and ninth form a statistically signifi cant link between surveyed areas was established. A remarkably larger portion of children poorly adapted to school assessed their health status as not very good and bad (18.6 % in total) as compared to well adapted children (9.3 %). These results are comparable to the HBSC study results from 2002 where 18.9 % poorly adap-ted children and 10.8 % well adapted children were negative about their health status (Csémy et al., 2005).

A considerable difference between well and poorly adapted children was demon-strated in their feeling of happiness. As many as four times more (32.6 %) poorly adap-ted children indicated they were not happy. It is much more than what children indicated in 2002 (25.4 %). The question is how these items are related. Are well adapted children happier or do happier children adapt to school better? This question would require a more detailed analysis that would take into view the time aspect of the feeling of happiness (whether it is a topical emotional condition or a habitual discontent), as well as personal characteristics of respondents, important events in life, situation and cultural infl uences

63

(Macek, 2003). As compared to the last HBSC study results the lower percentage of well adapted children who feel unhappy is a positive development. In our study there were 7.7 % such children whereas in 2002 there were12.0 % (Csémy et al., 2005).

The demands from teachers and parents were considered as high by almosta quarter (24 %) of the surveyed group, the demands were perceived as adequate by a less than one half (42.2 %) of all respondents. More children in the group perceiving demands as high indicated they felt unhappy (18.9 %) and indicated values in the lower interval on HS (24.7 %) and CI (21.2 %) compared to the group indicating adequate demands. A higher percentage of children experiencing high demands from parents and teachers also assessed their health status as not very good and bad (12.6 %). The positive thing is that this number is lower than that in 2002 when 16.0 % children in the group with high demands assessed their health status as negative (Csémy et al., 2005).

The mean value of HS in the entire group was 16.6 and the mean value of CI was 7.3. Poorly adapted children and children perceiving high demands from parents and teachers were more likely to indicate HS lower than 13.1 and CI lower than 5.2.

Conclusion Of the total number of 4,782 respondents 33.4 % children were well adapted to

school and 9.4 % children were poorly adapted. 24 % children considered the demands from parents and teachers as high, 42.2 % considered them as adequate.

Statistically signifi cant links were established between the adaptation to school, demands from teachers and parents and selected aspects of the quality of life (feeling of happiness and well-being and subjectively perceived health status). Poorly adapted children and children feeling high demands from parents and teachers were more likely to assess their health status as negative, felt less happy and indicated lower values on the Heubner’s scale and Cantril’s index than well adapted children and children perceiving adequate demands.

VLIV ŠKOLY NA VYBRANÉ ASPEKTY KVALITYŽIVOTA ČESKÝCH DĚTÍ

Abstrakt: Prostředí školy, její sociální klima a atmosféra patří mezi význam-né faktory, které ovlivňují život dítěte.

Cílem studie bylo posoudit, jak adaptace na školu a nároky učitelů a rodičů ovlivňují vybrané aspekty kvality života (pocit štěstí a životní pohody a subjektivně vnímaný zdravotní stav) u reprezentativního vzorku českých dětí ve věku 11, 13 a 15 let.

Metodika: Data byla získána v rámci výzkumného šetření významné mezinárod-ní studie Světové zdravotnické organizace (WHO) „The Health Behaviour in School Aged Children: A WHO Cross National Study“ (HBSC). Subjektivní hodnocení zdra-votního stavu, pocitu štěstí a životní pohody bylo porovnáváno ve skupinách dětí dobře a špatně adaptovaných a ve skupinách dětí pociťujících vysoké nároky rodičů a učitelů

64

a dětí ostatních. Míra životní spokojenosti byla hodnocena pomocí Heubnerovy škálya Cantrilova indexu.

Výsledky: Byly zjištěny statisticky významné souvislosti mezi testovanými položkami. Špatně adaptované děti a děti pociťující vysoké nároky ze strany rodičůa učitelů hodnotily ve větší míře svůj zdravotní stav negativně, cítily se méně šťastnéa udávaly nižší hodnoty na Heubnerově škále a Cantrilově indexu než děti dobře adaptované a děti pociťující přiměřené nároky.

Klíčová slova: škola, kvalita života, české děti

65


TEACHING ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF NON-PROFITABLE ORGANIZATIONS FOR STUDENTS IN THE BRANCH „EDUCATION

TOWARDS HEALTH“ AT PF SBU

Renáta ŠVESTKOVÁ

Abstract: The article focuses on the teaching about the problems of non-profi t-able organizations in the area of “Education towards health”.

Keywords: education towards health, non-profi table organization

Since 1998 I teach the problems of non-profi table organizations at South Bohe-mian University. Many graduates of SBU (in social-health or pedagogical fi elds) fi nd their work fulfi lment in non-profi table organizations within health-social area. That is the reason why this issue is included in the study fi eld Education towards health of the study program Specialization in pedagogy, which is carries out at Pedagogical Faculty of SBU. Studying of the above mentioned branch will enable the university students to use scientifi cally approved experience and procedures in prevention, protection and exercising health so that in their employee rating, in accordance with the system of healthcare, they would act effectively and humanely.

As they are, in terms of the complex study, prepared conceptually for a vast fulfi lment in practice in the area of national services – in school system (kindergartens, elementary schools, secondary schools), in special schools and institutions, diagnostic and detention centres, in children´s homes, homes for elderly people and other, further on in the area of recreation, travelling, leisure centres and others, the education of the subject Foundations of non-profi table organizations is led in a way that students can gain theoretical, but especially practical information.

Teaching of the subject foundations of non-profi table sector is based on three fundamental pillars:

- The current knowledge and abilities of students- New knowledge and abilities of students- The way of leading the lessons

The basic characteristics of the subject:- Placing in the fi rst year as an optional subject

66

- Bachelor´s study- Summer term- Fourteen days of schooling- Presentation form – the number of lesson a week (subject/term) 0/2- Combining form – the number of lessons for a term (subject/term) 0/4- The way of fi nishing the schooling – credit

In relation to the seminar work great emphasis are placed on self-study with the use of supportive text and other materials (work documents), which are available. Last but not least personal experiences of students are used, about 30 % of them work directly in a non-profi table organization as voluntary workers. They process seminar works in work groups focusing on themes coming from areas concerning non-profi table organizations. The emphases are placed on their personal experience and opinions.

Within the seminars the students can consult their seminar works, it includes:- According to the legal norms to set regulations or the charter of the selected type

of organization (citizen association, foundation, endowment fund, generally ben-efi cial organization) in relation to healthy lifestyle.

- To suggest the name and logo of the organization.- To choose one company out of the grand calendar, which provides fi nancial grants

for the activity of NO – to fi nd out about the conditions under which the fi nancial grants are provided. To ensure forms, fi ll them and to propose a budget.

- To set an application for the sponsorship gift, grant.- To set a proposal of an outline for the annual report – everything it should in-

clude. To make a graphical design of the cover.- To write a press report about the organization activities.

The subjects of the seminars are for instance:- Typology of organizations of non-profi table sectors- Legal minimum of NO – the conditions of formation and dissolution of non-prof-

itable organizations- Non-profi table organizations in Czech Republic – a foreign non-profi table sec-

tor- Financial operations of non-profi table organization- Accountancy, taxes- Fundraising, sponsorship- Promotion- Issues of insurance in non-profi table organizations- National endowment policy- Financial planning and marketing- Strategy planning in a non-profi table organization- Work with public, work with media- Cooperation and competition in a non-profi table organization- Human factor in leading of a non-profi table organization- Personnel policy of nongovernmental non-profi table sector

67

- Contractual relations in nongovernmental non-profi table sector- Non-profi table sector and public services and autonomy- Methods of monitoring and evaluating of activities of a non-profi table organiza-

tion- Projects drawing fi nances from EU sources

All this closely continues with practical illustrations from some selected non-profi table organizations in relation to healthy lifestyle and the environment (for instance STUŽ – an organization for constantly tenable life and others).

In this year student have had the chance to acquaint themselves with the issue of social work in Zambia through the lecture of a Zambian student, who studied at the Health-social Faculty of SBU during his research fellowship. For example he explained the issue of children living in the street, HIV/AIDS in relation to the environment. There was also a presentation about non-profi table organizations operating in Zambia carried out.

VÝUKA PROBLEMATIKY NEZISKOVÝCH ORGANIZACÍ U STUDENTŮ OBORU „VÝCHOVA KE ZDRAVÍ“ NA PF JU

Abstrakt: Příspěvek je zaměřen na výuku problematiky neziskových organizací u oboru „Výchova ke zdraví“.

Klíčová slova: výchova ke zdraví, neziskové organizace

69


STRESS IN SCHOOL

Marie BLAHUTKOVÁ, Michal CHARVÁT

Abstract: Contemporary lifestyle in modern society presents a large number of factors that determine our quality of life. These factors include the amount of time required to manage all our day-to-day tasks, the enormous demands posed by our wor-king lives, our large number of leisure activities and our family duties. Modern techno-logy confronts us with many external pressures of various kinds, which result in stressful situations and stresses that can also have a negative effect on our health. These factors are frequently present in childhood, and we are beginning to see stress among school-children on a broader scale. Using a modifi ed Stress Test (Křivohlavý, 2001) we deter-mined the current level of stress among schoolchildren, revealed its cause, and looked for ways to alleviate symptoms of stress by means of exercise.

Keywords: children and young people, stress, health, sport and exercise

IntroductionIn recent years there has been much speculation about stress in relation to changes

in lifestyle, to globalisation, and to the post-modern society. Stress is becoming something of a phenomenon of our times, and is used as an explanation for practically anything at one time or another. Individuals are subject to stress, groups are subject to stress, and even society as a whole is subject to stress. Many scientifi c publications refer to the danger of stress in relation to serious illness, and to lifestyle diseases in particular. The effect of stress factors is being seen more and more frequently in places where we might least expect it, such as in children, and even in young children. Stress in school was one of the subjects of an extensive piece of research that we undertook at the Faculty of Sports Studies within the project “The Effect of Exercise on the Health of Children and Young People” (Blahutková et al., 2006).

The subject of the researchStress is one of the most serious factors damaging human health. Křivohlavý

(2001) considers the founders of stress theory to be I. P. Pavlov (experiments on animals), the American physiologist W. Cannon (the sympathoadrenal system under stress), H. Selye (a corticoidal conception of stress) and R. Lazaurus (cognitive stress management).

70

Adverse infl uences (external and internal) operating on the personality can lead to burdensome situations in life, and are known as “stressors”. Demands made upon us that are either excessive or perceived as excessive, in relation to the degree of strength of the individual, create stress. We generally associate stress on a subjective level with dissatisfaction – distress, although certain internal tensions associated with experienced danger may induce a feeling of intense satisfaction, as is the case with adrenaline sports for example (Paulík, 2002). Stress is the primary consequence of a large number of negative reactions on the part of the organism that are triggered by negative emotions, the effects of which are observable in the organism as a change to the level of hormones in the blood (in particular adrenaline and noradrenaline) and external manifestations of the personality. This negative reaction on the part of the organism (see Figure 1) plays a large part in the loss of balance in life and changes in behaviour (apathy, aggression), which may lead to pathological changes in the organism (external manifestations) or to crisis.

Figure 1: Diagram of negative reactions of the organism

Stress has also been described in the physiological area (Cohen, 1978). One can defend oneself against stress and stressful situations if one is in good health and suf-fi ciently “strong”.

Stress accompanies us throughout our lives and causes many people serious ill-nesses that may be mild in nature at the beginning, but later turn from psychosomatic illnesses into serious diseases that can endanger our health. Sport and exercise of all kinds play an invaluable role in relation to harmony and balance in our lives, since they can act as an important factor in health and psychological support (Blahutková et al, 2005). Coping strategies may be developed as a defence (Lazaurus, 1966). Our ability to withstand stress is always, however, the result of a positive attitude to the possible management of stress and stressful situations.

Stress can, up to a point, be measured by diagnostic tools, particularly in the area of psychological processes, although this generally involves subjective feelings, making stress diffi cult to prove in this area. From the biomedical viewpoint, however, it represents a serious problem, which accompanies illnesses at their very beginnings and contributes to the patient’s worsening health. It is, therefore, extremely important for those with serious illnesses to keep thinking positively. An attempt at combining the area of feelings with physiological sensations appeared in the Stress Text presented to the public, following much discussion, by Selye (1993). His initiative was further developed to suit conditions in this country by Křivohlavý (1994), who presented his Physiological, Emotional and Behavioural Symptoms of Stress. The test is divided into three parts (as its title would suggest) and contains a total of 32 items for determining the level of stress. It has been standardised for the adult population.

The health of our organism can undoubtedly be infl uenced by exercise, which also contributes towards reducing stress and can be used to aid in the formation of cop-

Negative emotions stress frustration anxiety crisis

71

ing strategies that help us to manage stressful situations at times of crisis. These facts can also be applied in the school environment, particularly in physical exercise lessons at school, which focus on health education in addition to other areas. Our attitudes to-wards our lifestyle are formed at school age (Mužík, Krejčí, 1997), and schools have a direct infl uence on children’s health and ensuring their quality of life in this way.

Research methods The given test had to be adapted for children in order for us to be able to use it.

We fi rst adapted the test for two age groups (questionnaire research among 1,000 chil-dren at primary schools in the Czech Republic selected at random). The test was short-ened to 22 items for younger schoolchildren, and shortened to 26 items for older school-children. The categories remained unchanged. The research conducted by the Faculty of Sports Studies determined physical fi tness, while we also determined the numbers of overweight and obese children using the BMI index. We investigated leisure activities among the selected group and the potential causes of negative phenomena, including bullying at school, among the selected group. The research also included an investiga-tion of teaching methods and tools used in school physical education. A total of 650 children from three selected primary schools (in Blansko, Rajhrad and Šlapanice) were addressed, of which 246 were younger schoolchildren (152 girls and 94 boys) and 404 were older schoolchildren (212 girls and 198 boys). Motor skills tests, measurements of height and weight, a leisure activities questionnaire, the Stress Test, and a personal-ity questionnaire were conducted on the selected group. We requested the agreement of legal representatives and the co-operation of the principals of the primary schools concerned and their teachers and physical education teachers in order to carry out the research. Students on bachelor and masters degree programmes were engaged in the research, and doctorate students also helped carry out particular tasks. A total of 41 per-sons contributed to the research (including the statistical processing of the results). The results of the research are, as yet, available only for individual items, and we are present-ing results in the areas of the testing of stress and its possible causes in our report.

Results and discussionThe fi ndings we made in determining the level of stress in school were positive,

and we can state that certain reports in the press indicating an enormous burden on schoolchildren, and on younger children in particular, do not correspond to the results of our research. In the category for younger schoolchildren we found only 29 children showing symptoms of stress, of which 15 were girls and 14 boys (Figure 2). We further investigated the causes of the symptoms of stress shown by all these children. In two cases their high points score can be accounted for by a reaction to serious illness, and this was confi rmed by the parents. In the other cases we determined the reasons that may have caused the given situation in the form of an unstructured phenomenological inter-view. To our surprise a signifi cant contribution to the level of stress seen was accounted for by an unsatisfactory family situation (the divorce of the parents), by the differing social conditions in which the children live, and in certain cases by illness (Figure 3).

72

Certain results, particularly in the area of physiological causes, indicated ongoing ill-ness or illness that had been overcome (in one case this involved completed oncological treatment). Discussions with teachers revealed suspected alcoholism in the family or domestic violence. These facts cannot, however, be proven, and were rather the sub-jective feelings of the teachers, who in some cases bore out the level of stress without having seen the results of the research. The teachers and parents were acquainted with the results of the research following its completion. Subsequent feedback was seen in a number of cases (requests for help in seeking a solution from parents).

Figure 2: Chart of stress levels revealed among younger schoolchildren

Figure 3: Chart of causes of higher stress levels found among younger schoolchildren

We reached extremely similar conclusions for older schoolchildren. The level of stress in school is not so intolerable as it is often presented. Only 4 children in this group showed signs of serious illness (incipient diabetes was later shown in one child). The level of stress was slightly higher among this group, although in view of the number of children addressed it remains at the level of normal stress (Figure 4). Girls showed a higher stress level percentage than boys (21 girls, 17 boys). A larger number of causes of stress were seen in this group, one being disproportionate expectations on the part of par-ents – the great demands resulting from the high aspirations of parents for their children, though these are also frequently the cause of defi ance on the part of children. We also saw enormous demands on the time of these children caused by the number of leisure activi-ties they are engaged in (some of the children do not have even one free day a week for

Míra stresu

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kategorie příčin

Příčiny stresu

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Level of stress

HeavyPathologicalLargeHeightenedNormal

Causes of stress

social conditionsfamilyillnessother

categories of causes

73

themselves and spend all their free time in hobby groups or taking part in activities held by organisations of various kinds). We also saw social inequality and incomplete families again. We discovered signs of hostile behaviour in a number of cases (Figure 5).

Figure 4: Chart of stress levels revealed among older schoolchildren

Figure 5: Chart of causes of higher stress levels found among older schoolchildren

During our conversations with teachers and the pupils addressed we found physical education in school and free-time sports and exercise activities to be popu-lar. We found exercise to play a positive role in the development of coping strategies in the management of stress (we often heard phrases like “when I’m in a bad mood I go and do some sport, go out with my friends or go to the gym…”). Their teach-ers noted that the children were highly active during school physical education and pointed to the inclusion of untraditional sporting activities in physical education les-sons – adrenaline activities such as rope games, psychomotor games focusing on the individualisation of the personality, etc. Smaller groups of pupils in the gym are more conducive to this kind of activity, although pupils are often excused from physical education by their parents.

těžkýpatologický

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Causes of stress

categories of causes

social conditionsfamilyillnessexcessive demandstoo many activitiesother

74

Conclusions

Our research indicates that stress at school is not widespread among pupils. The cause of any stress that does arise is not usually that they are overburdened or that exces-sive demands are placed on them, but rather other factors such as family problems, the inequality of their social conditions, illness, etc. Girls seem slightly more prone to stress than boys. The level of stress in school can, however, be said to be normal.

Sport and exercise make a signifi cant contribution towards alleviating stress, and can also do so during physical education at school. The individual approach taken by the teacher and his or her enthusiasm during physical education, well thought-out ap-proaches and elements of motivation, greater engagement of pupils and the appeal of individual lessons is, however, extremely important. All these elements taken together contribute to the development of the personality and to health and quality of life.

STRES VE ŠKOLEAbstrakt: Dnešní životní styl člověka v moderní společnosti představuje řada

faktorů, které určují také kvalitu jeho života. Mezi tyto faktory se řadí mimo jiné i časo-vá náročnost zvládání všech aktuálních denních požadavků, vysoká pracovní náročnost, velké množství volnočasových aktivit i rodinné povinnosti. Člověk se vlivem moder-ních technologií dostává do kontaktu s mnoha různými tlaky zvenčí a ty způsobují stre-sové situace a stresy, které mohou negativně ovlivnit i naše zdraví. Tyto faktory působí často již v dětském věku a stres u školních dětí se začíná objevovat v širším měřítku. Pomocí upraveného Testu stresu (Křivohlavý, 2001) jsme zjišťovali aktuální míru stresu u dětí ve škole, odhalovali jsme jejich příčiny a hledali cesty, jak zmírnit příznaky stresu prostřednictvím pohybových aktivit.

Klíčová slova: děti a mládež, stres, zdraví, sportovně pohybové aktivity

75


COPING STRATEGIES IN HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS

Eva URBANOVSKÁ

Abstract: This paper brings information about discovered structure of coping strate-gies in adolescents in relation to school environment based on the application of SVF-78 questionnaire. There are mentioned partial results of wider research concerned with map-ping of school strain perception in relation to personal characteristics. This research has been performed during spring 2008 at sample of high school pupils at age 15–20. Ques-tionnaire SVF-78 is originally determined as diagnostic tool for adult population and it is linked to situations, where subject is disadvantaged by somebody or by something, is upset or discountenanced. Within our research we check possibility to apply this questionnaire to adolescents at age 15–20, whereas strategies are related to stress situations in the school environment. Resulting data regarding coping strategies are then analyzed in relation to other variables. We mention in our paper relationship to age, gender and type of school.

Keywords: voping strategy, diagnostics, SVF-78 questionnaire, high school stu-dents, school stress situations

Theoretical background In the whole life, an individual gets into situations that present bigger or smaller

strain for him and they cause state that is called stress.When defi ning the term stress, particular authors approach it differently. (see e.g.

Lazarus, 1966, 1971, Kagan, Levi, 1971, H. Selye, 1982, J. E. Mc Grath, 1970, Hodges a Felling, 1970 a Yungman, 1979 etc.).

Generally, this state is understood as an interaction between the individual and his environment, when he is under the requirements and demands that he perceives and evaluates as burdening and that he is not able to cope with some usual ways of performance. (Balcar, 1983, Mlčák, 1999, Lazarus, Folkman, 1984, Karafová, 2007). According to Mareš, (Čáp, Mareš, 2001) except serious traumatic circumstances, also common everyday troubles and inconveniences, which cumulate in the individual’s life, are involved among the stress situations.

We agree with the opinions, that the stress itself is possible to judge neither as defi nitely bad nor good. To overcome stress successfully can even help the individual to personal development. Whether it has positive, encouraging and developing infl uence, or it takes a destructive effect, does not depend on the character of the stressor itself. It depends on how the individual deals with the stress situation (its reasons, effects and

76

own ability to cope with it), how he analyses it and faces up to this state (Urbanovská, 2008). The problem starts when the intensity of the stress is inadequate or the individual is not able to bear it and chooses inappropriate coping strategies.

In spite of the variety of the defi nitions, the term coping means a conscious and purposeful effort, which involves all attempts to overcome stress, the cognitive and behaviour efforts to reduce the infl uence of the extremely high demands in the strain situations (Lazarus, Folkmann, 1984), or according to Kohn (1996) and Mareš (Čáp, Mareš, 2001), it is a conscious adaptation on the stressor.

The individual conscientiously tries to balance the stress by the ways that are called coping strategies.

W. Janke and G. Erdmannová (2003) understand by these coping strategies the psychical processes that come when the stress arises to reduce it or end it up. It is a par-ticular kind of answering the stress that tends to reach the starting psychosomatic level or to avoid a bigger deviation from this starting state. Janke and Erdmann base their own questionnaire on the premise that the ways of dealing with stress are so aware that it is possible to ask for them. They are understood as the “habitual” traits of a personality. That means they are relatively fi xed in time and relatively independent on the kind of the strain situation. The authors also presume the independence on the kind of the reaction on the strain itself and fi nally, some independence on the other personal characteristics.

It is understandable that these premises can cause some polemics, especially the premise about the independence on the kind of the strain situation. The authors them-selves say that all the premises are not enough clarifi ed so far in all their implications and signifi cations (Janke, Erdmann, 2003, p. 9).

The premise about the situational independence of the coping strategies is es-pecially polemic. For example Selye (1974, 1983) believes that the organism answers independently on the stimulation, but many researches and many authors prove the par-ticularity and the difference of the ways in dealing with stress depending up the stres-sor, or the character of the strain situation (e.g. Rösler a Kühl, 1981, or Šolcová, 1992, Koubeková, 2003, Medveďová, 2001a). Not only the dependence on the stimulation itself is acknowledged but also how it is perceived, interpreted, evaluated by the indi-vidual, and what his attributed style, his personal experiences and his motivational level are (Plevová, 2007; Plevová, Urbanovská, 2008).

Frankovský (1998, 2003) acknowledged in his researches a trans-situational (on the situation independent) effect of the individual strategies on one side; on the other side he also acknowledged the infl uence of the situational context on the usage of the individual strategies.

It results from the researches and discussions about the situational particular-ity or the commonness of the coping strategies that for its answering it is necessary to specify a research problem. It is showed that the situational constant is more displayed at the imaginative situations, which are recollected on the base of the memories, than at the real situations (see Janke, Erdmannová, 2003, p. 8). Therefore, the authors of the SVF 78 questionnaire suppose that it is necessary to respect also the factor of the situ-ational conditionality during the research of the coping strategies and that it is necessary to specify the situational viewpoint.

For the purpose of the diagnostics, many scales (mostly multi dimensional) were produced. Their form is determined by the situational or on the other hand trans-

77

situational character of the coping strategies. Methodics that discover the coping strat-egies in the context of some particular described situations represent the situational approach – e.g. ZS 2 (Baumgartner, Adamková, 2003) and the situational form of the COPE questionnaire (Carver, Schreuer, Weintraub, 1989). The questionnaire SVF 78, which we used, is based on the trans-situational approach, in the same way as some other known methodics for the disproportional coping styles measurement – e.g. the disproportional form of the COPE questionnaire (Carver, Schreuer, Weintraub, 1989), SPSS questionnaire (Frankovský, 2003), PCI inventory (Greenglass, Schwarzer, Tau-bert, 1999).

Especially nowadays, some diagnostic methods try to combine the dispropor-tional and situational approach – e.g. SPNS (r) (Frankovský, Baumgartner, 1997). In any case, both approaches are useful for the detailed analyses of the structure of the strategies. This is very important not only for the diagnostics itself but also for the pos-sibility of the interventional action and prevention.

Different approaches to the classifi cation how to defi ne particular ways of stress overcoming are mirrored in the variety of the diagnostic tools. From the number of the taxonomies, maybe the best known and most frequently used taxonomy is the one of Lazarus and Folkmanová (1984). This taxonomy distinguishes an overcoming fo-cused on a problem (the overcoming of a stress situation) and an overcoming focused on emotions (the overcoming of an emotional accompaniment, of an inner distress). Other authors, e.g. Poon and Lau (1999) describe three types of the overcoming according to the sources that are mobilized: a plan for the solution of a problem and revaluation of a situation (the mobilization of the inner sources), looking for a social support (the mobilization of the outer sources) and an avoidance of the solution. Endler and Parker (1990) distinguish the overcoming focused on the role, emotions and the avoidance.

The authors of the questionnaire SVF 78 (Janke, Erdmannová, 2003) consider the possibility of distinguishing the coping strategies according to their kinds: opera-tional strategies and intra-psychical strategies; according to their direction: directed on a situation (stressor) and directed on the reaction (stress); according to their effectivity: strategies that decrease the stress (positive) and strategies that increase the stress (nega-tive). In spite of the fact, it is not always possible to say whether to rank the particular strategy among positive or negative ones, this viewpoint is essential for the conception of the questionnaire that was constructed by W. Janke a G. Erdmannová, and that we used in the Czech version in our research.

Research The aims of the research

To examine the coping strategies is the part of the methodics of the wider research that is focused on the subjective perception of the school strain situations in older ado-lescents in respect of their personal characteristics.

On the base of the application of the SVF 78 questionnaire, we would like to discover a structure of the coping strategies in adolescents, or the distinctions in using the strategies from the age, school performance and type of school point of view.

78

We would like to verify the use of the SVF-78 questionnaire in high school pupils. The fi rst Czech version of the questionnaire was made and published in 2003 (Švancara, 2003). According to our available information, the use of this version of the questionnaire is not too extended so far in our country.

The presuppositions of the researchWe expected that:

we demonstrate the possibility to apply the SVF-78 questionnaire in the popula-tion of older adolescentsthere will be some statistically signifi cant differences with respect to gender. We expected that there will be more extensive occurrence of strategy of the social reliance in women.the reciprocal dependence between the preference for the coping strategies and the factors of age, school performance and the type of school will be demonstrated

Methodological approachMethod

The fi rst Czech version of the SVF-78 questionnaire focused on the coping strat-egies (authors W. Janke and G. Erdmannová, Czech translation and modifi cation – J. Švancara) was used in the research investigation. (Janke, Erdmannová, 2003). The SVF-78 questionnaire represents a shorten version of the original SVF 120 questionnaire. In this version, the original 13 scales were kept: Undervaluation, Refusing of the blame, Diversion, Substitutional satisfaction, Control of the situation, Control of the reactions, Positive self-instruction, Need for the social support, Avoidance, Tendency to escape, Perseveration, Resignation, Self-blaming. The interpretation according to the secondary rates makes also possible to discover the overall score of the positive strategy (POZ) – it leads to the reduction of the stress, and the negative strategy (NEG) – it leads to the intensifi cation of the stress. Some partial strategies are distinguished within the overall positive strategy: Strategy of the undervaluation and the devaluation of the blame (POZ 1), Strategy of the diversion (POZ 2) and Strategy of the control (POZ 3). The strategy of the need for the social support and the avoidance are not involved into these groups. They are singular and they do not need any individual interpretation.

The questionnaire represents a convenient tool for both the research and the in-dividual diagnostics of the operational strategies. It involves a wide range of the coping strategies, which makes possible to register the variety of the ways that an individual uses when dealing with the stain situations (Švancara, 2003).

We statistically analysed the received data. We used Mann-Whitney U-testu, t-testu, Pearson´s coeffi cient of the correlation and the AR analyses of the diffusion with the comparison of the average rates with the help of Tuckey´s HSD method for an un-equal number in the groups.

The statistic calculations were done in the IT Center of the Palacky´s University in Olomouc.

–

–

–

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The characteristics of the research sample

The research was made in spring 2008 in seven high vocational schools and grammar schools in Moravia region. There were 619 pupils of the fi rst and third classes at the age of 15–20 together. The age average was 16,87. There were 257 boys and 362 girls, 301 pupils of the grammar schools and 318 pupils of the vocational schools of different types.

The results of the research and their discussion The structure of the coping strategies that were used

On the basis of the interpretation and the statistic elaboration (see the chart 1), we dis-covered that within the whole examined sample the strategies of the control (POZ 3) are the most frequently used ones. It is quite positive information because these strategies involve some constructive efforts to overcome/ control and be competent. The students choose the positive self-instruction most often (to attribute a competence to themselves and to encour-age themselves) and the control of the reactions (not to allow to be excited, or to face it). The strategy of the control of a situation is less common from the strategies of the control. We assume that this fact corresponds with the interpretation of the inner consequences infl uence and the real possibilities of the students to infl uence the strain situations.

The strategies of the avoidance and the need for the social support are the next most often applied strategies, in spite of the fact; they are indicated in the SVF 78 methodics as rarely found. The strategy of the avoidance involves an intention and an effort to avoid the strain and to prevent next confrontation with a similar situation. The strategy of the need for the social support indicates a tendency to establish a contact with the others. An individual can gain a support for the problem solution whether in a form of a dialogue or a direct concrete help. Both strategies can mean positive on one side and negative way of overcoming on the other side. It depends on the context of the particular situation (e.g. an inability to infl uence this situation in no way) and also the general individual profi le of the coping strategies.

On the contrary, the negative strategies (NEG) appeared as the least common. The strategy of resignation was the least used strategy in this group of the negative strat-egies. It can be assumed that young people consider this strategy the least convenient and effi cient. It is giving up an effort of overcoming the situation with the feelings of helplessness and despair in relation to the strain situation. From the negative strategies, the preservation appeared relatively often as a prolonged refl ection and disability to free from the strains in the thoughts.

Discovered structure of frequency of coping strategies was compared to the re-sults published within the handbook involved in SVF 78 questionnaire (Janke, Erdman-nová, 2003), to be specifi c to the average score of the respondents at age of 20–34 (SVF 78 questionnaire with respect to the target group of adult population was not standard-ized for adolescent category.)

Though we realize specifi cs of particular age categories as well as differences of cultural environment, we would like to mention some facts, which have indicated our

80

comparison. All compared groups (men and women of all age categories) mostly chose POZ3 strategies, i.e. strategies of the control, on the other hand, both age categories of women used strategies of the undervaluation and devaluation (POZ 1) at least, while men used negative strategy (NEG) at least. Contrary of our group, we have noted more frequent use of strategies of the control , need of the social support but also negative strategies in category of adults (20–34 years old) for both genders.

The whole sample Men (N=257) Women (N=362)

AverageStandard

devia-tions

AverageStandard

devia-tions

AverageStandard

devia-tions

1 Undervaluation 11,22 4,46 12,56 3,96 10,27 4,56

2 Refusing of the blame 10,91 3,68 11,25 3,78 10,67 3,59

3 Diversion 13,17 3,67 12,31 3,69 13,77 3,54

4 Substitutional satisfaction 12,56 4,65 11,68 4,40 13,18 4,73

5 Control of the situation 13,73 4,25 13,66 4,49 13,78 4,08

6 control of the reactions 14,17 3,87 14,08 3,95 14,24 3,82

7 Pos. self-instruction 14,24 4,38 14,15 4,40 14,31 4,37

8 Need for the social support 13,48 5,44 11,82 4,95 14,66 5,46

9 Avoidance 14,01 4,74 13,04 4,64 14,69 4,70

10 Tendency to escape 10,59 4,36 9,32 3,82 11,50 4,49

11Perservsation 12,86 5,83 11,40 5,57 13,90 5,79

12 Resignation 9,33 4,34 8,42 4,03 9,98 4,45

13 Self-blaming 10,76 5,04 9,72 4,82 11,50 5,07

Positive strategies (POZ) 12,86 2,69 12,81 2,70 12,89 2,69

Strategies of undervaluation and devaluation of the blame (POZ 1) 11,07 3,40 11,91 3,19 10,47 3,41

Strategy of diversion (POZ 2) 12,86 3,54 12,00 3,47 13,48 3,45

Strategy of control (POZ 3) 14,05 3,56 13,96 3,70 14,11 3,46

Negative strategies (NEG) 10,89 4,05 9,71 3,66 11,72 4,11

Average rates and standard deviations of test fi elds SVF 78 in adolescents (15–20 years old)

81

Graph 1: Comparison of average score in adolescents with standardized sample Key: MS 15-20 - male students 15-20 years old M 20-34 - men 20-34 years old S 15-20 - female students 15-20 years old Z 20-34 - women 20-34 years old

In terms of both genders there is similar movement in frequency of the same strategies, hence we can consider the age as an important factor. As our research in-dicates the transition from the adolescence to adult period is characterized by the intensifi cation of strategy of the control, strategy of the need of social support but also some negative strategies. Statistically, signifi cant correlation between strategy of the control and age was also confi rmed within the scope of our group and will be analyzed and interpreted in more detail.

Connection between need of the social support and age was indicated by D.P. Valentiner (1994). He points out that seeking the social support grows until the age 13, then rapid decline occurs. Boys often refuse it. It is probable that an individual values the importance of social relations again in later period.

In comparison with our group there is also rise in frequency of some negative strategies – concretely strategy of the perseveration (lack of ability to leave the prob-lem in mind) and self-blaming. On the other hand, in period of early adult age (20–34 years old) frequency of strategy of the resignation, escape and avoidance declines. Regarding strategy of the avoidance an interesting development is indicated. In our experimental group (15–20 years old) it was one of the most frequent strategies, sta-tistically negative correlation with age was proved (growing age brings decline of its frequency). In adult age group (20–34 years) within the scope of standardized sample (Janke, Erdmannová, 2003) frequency of this strategy is the lowest and in older age categories it raises again. New (preferably long-term research) could verify whether tendency of this concave development is really evident.

Structure of coping strategies, which we have discovered, corresponds to the results of other researches to some extent. For instance, Frankovský has found

82

out that in adult age group (average age – 22,7 years old), when taking into con-sideration submitted coping strategies, strategy of the individual solution was the most frequently used, strategy of seeking help and support was the second one and strategy of the avoidance was the third one. If we admit certain similarity between strategy of the control and individual solution, then the findings of preference of active and constructive strategies seems to be in accord with the results of our research. Thus, a difference appears in our findings relating to the preference of strategies of the avoidance to need of the social support. When we take into consideration that the research of Frankovský (2003) and standardized sample (Janke, Erdmannová, 2003) feature preference of strategy of the social support to the avoidance, we suppose that this difference can be explained by the influence of age and less frequent seeking (or even refusing) the social support in period of adolescence.

Gender differencesWithin our experimental group we have found out considerable differences in

preferences of particular ways of coping. Besides positive strategies of the control, which are preferred by both gender groups with no difference, all other strategies denoted statistically signifi cant differences on the level of signifi cance 0,05 (see chart 2). From the chart it is obvious that men more often prefer strategies of the undervaluation and devaluation of blame (POZ 1), i.e. they decrease infl uence of stress, feeling stress or stress reaction and refuse to be responsible for this strain. On the other hand, women more often choose strategies of the diversion including the substitutional satisfaction (POZ2), social support, avoidance but also all nega-tive strategies (NEG).

Infl uence of the gender on preference of coping strategies is generally proved by research. Our conclusion about the preference of strategies of the social support in female group corresponds with the results of many other researches (Karafová, 2007; Medveďová, 2001a, 2004; Koubeková, 2000; Janke, Erdmanová, 2003). Also the other gender differences discovered by our research (POZ 2, NEG, avoidance) are in accord with the results of standardized sample (Janke, Erdmannová, 2003). Thus, it is interesting that other researches prove that girls use rather active (con-structive) coping strategies whereas boys more often use strategies of the avoidance (they avoid a problem, tend to be in distance) (see e.g. Medveďová, 2003; Willis et al, 2001; Karafová, 2007).

83

Chart 2: Gender differences in preference of coping strategiesExplanation: SVF I - Undervaluation, SVF 2 - refusing of blame, SVF3 - diversion, SVF 4 - substitutional satisfaction, SVF 5 - control of situation, SVF 6 - control of reactions, SVF 7 - positive self-instruction, SVF 8 - need of social support, SVF 9 - avoidance, SVF 10 - tendency to escape, SVF 11 - perseveration, SVF 12 - resignation, SVF 13 - self-blaming, POZ - positive strategy, POZ 1 - strategy of undervaluation and devalu-ation of blame, POZ 2 - strategy of diversion, POZ 3 - strategy of control, NEG - negative strategy

We suppose that the differences between our results and the other researches can be caused by the structure of experimental group and different method. Seeing that our results correspond with the research realized by same method (Janke, Erdmannová, 2003) and that particularity of situation determines preference of the strategies, which is proved by researches, we can explain our results by general target of SVF 78 question-naire.

Infl uence of variables of age and school resultsRelation of our results with variables of age and success in Math and Czech lan-

guage was found out on the basis of calculation with Pearson coeffi cient of correlation. The correlations were found out in the whole sample and in a group of men. In terms of woman group, no correlation was confi rmed (see chart 5).

Variable of age positively correlates with the control of situation strategies. In context of this fact, negative correlation of age and frequency of the avoidance strategies was obviously confi rmed as well. It means that growing age leads to reduction of coping based on the avoidance. Older people do not tend to avoid a situation so much and more often they attempt to gain control over the situation.

Mann-Whitneyův U test (studenti)Dle proměn. Pohlaví

Označené testy jsou významné na hladině p <,05000

ProměnnáSčt poř.

ZSčt poř.

MU Z Úroveň p Z

upravenéÚroveň p N platn.

ZN platn.

MSVF 1SVF 2SVF 3SVF 4SVF 5SVF 6SVF 7SVF 8SVF 9SVF 10SVF 11SVF 12SVF 13POZPOZ1POZ2POZ3NEG

97598,0 94292,00 31895,00 -6,66931 0,000000 -6,68748 0,000000 362 257107424,5 84465,50 41721,50 -2,18730 0,028722 -2,19783 0,027962 362 257123124,0 68766,00 35613,00 4,97347 0,000001 4,99295 0,000001 362 257120797,5 71092,50 37939,50 3,91232 0,000091 3,92275 0,000088 362 257113199,5 78690,50 45537,50 0,44676 0,655046 0,44806 0,654112 362 257113488,0 78402,00 45249,00 0,57835 0,563026 0,58048 0,561593 362 257113210,0 78680,00 45527,00 0,45155 0,651591 0,45291 0,650611 362 257127320,5 64569,50 31416,50 6,88756 0,000000 6,89868 0,000000 362 257121467,5 70422,50 37269,50 4,21792 0,000025 4,22762 0,000024 362 257125648,0 66242,00 33089,00 6,12471 0,000000 6,14134 0,000000 362 257123476,0 68414,00 35261,00 5,13403 0,000000 5,14068 0,000000 362 257121488,5 70401,50 37248,50 4,22750 0,000024 4,23830 0,000023 362 257121863,0 70027,00 36874,00 4,39831 0,000011 4,40695 0,000010 362 257112153,0 79737,00 46450,00 -0,03056 0,975621 -0,03057 0,975615 362 25799914,5 91975,50 34211,50 -5,61272 0,000000 -5,61974 0,000000 362 257

123576,0 68314,00 35161,00 5,17964 0,000000 5,18512 0,000000 362 257112899,0 78991,00 45838,00 0,30970 0,756788 0,30987 0,756657 362 257125212,0 66678,00 33525,00 5,92584 0,000000 5,92731 0,000000 362 257

Mann-Whitney U test (studentsVariable: genderMarked tests are signifi cant on the level of signifi cance p<0,05000

Variable Sum of Rank Z

Sum of Rank M Level p Z adjstd. Level p N Valid

ZN Valid

MZU

84

CORRELATION STUDENTS IN TOTAL MALE STUDENTSVariable AGE CZECH LAN. MATH AGE CZECH LAN. MATHUndervaluation -,0379 ,0703 ,0238 -,0044 ,0103 -,0730 p=,349 p=,091 p=,566 p=,944 p=,873 p=,255Refusing of blame ,0244 -,0253 -,0064 ,0365 -,0727 -,0753 p=,547 p=, 543 p=, 877 p=,562 p=,258 p=,240Diversion -,0469 -,0798 -,0677 -,0579 -,0674 -,1118 p=,247 p=,055 p=,102 p=,357 p=,294 p=,081Substitutional satisfaction ,0551 ,0122 ,0039 ,0717 ,0619 -,0060

p=, 173 p=, 769 p=, 925 p=,254 p=,336 p=,925Control of situation ,0820 -,0647 -,0045 ,1233 -,1579 -,0590 p=, 043 p=, 119 p=, 914 p=,049 p=,014 p=,358Control of reactions -,0172 -,1285 -,0725 ,0388 -,2367 -,1490 p=,670 p=,002 p=,080 p=,537 p=,000 p=,020Positive self-instruction ,0039 -,0910 ,0079 ,0635 -,1883 -,0685 p=,923 p=,028 p=,849 p=,313 p=,003 p=,285Need of social support ,0695 -,1232 -,0413 ,0387 -,1569 -,0335 p=,086 p=,003 p=,320 p=,539 0 p=,602avoidance -,0888 -,0770 -,0446 -,1062 -,1050 -,0576 p=,028 p=, 064 p=,282 p=,090 p=,102 p=,369Tendency to escape -,0236 -,0200 ,0069 -,0087 -,0090 -,0116 p=,560 p=,631 p=,867 p=,890 p=,888 p=,857Perseveration ,0613 -,1139 -,0720 ,0961 -,1074 -,0657 p=, 130 p=, 006 p=, 082 p=,126 p=,094 p=,306Resignation -,0742 ,0550 ,0245 -,1038 ,0806 ,0788 p=, 067 p=, 186 p=, 555 p=,098 p=,209 p=,219Self-blaming ,0125 ,0089 ,0097 -,0129 -,0449 -,0443 p=,758 p=,831 p=,815 p=,838 p=,485 p=,490POZ ,0160 -,0631 -,0220 ,0637 -,1415 -,1142 p=,692 p=,129 p=,597 p=,311 p=,027 p=,074POZ1 -,0117 ,0325 ,0122 ,0188 -,0366 -,0899 p=,772 p=,434 p=,769 p=,765 p=,570 p=,161POZ2 ,0118 -,0336 -,0327 ,0143 ,0031 -,0636 p=,771 p=,420 p=,431 p=,820 p=,961 p=,322POZ3 ,0280 -,1097 -,0249 ,0889 -,2222 -,1039 p=,489 p=,008 p=,549 p=,157 0 p=,105NEG -,0003 -,0286 -,0143 ,0017 -,0355 -,0208 p=,994 p=,491 p=,730 p=,979 p=,581 p=,746

Chart 5: Correlation of preference of coping strategies with variables of age and results

The correlation with variable of age, which we have discovered, is in accord with an assumption that learning infl uences coping skills. With growing experience, knowl-edge and competences an individual is able to analyze given situation in more detail and to cope with it actively. Hence, he or she does not need to avoid the situation so often. It is assumed (and experimental verifi cation proves it) that our ability to face stress is determined by our control over the situation and ability to infl uence important elements of our environment (Kebza, 2005).

85

School results in Czech language negatively correlated with strategies of the control, need of the social support and perseveration. These correlations are valid for the whole sample and especially for men group.

Better mark was assigned by the students with more frequent use of strategy of the control (POZ3), which is considered as a constructive way of coping stress. It predi-cates of more frequently applied strategies of the control, thus bigger effort not to be put out of countenance, not to get excited or eventually to be able to face this excitement. Then, it also predicates of effort to gain control over the situation, hence to analyze it, to plan how to improve this state and to encounter the situation actively. There was also evident tendency to support one-self, to increase self-confi dence. All these ways are es-pecially purposeful in the situation where gaining some achievement is important. The confi rmation of the correlation with the school results seem to be well-founded.

The students with better results sought social support more often. Positive infl u-ence of social support on the results can be explained by its help to analyze the situation, to search adequate solution and ways of coping, by the ability to confront opinions or to provide important information and so on.

Findings of negative correlation of the results in Czech language and strategy of the perseveration, which is labelled as negative strategy, is interesting. This fact evi-dences that the students who could not get rid of thoughts about stress situation and con-sidered it achieved better results in Czech language. The interpretation can be growing infl uence of longer thinking on the motivation of achievement or depth of the analysis of given situation. However, these relations would have to be verifi ed. In any case, the discovered fact point out that it is not possible to defi nitely consider strategy of the per-severation as negative. From certain point of view and in certain situations it can lead conscious protraction of stressful situation and thus increasing stress, but on the other hand, its positive effect can appear in some case. It proves the assumption of the authors of SVF 78 questionnaire, that particular strategies cannot be defi nitely labelled as nega-tive or positive – it is necessary to asses them within the context of given situation and personality of each individual exposed to stress (Janke, Erdmannová, 2003).

Negative correlation was confi rmed only between school results in Math and strat-egies of reaction control, moreover only in men group. Probably, the results in Math are not connected to preferred coping strategies to such an extent as the results in Czech lan-guage. However, we can assume that an ability to keep level head is effective especially for solving mathematic problems. It seems that in terms of particular coping strategies, just the effort to regulate emotions can signifi cantly infl uence the school results in Math.

Differences with view to type of schoolDifferences in preference of coping strategies with a view to the type of visited

school were not as evident as gender differences (see chart 3). Statistically signifi cant dif-ferences were confi rmed only in three strategies within the whole sample and in woman group. Regarding men group, an infl uence of this variable was not proved. As the chart implies, students of vocational schools more often choose strategies of undervaluation in comparison with students of grammar schools, which proves a tendency to undervaluate own reactions when comparing them with the other reactions or to judge them more posi-

86

tively. On the contrary, they use strategies of the escape and perseveration less often. It means that in comparison with grammar school students, vocational school students have slighter tendency to avoid stress situation but they do not think about it so long.

Interpretation can be given by the specifi cs of specialized and general orientation of the schools, differences in coping or infl uencing stress situation at various types of second-ary schools. On the other hand, we can consider specifi cs of personal features of particular individuals who choose general or specialized education. Personal features with view to the type of visited school or some connection between SVF results and personal characteristics or extent of conscious stress were not analyzed in this stage of the research.

Analysis of dispersion following by Tuckey method HSD also showed partial differences between particular schools. Mapping, interpretation and analysis of these differences is benefi cial especially for concrete schools participating in the research, in connection to examined students and within the context of school climate. All schools will be informed about results of the research at large. However, at this moment we are not going to deal with detailed analysis since we do not considered it as purposeful.

When looking at structure of experimental group it is evident that some signifi -cant differences were caused by gender structure in student groups at particular schools. In no case the differences between particular schools were connected with any strategy of the control (POZ 3). Thus, we can say that tendency to control and regulate situation and own reactions is not infl uenced by gender or visited school in our group.

Chart 3: Differences in preference of coping strategies from view of type of the school: grammar school and vocational schools (the whole sample)Explanation: SVF I - Undervaluation, SVF 2 - refusing of blame, SVF3 - diversion, SVF 4 - substitutional satisfac-tion, SVF 5 - control of situation, SVF 6 - control of reactions, SVF 7 - positive self-instruction, SVF 8 - need of social support, SVF 9 - avoidance, SVF 10 - tendency to escape, SVF 11 - perseveration, SVF 12 - resignation, SVF 13 - self-blaming, POZ - positive strategy, POZ 1 - strategy of undervaluation and devaluation of blame, POZ 2 - strategy of diversion, POZ 3 - strategy of control, NEG - negative strategy, G - grammar schools

Mann-Whitneyův U test (studenti)Dle proměn. typ_škOznačené testy jsou významné na hladině p <,05000

ProměnnáSčt poř.

GSčt poř.

jinéU Z Úroveň p Z

upravenéÚroveň p N platn.

GN platn.

jinéSVF 1SVF 2SVF 3SVF 4SVF 5SVF 6SVF 7SVF 8SVF 9SVF 10SVF 11SVF 12SVF 13POZPOZ1POZ2POZ3NEG

86365,50 105524,5 40914,50 -3,12276 0,001792 -3,13127 0,001741 301 31890947,00 100943,0 45496,00 -1,06258 0,287973 -1,06770 0,285658 301 31895164,00 96726,0 46005,00 0,83370 0,404453 0,83696 0,402615 301 31891138,50 100751,5 45687,50 -0,97647 0,328834 -0,97907 0,327546 301 31895232,50 96657,5 45936,50 0,86450 0,387315 0,86700 0,385942 301 31893534,00 98356,0 47635,00 0,10073 0,919767 0,10110 0,919474 301 31892473,50 99416,5 47022,50 -0,37615 0,706804 -0,37729 0,705962 301 31896894,00 94996,0 44275,00 1,61163 0,107043 1,61423 0,106477 301 31895074,50 96815,5 46094,50 0,79345 0,427516 0,79528 0,426454 301 31898253,00 93637,0 42916,00 2,22274 0,026234 2,22878 0,025830 301 31899317,50 92572,5 41851,50 2,70142 0,006905 2,70492 0,006832 301 31892103,00 99787,0 46652,00 -0,54276 0,587298 -0,54414 0,586343 301 31893681,50 98208,5 47487,50 0,16705 0,867328 0,16738 0,867070 301 31891406,00 100484,0 45955,00 -0,85618 0,391899 -0,85637 0,391793 301 31887007,00 104883,0 41556,00 -2,83430 0,004593 -2,83784 0,004542 301 31892857,00 99033,0 47406,00 -0,20370 0,838586 -0,20392 0,838418 301 31893900,50 97989,5 47268,50 0,26553 0,790599 0,26568 0,790485 301 31896525,00 95365,0 44644,00 1,44570 0,148262 1,44606 0,148161 301 318

Mann-Whitney U test (studentsVariable: type of schoolMarked tests are signifi cant on the level of signifi cance p<0,05000

Variable Sum of Rank G

Sum of Rank other Level p Z adjstd. Level p N Valid

GN Valid

otherZU

87

Conclusions

Within the scope of our research we have managed to verify an utility of SVF 78 questionnaire concentrating on stress coping strategies for population of older adoles-cents. Structure of coping strategies, which we have discovered, corresponds with the results of standardized sample to great extent.

On the basis of the fi rst analysis of results, we have confi rmed signifi cant differ-ences in coping strategies with view to gender and some differences with view to the type of secondary school. Besides positive strategies of the control, which both gender groups prefer with no difference, we have confi rmed statistically signifi cant differences in all other strategies. Men more often use strategies of the undervaluation and devalua-tions of the blame whereas women more often choose strategies of the diversion, social support, avoidance but also all negative strategies. Vocational schools students choose strategies of the undervaluation more often than grammar school students but on the other hand they choose less frequently strategies of the avoidance and perseveration.

We have managed to fi nd out some correlations between applied coping strate-gies and variables of age and school results in Czech language and Math. Growing age seems to lead to more frequent use of constructive strategies of the control of situation and less frequent coping by the avoidance. We have also confi rmed negative correla-tion between school results and strategy of the control, need of social support and perseveration. These correlations were not confi rmed for women group separately.

For broader interpretation of the results we will analyze connections between conscious school stress and some personal characteristics which represent signifi cant factors of ways of coping.

STRATEGIE ZVLÁDÁNÍ STRESU U STŘEDOŠKOLSKÉ MLÁDEŽE

Abstrakt: Příspěvek přináší informace o zjištěné struktuře strategií zvládání stre-su adolescenty ve vztahu ke školnímu prostředí na základě aplikace dotazníku SVF 78. Jedná se o dílčí výsledky širšího výzkumného šetření, které je zaměřeno na mapování vnímání školní zátěže ve vztahu k osobnostním charakteristikám a bylo realizováno v roce 2008 na vzorku středoškolské mládeže. Původně je dotazník SVF 78 určen jako diagnostický nástroj pro dospělou populaci a vztahuje se obecně k situacím, v nichž je jedinec něčím nebo někým poškozen, vnitřně rozrušen nebo vyveden z míry. V rám-ci našeho výzkumu ověřujeme možnost aplikace dotazníku u středoškolské mládeže a strategie jsou vztahovány k stresovým situacím ve školním prostředí. Zjištěné údaje o uplatňovaných strategiích zvládání stresu jsou pak analyzovány ve vztahu k dalším proměnným. V příspěvku zmiňujeme vztah k věku, pohlaví a typu navštěvované střední školy.

Klíčová slova: strategie zvládání stresu, diagnostika, dotazník SVF-78, středo-školská populace (mládež), školní stresové situace

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HOW DO FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD ADOLESCENTS SPEND THEIR FREE TIME – RESPONDENTS OF THE STUDY ELSPAC1

Jana ŘEHULKOVÁ

Abstract: In the paper we deal with problems about spending free time, espe-cially by leisure activities, their characteristic, structure and their development with regard to the age of the respondent. Data were obtained within international project ELSPAC. Analysing leisure activities we assume that during personality development of an individual structural changes in the domain of interests occur, but also changes in organization of free time. At the age of 15 there are activities mostly organised by children individually and they depend slightly on parents and school.

Keywords: Adolescence, leisure activities, leisure time, school

Leisure time is a matter of interest in many psychological, pedagogical and social professions. Hofbauer (2004) defi nes leisure time as time when the man is not active under a certain strain of obligations arising from his social roles. Leisure time can be also perceived as time when we are able to choose our activities freely, we do it volun-tarily and with pleasure, they bring us feeling of satisfaction and relaxation (Pávková et al., 2002).

Leisure time of children and youth attires, especially recently, exceptional atten-tion, because, as Hajek et al. (2008) presents, it means longitudinal life and education perspective, the manner as well as the chance of their development and self-realization.

The way of using adolescents´ leisure time is infl uenced by social environment. Especially strong is infl uence of family, crowd, and contemporaries. It is just in the time of adolescence when changes generally occur in leisure time management, which pro-ceeds from the family to contemporaries and it should end by using self-education ele-ments. Parents can serve their children as examples either positive, or negative. Families that do not fulfi l correctly their educational function do not care about their childrens´ leisure time. Schools, leisure time centres, educational organizations and other subjects have the opportunity to change this defi ciency. When it fails, the child may get under infl uence of undesirable group of contemporaries (aggression, vandalism, alcohol or 1 This study was elaborated within research project of FSS MU: MSM0021622406 „Psychological and social characteristics of children, youth and family, personality development in the time of changes of modern soci-ety“ (prof. PhDr. Petr Macek, CSc., main solver).

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other drugs). The time of adolescence extends importance of groups of contemporaries that often miss suffi cient opportunities for leisure time establishment available and at-tractive for children from stimulating, as well as socially weaker backgrounds and for individuals with average and below-average skills.

Leisure time pursues educational, health care and social function. It contributes to formation of interpersonal relations, reinforcing them at the same time; it develops abilities, strengthens moral qualities, satisfi es human needs, forms value interests. Hájek et al. (2008) understands also the system of activities and leisure time institutions as a component of social structure.

Project was realized within the study ELSPAC (European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood), which is European longitudinal study of pregnancy and childhood that is in progress in several European countries and is observing selected groups of children and their families from the mother’s pregnancy, the childbirth and next six weeks and suckling period till at least 18-year-old child with the aim of identify-ing factors that participate in the healthy children’s development, or trying to defi ne the threatening infl uences for the healthy children’s development.

The research group was made with respondents of this study, who were, at the age of fi fteen, asked about their leisure time. To be concrete, there were 328 persons, 174 (53%) boys and 154 (47%) girls.

Data were collected by semi-structured interview. The respondent’s task was to an-swer, whether he or she attends any leisure time activities and if so, to enumerate them.

Graph 1 Attendance of activities by gender

Elaborating the data we pursued categorization of adolescents´ will statement. We divided respondents´ leisure activities according to the specializations into follow-ing categories:

Attendance of activities by gender [in %]

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• music (singing, choir, playing some music instrument, music theory)• dramatic (dramatic club, theatre, dramatic art, fi lm camp)• language (above standard or extra learning of foreign language)• religion (religion, servers´ meetings)• arts and crafts (pottery, arts, crafts, model making)• sports activity (football, swimming, judo, tennis etc.)• dance and exercise activities (dancing groups, gymnastics, aerobics, hip hop

etc.)• technical and logical activities (working on PC, programming, various board

games, chess etc.)• tourist and science hobbies (youth tourist club, scouting, equitation etc.)• others (girls club, fi re brigades, cactuses growing etc.)

Thus, there are 10 categories. Then, in each respondent, we wrote down presence (1) or absence (2) of the given category within individual categories. Attendance of in-dividual activities is presented in graphs as follows, separately for girls and boys.

Graph 2 Attendance of individual activities – girls

Attendance of individual activities - girls

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Graph 3 Attendance of individual activities – boys

Interpretation of these data would demand a lot of other information, for example about accessibility and present offer of individual activities, about social and educational environment or general case history data.

Analysing leisure time activities we come to conclusion that fulfi l our expec-tations in many items. Nevertheless, after data evaluation, we present here several interesting fi ndings we have done. It is obvious that during personality development of an individual there are not only structural changes in the domain of interests, but also changes in leisure time organization. If our subjects of interest are adolescents aged 15, it is understandable that the way they spend their leisure time will be deter-mined by the same, or considerably similar factors, which infl uence other domains of their life. Effort to become independent from the family and parents´ infl uence is evident, on the other hand, contemporaries´ opinions and evaluation are more signifi cant.

On the basis of the research we can generally claim that at the age of 15 there are predominating those activities that are organized individually by adolescents and depend little on parents and school. Although these claims are intuitively pre-dictable, fi ndings confi rmed by the research prove also the importance of interest continuity and persistence of preferences in the way of spending leisure time. If the child at an early age is oriented to interests developing creative activity, we can with higher probability suppose that his or her interests will be developed in the later age. Preference for sport activities in childhood may also lead to sports activities in the future life. Results of our research reveal that this fact begins to be at the age of 15 signifi cantly revised by own child’s preferences. Previous leisure time activities continue in the case that they remain interesting and enjoying for adolescent. Stimu-lation emerged at an early age may or may not be developed later on.

Attendance of individual activities - boys

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JAK TRÁVÍ VOLNÝ ČAS PATNÁCTILETÍ ADOLESCENTI - RESPONDENTI STUDIE ELSPAC

Abstrakt: V našem příspěvku se zabýváme problematikou využívání volného času, zejména volnočasovými aktivitami, jejich charakteristikou, strukturou a jejich vývojem vzhledem k věku respondenta. Data byla získána v rámci mezinárodního pro-jektu ELSPAC. Při analýze volnočasových aktivit docházíme k závěrům, že v průběhu osobnostního vývoje jedince dochází nejen ke strukturálním změnám v oblasti zájmů, ale také ke změnám v organizaci volného času. V 15ti letech převládají činnosti, které si adolescenti organizují individuálně a jsou již málo závislé na rodičích a škole.

Klíčová slova: adolescence, volnočasové aktivity, volný čas, škola

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HEALTHY INTERPERSONALRELATIONSHIPS DEVELOPMENT AT SECONDARY SCHOOLS FROM

ADOLESCENT STUDENTS‘ PERSPECTIVE

Ilona GILLERNOVÁ, Lenka KREJČOVÁ

Abstract: The text emphasizes the necessity to develop healthy interpersonal relationships among adolescents at secondary schools. Peer relationships are viewed from various perspectives – considering social and psychological characteristics of adolescence and prevention of social pathology phenomena. The text also introduces a research project which included a social skills training as a form of relationships support in fi rst-year secondary school classes. Results were qualitatively analyzed and showed noteworthy information which proved the fact that social skills development and relationships support should be an adequate part of the educational process at second-ary schools.

Keywords: adolescents, peer group, interpersonal relationships, social skills training, secondary school

IntroductionSchool represents extremely dynamic environment where we can observe various

interactions among different participants of the educational process on different levels and within different social groups. Students start secondary schools at the age of fi fteen – at the turn of early and late adolescence. The primary goal of their secondary educati-on is their professional career education or preparation for tertiary education. Secondary school teachers frequently pay strict attention to these educational tasks. However, both research and practical experience show that secondary school students have a strong need to build solid and consistent interpersonal relationships, which help them to cope with demanding situations and also with every day study tasks.

The following text will briefl y introduce a research project, which focused on development of healthy relationships at secondary schools. It means relationships which create acceptable study environment, support students’ motivation toward school atten-dance and learning new skills and knowledge. The target group of the research included adolescents who attended secondary schools. Interpersonal relationships at schools will

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be viewed from their perspective and thus reduced to peer relationships in secondary school classes and students – teachers relationships. This approach follows social-psy-chological paradigm of school functioning.

Students and their teachersPerception, communication, and interaction features of social relationships at

schools have their specifi c outcomes. Social relationships at schools represent funda-ments of educational processes. Successfully developed social relationships support the realization of all educational goals. Teachers undoubtedly play a key role in this process. They are signifi cant adults who support students’ development within school environ-ment. The relationships between students and teachers are mainly asymmetrical and connected with school subjects. Curriculum is a content element of school life but its process and results depend on a broader interactive context. Peer relationships present its important part; they are symmetrical, but autonomous. Teachers rarely work with individuals; on the other hand they often interact with a whole group (a class) whose dy-namics infl uence teachers’ work. The contact between a teacher and a student is always mutual and does not imply mere knowledge and skills transfer to students. It includes a reciprocal infl uence and a relationship, two-way communication and joint work (Gill-ernová, 1998).

School interactions between students and teachers are always accompanied by various social phenomena, which are interconnected with communication. They are fundamental for social relationships development (even though we are mentioning them in a rather informative way) – these are conformity, facilitation, and confl icts. The conformity at school is a crucial social-psychological phenomenon because it makesa school function. Schools can be divided in accordance to their attitudes toward non-conformist teachers and students and their acceptance by school culture. Schools fre-quently seek an appropriate balance between creative individualism and the unneces-sary conformist behaviour.

Social facilitation is both the qualitative and quantitative positive appreciation of one’s achievement in the presence of other people. Social inhibition means a negative infl uence. Confl icts are natural phenomena at schools and also in the human world. An interpersonal confl ict is usually a result of a differently perceived situation and/or a dif-ferent interpretation of such a situation. The confl ict is not a negative manifestation of interpersonal relationships. It can actually be a source of required changes (it fosters the development, initiates problem solution-seeking, evaluates relationships, and releases stress). Secondary schools represent social environments where teachers and students interact on a long-term basis. The participants of such school interactions frequently confront their opinion, attitudes, needs, interests, wishes, goals, and values. The prob-lem is not how to exclude confl icts from school life but how to learn to cope with them effi ciently. This can positively infl uence the interpersonal relationships within a group but also individual development of both teachers and their students (Gillernová, 1998).

School represents a distinguished socialization environment – its infl uences in-clude teachers as well as peers. Different kinds of social learning have specifi c forms at school. Teachers’ and peers’ models have impact on imitative learning (including obser-

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vation learning and anticipation learning); they offer the opportunity for identifi cation. The learning of social conditioning is rather fundamental for teachers’ educational ap-proaches. Thus interpersonal relationships development within school environment pro-vides opportunities to extend the effi ciency of educational processes and emphasize the role of school as a socialization institution. School’s socialization effect depends on its longitudinal, systematic and purposeful infl uence on students. The socialization in the course of academic development has specifi c features which include purposeful profes-sional attitudes (e.g. teaching certain skills, knowledge and/or norms) but socialization stimuli within schools can also be rather unpremeditated. These two kinds of socializa-tion stimuli can sometimes cause discrepancies which have a (positive or negative) im-pact on individual development of students. Teachers’ participation in students’ sociali-zation is mainly professional; their approaches are institutional, formal, strictly defi ned by their roles. On the other hand, they infl uence the whole socialization process with their personality, their knowledge, skills, abilities and characteristic features. The roles of teachers and students are asymmetrical but complementary. Teachers are required to lead classroom activities, organize and direct students’ activities and be responsible for them. The role of a student is also important – it is frequently the fi rst social role they adapt. This role develops in the course of s school career and its meaning also changes. M. Vágnerová (2001) characterizes the student role as obligatory, formal, inferior, and with specifi c meaning for each student.

The relationships between teachers and students are both directly and implicitly infl uenced by the way they refl ect their behaviour, their educational and social interac-tions. We conducted a research focused on secondary school students’ perceptions of their teachers’ educational styles. The results showed students’ preference of positive relationship between teachers and students combined with a higher level of demands toward students. Students appreciated teachers’ will to help, talk about students’ prob-lems, teachers’ responsibility, fair attitudes toward individuals, their sense of humour, new ideas in classes, interesting lectures and the fact that teachers teach students lots of new knowledge. On the other hand, students criticized boring lectures, teachers’ lack of interest in students and teaching, their inability to lead the class, chaos in the class, no humour during lectures, patronizing and authoritarian attitudes. They also viewed negatively when teachers did not care whether they understood their lectures (for more information – see Gillernová, 2007).

Peer groupFamily, peer group and teachers represent crucial sources of social support during

the adolescence period (e.g. Cotterell, 2007; Vágnerová, 2005; Wall; Novell; McIntyre, 1999). While family infl uence does not decrease – yet its form changes, the infl uence of teachers and peers increases. One of the key tasks of late adolescence requires beco-ming independent and autonomous. This step is sometimes strengthened by a transfer toa secondary school which is far from home and adolescents are forced to live in student houses. A complementary task to this one requires peer group participation and forming strong relationships with peers. Participation in a peer group and intimate friendships enable adolescents to adjust to new life conditions and further developmental tasks.

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Building peer relationships means a developmental task (Zarrett – Eccless, 2006) but on the contrary peer relationships mediate the completion of other developmental tasks. J. J. Arnett (2009) views relationships among adolescents (especially friendships) asa bridge which leads from tight family relationships to future relationships with intimate partners. Peer groups offer adolescents a fi eld to practice and acquire social and emo-tional skills and behavioural patterns necessary for further interpersonal relationships (Crosnoe, 2000; Vágnerová, 2005).

M. Vágnerová (2005) describes peer relationships in adolescence from the per-spective of fi ve fundamental psychological needs which were introduced by J. Lang-meier and Z. Matějček (Matějček, 1992): As far as the need of stimuli and meaningful learning is concerned, peers represent a source of social learning and they serve as a reference group which infl uences adolescents’ behaviour and emotions. The peer group also saturates the need of safety and confi dence and it offers the opportunity to develop friendships while adolescents become independent on their family and parents. Even though we consider the peer group and its infl uences on a more general level, one of the indispensable outcomes of a peer group membership is friendship. Friendships in ado-lescence become more intimate and supporting, which differentiates them from child-hood friendships. While children tend to play and have other common activities with their friends, adolescents need friends to share opinions, thoughts, hopes, secrets etc. (Arnett, 2009).

The need of identity is also fulfi lled via peers, who also infl uence adolescents’ self-perception and self-image (O’Koon, 1997). M Vágnerová (2005) states a need to have one’s own rules and structure instead of the need of open future. Nevertheless, this is tightly connected with future life perspectives.

A class is one of the most naturally created peer groups where we can conti-nuously build interpersonal relationships and also support further development of ado-lescents via these relationships. Thus secondary schools are often criticized for their strong emphasis on individualism and competition and minimal attention paid to natural adolescents’ developmental trends in the course of their education (e.g. Cotterell, 2007; Eccles et al., 1993; Kozulin, 1998).

J. S. Eccles and her colleagues (1993) present a noteworthy approach to this qu-estion, which is based on the environment – stage fi t theory, i.e. one’s behaviour, moti-vation and mental health are infl uenced by the interaction between individual features and social environment which surrounds the person. The authors considered the match between adolescence and school environment. They emphasized the decrease of moti-vation, interest, achievement, and behavioural changes once there is a large gap between typical adolescents’ needs and school’s demands.

Their research showed a rather great discrepancy between adolescent develop-ment and educational process after the transfer to secondary schools. They described several unexpected phenomena when compared to previous educational levels. Schools’ demands lead to a lower level of necessary cognitive capacity at time when cognitive functions are naturally developed and strengthened. Schools interrupt social networks at time when adolescents put greater emphasis on them. Students can hardly establish a stronger relationship with an adult authority outside the family at a life period when they require it as a developmental task (Eccles et al., 1993). Even though the research

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was conducted in a different culture, it seems rather inspiring for the Czech educational system as well.

The peer group infl uences were also observed from the perspective of individual development and educational process. K. Wentzel, C. Barry-McNamara and K. Cladwell (2004) followed adolescents who did not succeed in becoming members of a peer group after their transition to secondary school. This situation had an impact on emotional development of the adolescents. They reported more stress and tension at school which lasted all the years they attended their secondary school (especially when they did not fi nd any social group to belong to at any point of their study). This also affected their school achievements and possible dropout.

Motivation toward study, which traditionally decreases after the transition to secondary school, is also linked to a peer group (Cotterell, 2007; Jacobs et al., 2002; Pintrich, 2000; Ryan, 2001). Even though peers are often accused of negative infl uen-ce, the research shows that the interest in learning can be infl uenced in both directions (Arnett, 2009; Ryan, 2001). Adolescents usually tend to fi nd friends whose GPA is simi-lar to theirs. If adolescents mingle with peer with higher achievements, their results in the fi rst year of secondary school decreases less. If they have friends with poor results, their own achievements often drop under the average (Ryan, 2001). The individuals who differ from their peers in both described groups tend to adjust their GPAs to the majority of the group.

Another important impact of peer relationships development at schools is con-nected with social pathology prevention, especially bullying (Doll et al., 2004; Kyria-cou, 2005; Orpinas – Horne, 2006; Pellegrini et al., 1999). As far as bullying is concer-ned, schools cannot rely on natural development in adolescence. It is highly advisable to support the development of healthy relationships, which do not accept hostile and threatening behaviour toward any member of a group.

The information above encourages secondary schools in at least two different ways. From developmental perspective – it shows the necessity to interconnect adoles-cents’ needs and teaching skills and demands at secondary schools. It also emphasizes the need to support healthy relationships within adolescent peer groups as one of edu-cational approaches. Thus schools ought to support social skills but they should also prevent the development of unhealthy relationships which can endanger their students and sometimes even cause school exclusion or dropout.

Research projectWe conducted a social skills training with several fi rst-year classes at different

secondary school as a part of a larger research project entitled “The Model of Personal and Social Competences Development of Secondary School Students”. The total study consisted of several parts. The aim of this stage was to describe acceptable and effi cient approaches which support peer relationships development within standard educational settings. The researchers attempted to examine training methods which have positive impact on students’ lives in their classes and on further relationships development either. The proved methods should currently be mediated to l teachers who could follow the work with students after the project fi nishes.

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The project also attempted to draw closer attention of professionals to secondary school environment and state possible ways how to develop adolescents’ social skills at schools. Secondary schools are currently expected to involve more complex educational approaches in their curriculum. However, teachers frequently doubt how to work with their students.

Objectives and procedureWe hypothesized that the continual work with students would develop and

strengthen their interpersonal relationships in classes. This would also support their communication and cooperation and prevent undesirable behaviour such as bullying, intolerance, xenophobia.

The work with students lasted one school year and focused only on students of fi rst years, which means newly formed social groups. Under such conditions we were able to follow the groups from their fi rst encounter when classmates did not know each other and they started establishing a new social network within their classes.

The involved classes participated in social skills training, which started at the beginning of a school year in a form of the so called adaptation course and was fol-lowed by two-hour training sessions in the course of the whole school year. The interval between the sessions was approx. six weeks. Training activities were chosen in accor-dance to group development. They fi rst focused on self-presentation and learning about new classmates and then continued with more specifi c activities on cooperation, dis-cussion, and refl ection of group life and development. The fi rst activities also required less social cognitive abilities but the further ones demanded more self-refl ection, group-refl ection, and discussion about more specifi c topics.

The total project was conducted by two instructors who worked with all the classes and they were also in a close contact with their teachers and school counsellors. It was extremely desirable to keep the contact with schools at the time between the ses-sions and follow the development of each class.

The study brought various quantitative and qualitative data. The following text will introduce the qualitative results gained via observation and fi eld notes. The data were further analyzed by professional software Atlas.ti, version 5.5.

After the training the participants were also given evaluation questionnaires and they reviewed the project. The questionnaires consisted of three questions indicated by symbols of a plus, a minus and a question mark. Students were thus asked what they appreciated, what they criticized and whether they had any unanswered questions.

ParticipantsThe social skills training was conducted in six fi rst-year classes at three different

schools (i.e. the age of participants was 15–16 years). The total number of participants was 148 students. One class was at a comprehensive secondary school, three classes were at a special technical and administrative secondary school, and two classes were at a special industrial secondary school. There was a majority of girls in two classes in

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the sample. Two classes were rather equally gender-mixed and in two classes there were mostly boys. The total number of girls in the sample was 91.

ResultsThe qualitative analysis detected several common features of interpersonal rela-

tionships development in classes in the course of the school year. On the contrary, it showed certain specifi c features of certain groups. The social skills which contribute to interpersonal relationships development were supported and improved in all the classes. Students started showing interest in their classmates and also in the life of their classes. They learned to refl ect their behaviour, thoughts and emotions. They were able to think about the whole group and its characteristics. Even though the classes faced several confl ict situations during the school year, they managed to cope with them and seek an effi cient solution.

All the classes had students who differed from their classmates in the sense of their behaviour, communication, interests, features, appearance. Most of these students were identifi ed at risk of becoming victims of bullying. Despite this fact none of the participating classes reported bullying. On the contrary, the “different” students were continuously accepted by their classmates. Most of them fi nally found friends and beca-me members of a peer group.

The training offered the opportunity to students who were not verbally skilled. They were enabled to comment different situations in their classes which affected them. Once a class showed a tendency to exclude a student from their whole social group, the training created such atmosphere that these conditions were discussed in the class. There was only one class with a student with highly specifi c status. It was a boy of a different nationality and he protested against the school and the whole educational system. His relationships with his classmates were also rather complicated. It is noteworthy that the class learned to accept this boy. The students had several occasions to discuss his situation and status and many of them learned to understand him or even defended him against the others during discussions. We assume that continuous structuring of suppor-tive and protective environment in the class enabled students to open such discussions. Even though the student did not change, his classmates found the way how to accept and tolerate him.

Another important topic which appeared on several occasions during the training sessions was a very strong need to talk about the life in the classes and seek acceptable ways how to coexist. The adolescents emphasized the amount of time spent with their classmates every day. They even stated they felt infl uenced by their school and class at times when they are not at school – e.g. while writing homework, learning to school or during their leisure time. The participants manifested their need to build healthy relati-onships in their classes, which they considered a crucial condition of their education at secondary school.

The peer relationships in all the classes were also infl uenced by their so called class teachers who students perceived as an important part of their social network. They viewed their teachers as an important factor of the group cohesion development and also as a source of help in confl ict situations.

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On the other hand, one class had a very specifi c status because their class teacher kept minimal contact with the students, she did not participate in the class life and she often criticized her students. The class faced several demanding situations during the school year – a group of male students sympathized with an extremist organizations, there were severe confl icts between two boys and the rest of the class, many petty con-fl icts and problems appeared every day. The mentioned topics were always discussed at the training sessions. The students got the opportunity to seek solutions and also view the problems from different perspectives. We can conclude that this class underwent the most outstanding development in the sense of peer relationships and their readiness to work and the ability to follow rules (during the training and in normal lectures either). The presence of adult leaders who structured the situation and prevented social pathology development at critical points apparently played a key role in the class development.

The evaluation questionnaires showed how precisely the adolescents were able to state their needs and benefi ts from the social skills training. Even though the ques-tionnaire was anonymous, there were few negative comments which often criticizeda low frequency of the sessions or confl icts during discussions (despite the fact that the instructors attempted to fi nish all discussions smoothly). The table no.1 shows some typical students’ comments. It is noteworthy the adolescents were not said the goal of the project so precisely, these were only their remarks.

♣ The training helped us to build closer relationships and not to be afraid to say one’s

opinions.

♣ We fi nally expressed the things which could destroy our class.

♣ I appreciated games we played because their aim was not to win.

♣ We talked about our problems.

♣ Everything got better, good cooperation.

♣ The atmosphere got better. The relationships got deeper.

♣ I liked the interest you showed us.

♣ One can say his/her opinions; it is possible to solve problems here which we wouldn’t

solve alone.

Table 1 – students’ quotations from questionnaires evaluating the whole social skills training at its end.

Considering the social skills training as a particular approach toward the deve-lopment of healthy relationships in a class, we could observe three types of reactions to the training activities. Students’ attitudes were undoubtedly linked with their cognitive characteristics and their interests. However, the training and its programme had to be adjusted to the observed differences. The largest group was represented by students whose GPA was on average or slightly below but their interest in relationships building and group cohesion support was eminent. Their motivation toward the training activities was high; they were able to regulate various activities and their benefi ts from the trai-ning were apparently high.

The second type of reaction was presented by a class whose GPA was rather low under average and their cognitive abilities seemed quite limited. Students of this

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class tended to childish behaviour. The training activities had to be adjusted to their potentialities. Work with individual students had to be more differentiated because they were more diverse as far as their abilities and skills were concerned. Despite the limits and diversity adolescents showed certain development. On the contrary, it seems rather crucial that students learned to cooperate and discuss various problems and the training prevented social pathology development although the class was so diverse.

The last type of reaction appeared among comprehensive secondary school stu-dents who were most high-performance oriented and showed their academic ambitions. While working with these students we had to accept their motivation towards study and their great need to achieve high results at school. These tendencies slightly limited their interest in relationships development within the class. It is also noteworthy that these students did not show such approach at the beginning of the school year. It apparently appeared under the school atmosphere pressure.

Limits and conclusionsThe experience gained in the course of social skills training in newly formed

secondary school classes proved the necessity to support healthy relationships deve-lopment. The training enabled the students to communicate with all their classmates and offered them the opportunity to experience interactions with their classmates in different situations. The relationships in classes were supported from their beginning. The students also learned to accept their classmates who seemed rather different from them. Students who faced troubles to engage in peer relationships or who showed diffe-rent features had a continuous opportunity to establish their status in the class and they fi nally found friends.

Purposeful work with adolescents prevented social pathology developments. However, it would be diffi cult to estimate the development of the classes without the training implementation. It seems highly benefi cial when adolescents get the opportu-nity to develop their peer relationships within their classes because they spend a large amount of time with their classmates every day. If the work was more intensifi ed via teachers who would implement parts of the training into standard teaching, the develop-ment of adolescents would probably be much more accelerated. If this kind of work was included into regular educational process, the development of adolescents’ social skills and also cognitive abilities would be apparently much more extensive. The training as a form of social pathology prevention seems effi cient in the total course of adolescents’ secondary schools study – especially if it was continuously conducted by school coun-sellors, school psychologists or even teachers. Under such conditions classes of adoles-cents students are likely to need still less external leadership by adult authorities. They would probably learn how to modulate critical situations in the class and they would be able to express the need for help if necessary.

On the other hand, the work with classes showed the fundamental role of an adult who students can rely on and who helps them to solve problematic situations in their groups. Each class consisted of nearly thirty students and we cannot expect the adoles-cents will be able to develop healthy relationships and group cohesion without external support in such a large social group.

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Acknowledgments: The project was funded by Czech Grant National Agen-cy (Grant no 406/07/0276)

ROZVÍJENÍ „ZDRAVÝCH“ INTERPERSONÁLNÍCH VZTAHŮ VE STŘEDNÍ ŠKOLE Z POHLEDUDOSPÍVAJÍCÍCH STUDENTŮ

Abstrakt: Příspěvek poukazuje na nutnost rozvoje zdravých interpersonálních vztahů mezi dospívajícími v prostředí středních škol. Význam vrstevnických vztahů je nahlížen z několika různých hledisek s ohledem na sociálně psychologické charakte-ristiky adolescence a rovněž prevenci sociálně patologických jevů. Dále je představen projekt, při němž byly využity metody sociálně psychologického výcviku jako formy podpory a rozvoje dospívajících v prvních ročnících středoškolského studia. Získaná data byla kvalitativně zpracována a přinesla množství pozoruhodných informací, které potvrzují skutečnost, že rozvoj sociálních dovedností dospívajících a jejich vzájemných vztahů by měl být plnohodnotnou součástí edukačního procesu.

Klíčová slova: adolescenti, vrstevnická skupina, mezilidské vztahy, sociálně psychologický výcvik, střední školy

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COMPARISON OF OPINIONSOF TEACHERS, PARENTS

AND PUPILS OF SOCIAL HEALTHASPECTS IN FORM TEACHER ACTIVITIES

Stanislav STŘELEC, Jana KRÁTKÁ

Abstract: The paper sums up results of one of partial topics being he integral part of the research project of the Faculty of Education MU Brno MSM0021622421 School and Health 21. The study is based on research fi ndings published in the period 2006–2007. This paper compares opinions of the teachers, parents and pupils concern-ing form teachers activities, contributing to strengthening and development of healthy social relations in the classroom (e. g. communication of the form teacher with the pupils, with parents of the pupils, and fi nding a number of solutions to other problems which emanate from school and out-of-school activities and life of the pupils).

Keywords: form teacher, parents, pupils, comparison of opinions, social health aspects

BackgroundForm teacher is considered the person having relative high possibilities for af-

fecting healthy social development of individual pupils and the whole class. It is as-sumed in general that the form teacher is informed best not only about the overall edu-cational situation in the class, but that he/she also disposes of the knowledge and skills important for development of personality and social qualities of the pupils. In other words, the form teacher should know strengths and weaknesses of his/her pupils, should be informed effectively about their state of health, family environment, about important out-of-school activities and about their prospective study or profession orientation. Ad-equate information background is important for the form teacher in particular in direct relation with the pupils of his/her class as well as a starting point and support for inte-gration and coordination activities focused on cooperation with other teachers, pupils’ parents and other educational partners (greater details see Střelec, Krátká, 2005; Krátká, 2007).

Social health is one of signifi cant integral parts of pupil’s health and school is an important institution affecting the process of its development. The term social health

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is interpreted in the professional literature at different levels and in different contexts. When resolving our partial research assignment we have considered certain links be-tween activities of the form teacher and the tasks following from the project Healthy School – Health Supporting School (hereinafter referred to as the “Healthy School”) and from the General Educational Programme for Primary Education (Schools) (hereinafter referred to as RVPZV). The basic conceptual and content starting points of the “Healthy School” are designated metaphorically as the three piers (well-being of the environ-ment, healthy teaching, open partnership) and further specifi ed through nine principles (see below Havlínová, 1998). Four of these principles have the closest relation to the social health aspects in the pupil’s education within the “Healthy School” project. The principle of peace of the social environment is based on humanistic attitudes between individuals, on creation of positive school climate, on support of open communication and helpfulness, respect, trust, tolerance, patience and willingness to help. Comfort of the organizational environment assumes that organization of school activities conforms with the requirements for the day regime, switching between work and rest, healthy nutrition and active movement of pupils and the teacher. The principle of participation and cooperation assumes application of the methods and forms of teaching which offer utilization of democratic principles, effective cooperation and participation of children, development of contacts with other social and professional partners – parents, repre-sentatives of state administrative authorities and representatives of other participating institutions. The principle named School – Model of Democratic Community assumes change of hierarchically arranged relations into partners relations enabling to experi-ence the democratic life at fi rst inside and later on also outside the school.

We also pay attention to certain principles of the “Healthy School” project, be-cause the material part of the assignments connected with realization of the principles above relates directly to the work of the form teachers and not only those teachers long-time interested in this project. Comparison of the starting points of the “Healthy School” with the RVPZV concept leads to the conclusion that both documents are focused on the same objectives, but each of them is characterized by a specifi c educational strat-egy. In the “Healthy School” project health is declared in its physical, psychical and so-cial dimension as the core and dominant objective. This fact is refl ected in educational and pedagogic aspects of the whole project and the pedagogic/formative (personality and social development accentuating) aspects are given the priority here. If we com-pare the “Healthy School” and RVPZV, RVPZV is a more complex and comprehensive programme (from the point of balance of the educational and pedagogic dimensions). RVPZV is the nation-wide realized educational programme with legislative and institu-tionally provided support. The “Healthy School” project, accepted in the time period of its creation rather as one of alternative educational possibilities, inspired authors of RVPZV and of other general educational programmes in many aspects. The issue of the healthy pupil’s development fades into RVPZV in its curriculum foundations, key competences, fi elds of education, cross-sectional topics and other accompanying educational means of this conceptual starting point for reform of the Czech primary education system. Both documents (“Healthy School” and RVPZV) refl ect the global strategy of the World Health Organization that has declared the long-time programme of improvement of the state of health of the population named “Health 21” (see below Holčík, 2004).

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Actions of the form teacher include in connection with development of the social health of the pupils a certain fi eld of constant activities incorporating:

• Continuous diagnosing, analysing and interpreting personality possibilities of the child, diagnosing in case of educational and pedagogic problems.

• Learning living conditions of the child, its family environment, social structure of the class.

• Trying to resolve different educational situations, incl. the situations incorporat-ing the issue of socially pathological phenomena.

• Initiating positive relations between the classmates irrespective of dissimilarities (cultural, religious, social and health). Share of the form teacher in creation of the class climate.

• Coordinating main activities of educational factors – other teachers, interest groups, family. The form teacher represents the teaching staff before the children and its class before the public.

• Cooperating with the family and creating cooperative attitudes to the pupils’ par-ents. The form teacher is familiarized with out-of-school activities of the pupils and initiates their development. The implied starting points have been taken into account when considering

strategy of our survey research with the set objective to establish, how is the form teachers status refl ected in relation to their possibilities to affect social health of their pupils. We have tried to reach relevant fi nding by comparing and assessing the answers acquired from three groups of respondents (form teachers, pupils and par-ents) in three separate, but thematically linked research studies; we were interested in the following:

1. The degree of importance attached by the form teachers to their basic peda-gogic activities from the point of their impact on the pupil’s social health.

2. What are the pupils’ opinions of those form teacher’s qualities (capabilities, skills ...) that can affect creation of healthy social relations between the pu-pils.

3. What topics (issues) are considered the most important by the pupils’ par-ents, when cooperating with the form teachers of their children.

With respect to restricted scope of the paper below we present only selection from outcomes of the survey research in the form of illustrative data to the methodologi-cal procedure and its basic fi ndings, with reference to three separate studies published in the period 2006–2008 and focused in details on each of these partial problems, which the data for this comparative summary have been taken from (Střelec; Krátká, 2006, 2007).

Selected hypotheses: H1 Form teachers from individual school types assign different importance to the fi elds, through which it is possible to contribute to pupils’ health.

H2 Pupils of primary schools appreciate other features of their form teacher than the students of secondary schools (general, technical, vocational).

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H3 Parents of the primary school pupils consider the fi elds important for cooperation with the form teacher other than parents of the students of secondary schools (general, technical, vocational).

Respondents have expressed their opinion through three author (non-standard-ized) questionnaires.

Questions and answers were modifi ed formally and by their content so that they may be understandable for the respondents and so that the acquired data may be com-parable to the maximum possible degree. The scale system has been applied for each answer – 5-point numerical scale, from the value 1 (least important) up to the value 5 (most important). When drafting the questionnaires, we have tried to create such ques-tions that could reveal self-refl ective attitudes of the form teachers, pupils and parents and that could differ just in dependence on sociographic or demographic structure of the respondents. The acquired data could then be interpreted in correlation to the school type (primary schools – lower and higher grades; secondary schools – general, techni-cal, vocational), where the role of the form teacher is executed. It means that we have awaited differing references or attitudes to the form teacher’s activities in the primary and in the secondary schools.

Research set, selected data processing and presentationThe fi rst research set was created by 240 (100 %) respondents, teachers of pri-

mary and secondary schools, of which 65 (27 %) form teachers exercise this role on the lower grades of the primary school and 65 (27 %) form teachers are active on the higher grades of the primary schools. Respondents from the secondary education institutions were represented by 74 (46 %) the form teachers from the general, technical and voca-tional schools. 56 (23 %) man form teachers and 184 (77 %) woman form teachers took part in the survey research.

The second research set was created by in total 248 (100 %) respondents. 169 schoolgirls/students (69 %) and 79 schoolboys/students (31 %) took part in the survey research. 141 (57 %) respondents attended the primary school and 107 (43 %) respondents attended the secondary general, technical or vocational school.

304 parents participated in the third survey research, of which 62 (20 %) parents of the pupils attending lower primary school grades, 115 (38 %) parents of the pupils attending higher primary school grades and 127 (42 %) parents of the secondary school students (general, technical, vocational). From the point of the sex the sample incorpo-rates 48 (16 %) men and 258 (84 %) women.

The survey research was realized in identical schools or through them. Our selection can be designated as intentional (and available), because the contact was acquired through the schoolmasters or their deputies favourably inclined to coop-eration. In our case we have addressed 12 schools and asked them to grant the nec-essary data (primary school Tyršova, Slavkov u Brna; primary school Komenského, Slavkov u Brna; primary school Rousínov; primary school Slovanské náměstí, Brno; primary school Křídlovická, Brno; primary school Náměstí Republiky, Brno; pri-mary school Jasanová, Brno; secondary technical and secondary vocational school

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Charbulova, Brno; integrated secondary school Tyršova, Slavkov u Brna; secondary technical and secondary vocational school Jílová, Brno; general secondary school Slovanské náměstí, Brno; secondary vocational school Rousínov; general second-ary school Bučovice). The data were gathered at the turn of January and February 2006.

A relatively low number of respondents, in particular their non-representative selection, belong among possible methodological drawbacks as well as character of the applied scales which are ordinary, despite the average has been applied for their comparison. These variables will therefore be considered quasi-cardinal for purpos-es of analysing, because it simplifi es presentation of results materially and does not lead to explicit misrepresentation. In our case of selection of the respondents on the principle of their availability, comparison of spread between the groups and variabil-ity inside the groups by the categories of independent variables and not determina-tion of reliability after generalization to the target population is the very reason for verifi cation of statistical importance. The data were then loaded into the database, encoded and assessed by the SPSS programme. The graphs were created separately in the Excel programme, out of the main database. Check of transcript, encoding and data processing was running through computation of basic descriptive statistics (minimums, maximums, missing data, creation of categories). The basic descriptive statistics were done (e.g. tables of large numbers, computation of the average, median, mode, spread, deviations distribution normality). Certain statistically signifi cant dif-ferences were tested by the spread analysis comparing more averages (non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test). T-test has been applied for comparison of certain data.

For purpose of processing the material hypotheses had to be operational-ised into the form of statistic hypotheses. But even the statistic hypothesis was not verifi ed (checked) directly, namely against the zero hypothesis, i.e. the assumption which claims through the statistic terms that there is no relation between the exam-ined variables. Further on, based on the relevant test of importance, we have decided that a certain research result is statistically important, i.e. that it is very improbable that it would be caused by chance only. The possibility to generalize the knowledge to up to the level of the whole basic set is the purpose of frequent verifi cation of statistic importance of the result. In our case of selection of the respondents on the principle of their availability, determination of spread between the groups and variability inside the groups was the very reason for verifi cation of statistical im-portance.

Results and DiscussionSurvey research No. 1

By what and how the form teachers can contribute to physical, mental and social health of their pupils/students?

a) by individual solution of study problems of the pupils,b) by expressing interest in other problems of the pupils, by active participating

in their resolving,

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c) by suitable communication,d) by recommendations and by creating opportunities for out-of-school pupils’

activities,e) by expressing interest in social background of the pupil, by communicating

with the parents,f) by the example of own teacher’s lifestyle,g) by creating a good social climate in the class,h) by adhering to the safety rules, by familiarizing with the danger of injuries.

The following graph of average values on the scale compares the fi elds through which the form teachers can contribute to the pupils’ health, as claimed by the respondents:

From results of the survey research it follows that the respondents (form teach-ers) appreciate – from the point of exercise of their role and its contribution to support of pupils’ health – most (on the fi rst place) creation of a good social climate in the class (average value 4.5 on the 5-point scale). The good social climate is followed by suitable communication with the pupils (4.37), adherence to the safety rules, familiarization with the danger of injuries (4.1), individual solution of study problems of the pupils (3.97), interest in social background of the pupil and communication with the parents (3.88), example of own teacher’s lifestyle (3.86), interest in other problems of the pupils, active participation in their resolving (3.81), recommendations and creation of opportunities for out-of-school activities of the pupils (3.36).

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Relation between the school type and opinion of the respondents (form teachers) of how they can contribute to their pupils’ health

Statistically important differences follow from answers of the respondents in re-lation to the school type where they teach. From the results of non-parametric spread analysis (Kruskal-Wallis test) it follows that the good social climate in the class (with respect to healthy development of the children) is appreciated most by the form teachers of lower primary school grades, followed in descending sequence by the teachers of the higher primary school grades, secondary schools and the secondary vocational school on the last place. Age of the pupils (degree of their physical, psychical and social matu-rity) is refl ected indirectly in this correlation relation.

H1 Form teachers from individual school types attach different importance to the fi elds through which they can contribute to the pupils’ health.

The zero and alternative hypothesis, concerning the relation between form teach-ers’ opinions of the methods by which they can contribute to the pupils’ health and between the school type where they exercise their role of the form teacher, has been formulated:

HO = There is no dependence between frequency of answers of the form teach-ers to the said questions and between the school type where they execute the role of the form teacher.

HA = There is a certain dependence between frequency of answers of the form teachers to the said questions and between the school type where they execute the role of the form teacher.

Partial rejection of the zero hypothesis concerning non-existence of any differ-ences between answers to the said question and between the school type where the form teacher executes his/her role, emanates from the results of non-parametric spread analysis comparing more averages (Kruskal Wallis); these results have shown that there are statistically important differences between answers of respondents from individual

lower primary school grades

higher primary school grades

technical orvocational school

secondary school

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school types, namely recommendations and creation of opportunities for out-of-school activities of the pupils, p adherence to the safety rules, familiarization with the danger of injuries, creation of a good social climate in the class and suitable communication (see below Střelec, Krátká, 2006; Krátká, 2007).

Survey research No. 2

What do you appreciate most in your form teacher?a) suitable, friendly and factual approach (actions),b) individual solution of your study problems, c) interest in other problems, active participation in their resolving,d) selfl essness in out-of-school activities (e.g. excursions, interest groups), e) interest in your family background, communication with parents,f) way of living of the form teacher,g) effort at creating a good climate in your class.

The graph refl ects average values how the pupils appreciate qualities (capabilities, skills, ...) of the form teacher contributing to affection of social health of the pupils:

From the results of the survey research it follows that the respondents (pupils of primary schools and students of secondary schools) appreciate most the teacher’s effort at creating a good climate in the class among the qualities and skills of their form teach-ers (average value 3.59 on the 5-point scale). The effort is followed by suitable, friendly and factual approach (3.28), individual solution of pupils’ study problems (3.10), self-lessness in out-of-school activities and way of living of the form teacher (both items – 2.96), interest in other pupils’ problems (2.69) and interest in pupil’s family background, incl. communication with pupil’s parents (2.38). The shown sequence corresponds in principle to our assumptions and testifi es to certain tendencies in life of primary and secondary school pupils, manifesting themselves inter alia in relation of the pupils to the teacher’s profession, in relations between the teachers and pupils’ parents, etc.

suitable approach

way of living of the form teacher

interest in other problems

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Relation between the fi elds appreciated by the pupils in their form teacher and between the school type attended by the pupil

Statistically important differences follow from answers of the respondents in re-lation to the school type they attend. From results of the non-parametric spread analysis (Kruskal- Wallis test) it follows for instance that the primary school pupils appreciate all qualities and features offered by their form teacher much more higher than the second-ary school students.

H2 Pupils from different school types appreciate different qualities in their form teacher.

The zero and alternative hypothesis, concerning differences in appreciation of form teacher’s qualities and the school type, has been formulated :

HO = There is no dependence between frequency of answers of the pupils to the said questions and the school type they attend.

HA = There is a certain dependence between frequency of answers of the pupils to the said questions and the school type they attend.

Rejection of the zero hypothesis concerning non-existence of any differences between answers to the said question in dependence on the school type which the pupil attends, emanates from the results of a non-parametric test comparing two averages (Mann-Whitney U Test); these results have shown that there are statistically important differences between answers of respondents from individual school types concerning qualities of the form teacher leading to affection of the pupils’ health (see below Střelec – Krátká, 2006, 2007; Krátká, 2007).

Survey research No. 3

Solution of what topics with the form teacher do you long for most (what topics have the highest signifi cance – according to your opinion – for education of your children)?

a) problems with school achievementsb) problems of absence

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c) problems in behaviour d) offences against school regulations e) symptoms of using alcohol, drugs, smoking f) problems connected with specifi c learning disorders g) social situation of the family h) specifi c qualities of individual pupils i) further education and professional orientation of the pupils j) quality of professional training and practice k) inadequate preparation at home

We have constructed the graph, based on the computed averages (the central tendency degrees characterize a typical data value); from the graph it follows that the parents attach the highest degree of importance to the issue of positive achievements of their child and then to the behaviour. The fi rst places are followed by the parents’ interest in the topics connected with the risks of using drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. The lowest degree of importance is attached by the parents to the questions connected with social situation of the family, specifi c qualities of individual pupils and home prepara-tion of the pupil for school lessons.

Results of the factor analysis have revealed clusters of variables in three main fi elds:

1) fi eld of socio-pathologic phenomena: problems of absence, problems with be-haviour, offences against school regulations, symptoms of using alcohol, drugs, smoking

1 32 4

drugs...

absence

practice

professional orientation

situation of the family

home preparation

specific qualities

study problems

offences

achievement

behaviour

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2) personality-individuality fi eld: social situation of the family, specifi c quali-ties of individual pupils, further education and professional orientation of the pupils, quality of professional training and practice, inadequate preparation at home

3) fi eld of education: problems with achievements

Relation between important fi elds for cooperation with the form teacher and the school type attended by the pupil

Primary content of the sub-chapter consists in dichotomic comparison of the fi elds which seem to be important – for cooperation with the form teacher – for the parents whose child attends the primary school and for the parents whose child attends the secondary school. For the needs of this comparison we have unifi ed the respondents whose child attends the lower primary school grades with the respondents whose child attends the higher primary school grates – they are designated in common as the “pri-mary school”. In the same way we have unifi ed the respondents whose child attends the secondary general, technical or vocational school – they are named in common the “secondary school”.

To be absolutely clear, the following graph shows the differences between im-portant fi elds for cooperation with the form teacher and between the school type at-tended by the respondents’ child.

H3 Parents of primary school pupils consider other fi elds important for co-operation with the form teacher than the parents of secondary (vocational) school students.

The zero and alternative hypothesis, concerning differences in the importance attached by the parents to individual fi elds for cooperation with the form teacher in de-pendence on the school type attended by their child, has been formulated:

sence of drugs, alcohol...

sence of absence

sence of quality of practice

sence of professional orientation

sence of situation of the family

sence of home preparation

sence of specific qualities

sence of study problems

sence of offences

sence of achievement

sence of behaviour

SS

PS

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HO = There is no dependence between frequency of answers of the parents to the said question and the school type attended by their child.

HA = There is a certain dependence between frequency of answers of the parents to the said question and the school type attended by their child.

Rejection of the zero hypothesis concerning non-existence of any differences between answers to the said question and the school type which the pupil attends, emanates from the results of non-parametric statistic tests that have shown that there are only three statistically important differences between answers of the respondents and the school type attended by their child. We are speaking about the following fi elds: social situation of the family, offences against school regulations, problem of absence.

The hypothesis, according to which parents of the primary school pupils con-sider other fi elds important for cooperation with the form teacher than the parents of the secondary school students, has been adopted partially. As awaited, parents of the secondary school students consider the problems of absence at school, practical skills of the student, use of alcohol, drugs and smoking and offences against school regula-tions more important for resolving, compared with parents of the primary school pu-pils. The results, processed by the factor analysis, have revealed clusters of variables in three fi elds (fi eld of education, personality-individuality fi eld, fi eld of socio-pathologic phenomena), which the form teacher should be able to resolve with the parents of the pupils/students, because the parents have a keen interest in them.

The parents attach a high importance to the role of the form teacher (x > 4) (value 4.30 on the scale). It is of extraordinarily high importance for them to resolve in particular the issues of achievements and behaviour with the form teacher of their child. Issues of social situation of the family (2.49) are of least importance for the parents. The hypothesis, according to which parents of the primary school pupils consider other fi elds important for cooperation with the form teacher than the par-ents of the secondary (vocational) school students, has been adopted. As awaited, parents of the secondary school students consider the problems of absence, quality of professional training and practice, symptoms of using alcohol, drugs and smoking and offences against school regulations more important for resolving than the par-ents of the primary school pupils. The results, processed by the factor analysis, have revealed clusters of variables in three fi elds (fi eld of socio-pathologic phenomena, personality-individuality fi eld, fi eld of education), which the form teacher should be able to resolve with the parents of the pupils/students, because the parents have a keen interest in them.

Conclusion Assessment of the results following from three survey researches enables – de-

spite certain dissimilarities in the applied methodological tools – to come to certain generalizing conclusions:

• Form teachers have their irreplaceable role in educational and pedagogic events of the school. They affect relations between pupils in their classes to a high ex-tent and contribute to development of personality potential of individual pupils.

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• Share of the teacher in creation of good social climate in the class, which the method of teacher’s communication with the pupils is connected with directly, is of principal character among form teachers’ activities.

• Focal point of “functional” activities of the form teacher consists in particular in support of healthy interpersonal relations in the class. The activities close to intrapersonal dimensions of the pupil’s development (form teacher’ involvement in solution of pupil’s study problems and achievements, form teacher’s interest in family background of the pupil, in his out-of-school activities, etc.) have been assigned the second line by the respondents (form teachers ad their pupils)

• Status of the form teacher in the lower primary school grades is of a quite specifi c nature from the point of the school education degree. In this role natural penetra-tion and integration of educational, pedagogic and usually also cultural and so-cial activities takes place. From a certain point of view such activities and impact can be understood a basic model, where specifi c educational conditions enable optimum affection and support of healthy intra- and intersocial development of the pupils by the form teacher.

• Activities of the form teacher have not only their justifi cation within each school education degree, but also their specifi c features following from pedagogic and psychological characteristics of the pupils of a certain age and from the level of their individual psychical, physical and social maturity.

• Pupils’ parents connect high expectations with the form teacher’s activities not only in case of school achievements of their child, but also in connection with support of its healthy development. The topics of truancy, offences against school regulations, risks of consuming alcohol, nicotine and other drugs belong to those that are considered important fi elds of cooperation with the form teachers by the respondents (parents). Results of the survey research also indicate the prevailing methods of the frontal

educational affection of the class as a complex whole and less frequent individual edu-cational contacts with individual pupils. This tendency is based according to our opinion on traditions of the Czech education system and is also affected by the current condi-tions for work of the form teachers in the primary and secondary schools.

We assume that status (role) of the form teacher will not be losing importance within the scope of transformations of the Czech education system, on the contrary, sig-nifi cance of this pedagogic factor will grow step by step with realization of qualitative changes in school activities. We think, apart from other things, that status of the form teacher will be strengthened necessarily not only in relation with the pupils themselves, but also in relation with their parents, education advisers, school psychologists and other education oriented specialists.

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KOMPARACE NÁZORŮ UČITELŮ, RODIČŮA ŽÁKŮ NA SOCIÁLNĚ ZDRAVOTNÍ ASPEKTYV ČINNOSTECH TŘÍDNÍHO UČITELE

Abstrakt: Příspěvek shrnuje průběžné výsledky jednoho z dílčích témat, které je součástí výzkumného záměru PdF MU Brno MSM002162421 Škola a zdraví pro 21. století. Studie navazuje na výzkumná zjištění publikovaná v období 2006–2007. V příspěvku jsou srovnávány názory učitelů, rodičů a žáků na činnosti třídních učitelů, které přispívají k upevnění a rozvoji zdravých sociálních vztahů ve školní třídě (napří-klad komunikaci třídního učitele se žáky, jednání třídního učitele s rodiči žáků, řešení studijních a některých dalších otázek školního a mimoškolního života žáků).

Klíčová slova: třídní učitel, rodiče, žáci, komparace názorů, sociálně zdravotní aspekty

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CORRELATION BETWEEN NEUROTIC STATE OF TEACHER TRAINERS PROFESSION AND

THEIR LIVING SATISFACTION

Jana MIŇHOVÁ, Božena JIŘINCOVÁ, Vladimíra LOVASOVÁ

Abstract: On the basis of a longitudinal research done at the Pedagogical Fac-ulty of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, a known fact has been come true. Un-dergraduates, owing to a big strain to which they are exposed, show in comparison with population average a higher degree of test neurotic state. We focused our research on the correlation between neurotic state of undergraduates and their living satisfaction. A lower life satisfaction of instable undergraduates has been proved by questionnaire survey analysis and statistical treatment of results. Sense of life dissatisfaction of neu-rotic respondents is linked with their orientational family and study group.

Keywords: longitudinal research, neurotic state, life satisfaction, orienational family, study group.

IntroductionEducational process whose aim is education of a health and harmoniously de-

veloped personality has int. al. its own mentally hygienic aspect. Teacher has an unsub-stitutable role in its application, namely as “a model of sane personality, as a creator of good interpersonal relationships and as a realizer of hygienic principles of education” (Provazník, 1985).

Unfortunately, every teacher cannot be a pedagogical model of a sane personal-ity, i.e. “such a personality in which all processes run in a optimal way, a harmonious re-lationship is among their constituents and levels, especially between emotions, intellect and self-concept, which enables to refl ect well the external reality and the own internal state, to react promptly and adequately to all impetuses, to solve all ordinary and ex-traordinary missions, and at the same time, to feel satisfaction, happiness, blissfulness, cheerfulness, in other words to feel well-being and social peace” (Konečný, Bouchal, 1979, s. 14).

A number of researches show that right between teachers there is a relatively high percentage of individuals with a heightened tendency to neurotic state (Matoušek, 1986, Knotek – Šípek, 1987, Míček, 1992, Miňhová, 2006). That is to say that the teacher profession lays high demands on individuals that may lead to a lower psychi-

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cal stability (Žaloudková, 2001). It is understandable that a neurotic teacher cannot be either an example of a sane and equable personality for pupils or a model to be imitated as a pattern of behaviour and a model serving to identifi cation of attitudes and values. As for a neurotic teacher, it is diffi cult for us to determine the share that the teacher profession has on his/her neurotic fi eld and to what extent s/he already brings neurotic symptomatology from the previous anamnesis. In view of the fact that the activities of a teacher infl uence experiences, behaviour and mental health of pupils, we are sure that the stability and the even temper should be an inherent part of the personality profi le of a student of teaching.

Research of neurotic state of teacher trainersBetween 2005–2008, a research focused on occurrence of neurotic state of un-

dergraduates of the Pedagogical Faculty of the University of West Bohemia and their life satisfaction was done. The respondents were undergraduates trained to be teachers at primary, middle and secondary schools, according to so far not divided, not structured study programme. After elimination of the undergraduates that showed in the EOD test a high score of lie and false statement, 695 undergraduates formed the testing sample, 388 of whom are trained to be teachers at primary schools, and 307 are trained to be specialized in general subjects at middle schools and secondary schools.

We used in our research the material obtained both by test and by clinical meth-ods. The Eysenck questionnaire EOD was used to fi nd out the degree of neurotic state. Neurotic state was the observed variable. We proceeded from the following statistical characteristics: arithmetic mean and standard deviation.

Inventory of neurotic symptoms – N70 was used to the specifi cation of neurotic symptomatology.

The feeling of life satisfaction, possibly of dissatisfaction of undergraduates and their assessment of some aspects of social background were found out by the ŽIS test and by means of an inquiry and a structured interview.

The results of our research were statistically processed in cooperation with the De-partment of Mathematics of the Pedagogical Faculty of the University of West Bohemia. To eliminate effects of some intervening variables that could skew the results, testing was done by one experimenter only in the morning and in the fi rst half of the week.

Results of the experimentOn the basis of the testing we found out that neurotic tendencies appeared at

238 undergraduates (34.3%) from 695 responders. For the sake of specifi cation, we state basic statistical characteristics of the studied group in dimension “neurotic state”: aver-age: 10.07, standard deviation: 6.05. The given characteristics respond to the character-istics of standardizing sample of university population (Vonkomer, Miglierini, 1979). In accordance with contemporary outcomes in the fi eld of mental hygiene of undergradu-ates (Knotek, Šípek, 1987, Höschl, Švestka, 2006), we state on the basis of the results of our research that undergraduates in the view of strain to which they are exposed show, as compared with the percentage of neurotic individuals in population (15%), a higher

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degree of neurotic state.

Feeling of life satisfaction of psychically stable and labile (neurotic) undergraduates

One of the features of mental health is the process of life satisfaction. As exam-ples from praxis and results of researches show (Míček, 1976, Zvolský, 1997, Höschl, 2004, Miňhová, 2006), neurotic individuals often live out feelings of basal dissatisfac-tion and those are naturally transmitted to their vicinity. An dissatisfi ed or unhappy man frequently produces unsuitable forms of behaviour, and thereby s/he disturbs peace of mind of men living in his/her close proximity. Good emotional classroom climate can create only a relatively satisfi ed teacher. As a cheerful and optimistic atmosphere is one of the conditions of effective teaching, we consider a prevailing feeling of peace of mind and life satisfaction as an important precondition of exercising of teacher profession. In consideration of importance of these problems, we focused on fi nding of the feeling of life satisfaction in our group.

A questionnaire focused on feelings of life satisfaction and on evaluation of some aspects of undergraduates´ life was assigned to both groups of stable and labile under-graduates. An analysis of questionnaire inquiry and a statistical processing of its results proved a lower life satisfaction of labile undergraduates. The following fi gure shows the degree of satisfaction of stable and labile undergraduates.

Degree of satisfactionStable undergraduates Labile undergraduates

n % n %1. 86 18.8 17 7.12. 280 61.2 32 13.43. 72 15.7 102 42.84. 19 4.1 87 36.5

Total 457 238

Figure 1. Degree of satisfaction of stable and labile undergraduates (relative frequency and percentage of occurrence)

1. very satisfi ed2. satisfi ed3. rather dissatisfi ed4. very dissatisfi ed

Comparing the two groups, we can see that 366 (80.1%) stable undergraduates stated that they were very satisfi ed or satisfi ed with their life, and only 91 (19.9%) un-dergraduates of this group stated that a feeling of life dissatisfaction prevails. On the other hand in the group of labile undergraduates, 49 (20.6%) undergraduates expressed their complete or partial life satisfaction, and 189 (79.4%) members of this group are completely or partially dissatisfi ed.

A statistically important difference in the feeling of life satisfaction (p < 0.05) was proved between the groups of labile and stable undergraduates. A prevailing feel-

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ing of life dissatisfaction of the undergraduates with a higher level of neuroticism is thus fully evident in our group. On the basis of regressive analysis we came to the conclusion that neuroticism noticeably correlates with the feeling of life satisfaction (R = 0.703). This fact is undoubtedly given by a poor competence of labile individuals to cope adaptively with diffi cult vital situations. A higher sheepishness impedes them anyway to rationalize functionally those factors that are objectively unsolvable, and to solve actively those that can be infl uenced. If we consider, at the same time, that in-dividuals with a higher degree of neuroticism often provoke aggressiveness with their behaviour in social vicinity, we can presume that they are exposed in a larger extent to harmful interpersonal incentives.

Statistical evaluation of the results of the questionnaire and comparison of re-sponses of both labile and stable undergraduates brings several interesting pieces of knowledge:

Labile undergraduates signifi cantly often (p < 0.01) consider their parents as unacceptable, and they signifi cantly often (p < 0.05) judge that their parents´ educa-tional methods were improper. They are oftener dissatisfi ed (p < 0.05) with the behav-iour of their schoolfellows, they oftener have (p < 0.01) a feeling of isolation in their study group and are statistically signifi cantly dissatisfi ed (p < 0.01) with activities of their study group. There is no considerable difference between both stable and la-bile undergraduates as for the assessment of their teachers. No statistically signifi cant difference was found out as for both stable and labile undergraduates´ views of the schedule as well. Contrary to our expectations, no statistically signifi cant difference was registered between both groups as far as concerns the satisfaction with erotic rela-tionship and sexual needs. On the contrary, our assumption that labile undergraduates have considerably less (p < 0.05) close friends was confi rmed. An interesting piece of information is the fi nding that labile undergraduates suffer from sexual identifi ca-tion disorders (p < 0.01) thus identifi cation with their common sexual role, which is statistically signifi cant.

If we recapitulate the stated results of our research, we come to the conclusion that the feeling of life dissatisfaction of neurotic undergraduates of our group refers before all to the orientational family and to the study group, i.e. to these small social groups in which respondents spend the most of time, carry out common activities, and in which sanctions, that occur in consequence of inobservance of group rules, look unusu-ally directly, and thereby effectively.

ConclusionThe results of our research entitle us to the conclusion that psychical stability of

undergraduates of Pedagogical Faculty signifi cantly correlates with their life satisfac-tion and it is the fundamental presumption of successful performance of teacher work. This implies that the necessary part of the future teachers training is their personal-ity and social development, which is, inter alia, aimed at consciousness of positive life values. The important task of Pedagogical Faculty is consequently to support the develop-ment of psychical stability and even temper of undergraduates and their good frustration tolerance by specifi c therapeutic methods and social and psychological trainings.

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VZTAH MEZI NEUROTIČNOSTÍ STUDENTŮ UČITELSTVÍ A JEJICH ŽIVOTNÍ SPOKOJENOSTÍ

Abstrakt: Na základě longitudinálního výzkumu provedeného na FPE ZČU v Plzni se potvrdila známá skutečnost, že vysokoškolští studenti vzhledem k velké zátěži, které jsou vystaveni, vykazují ve srovnání s populačním průměrem vyšší stupeň testové neurotičnosti. Ve svém výzkumném šetření jsme se zaměřili na vztah mezi neurotičností studentů a jejich životní spokojeností. Analýzou dotazníkového šetření a statistickým zpracováním jejich výsledků byla prokázána nižší životní spokojenost in-stabilních studentů. Pocit životní nespokojenosti neurotických respondentů se vztahuje především na jejich orientační rodinu a studijní skupinu.

Klíčová slova: longitudinální výzkum, neurotičnost, životní spokojenost, orientační rodina, studijní skupina

125


TEACHER FATIGUE

Evžen ŘEHULKA

Abstract: The author examines the issue of teacher fatigue, which is at present given relatively little attention. He gives a defi nition of fatigue, and discusses its types and manifestations. Using two questionnaires, teacher fatigue was examined from the point of view of its structure and general values. Fatigue characteristics clearly point out some special and topical demands on the teaching profession. Some teacher fatigue data found are very serious from the psychohygiene point of view, and may be warning signs of health and mental damage and a decrease in professional performance.

Keywords: fatigue, types of fatigue, teaching profession, psychohygiene of teachers

The psychological or psycho-physiological analysis of teacher’s work isa frequently discussed topic, similarly as in other professions. The present-day emphasis is on performance, which is examined as a broad concept, and not only from the quan-titative but, recently also from the qualitative, points of view. In a number of jobs, the performance delivered must be high, of good quality, continuous over an extended pe-riod of time, and without negative effects on the worker. For that reason, stress and load or, more generally, performance with a specifi c focus, are analyzed, or such phenomena as, e.g. the burnout syndrome, job satisfaction, etc. In this country alone, a large number of this type of studies investigating the teaching profession has been performed.

Research into fatigue is nowadays in the background, and is often substituted with research into the above phenomena which, as a rule, can draw upon larger theoreti-cal and methodological resources and (even this aspect must be taken into account) are more modern in the contemporary science. The present-day list of Czech specialized literature includes only a few recent works on fatigue, and even those works are usu-ally syntheses of past or present fi ndings rather than works expounding new theories or describing original new research. The works I have in mind are a monograph byJ. SEDLÁK (1981) or a translation of a small French study by J. SCHERRER published in this country in 1995. As expected, short chapters on fatigue can as a rule be also found in textbooks and monographs on physiology, both general (e.g..TROJAN, S. et al. 2003), pathological (e.g.. MÁČEK, M., VÁVRA, J. 988) and occupational (e.g. JIRÁK, Z., VAŠINA B. 2005). In world literature, H. SCHMIDTKE’s monograph of 1965 is still interesting even today.

Interest in fatigue was revived in connection with the defi nition of the so-called chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). In this case, the reference to fatigue is somewhat mis-

126

leading because it is basically an immunological disease, where fatigue is only one of its main symptoms. To fi nd out more about the chronic fatigue syndrome, kindly refer to available publications of Czech authors (NOUZA, M., SVOBODA, J. 1998; PRAŠKO, J., ADAMCOVÁ, K., PRAŠKOVÁ, H., VYSKOČILOVÁ, J. 2006).

For our investigations, works of the Slovak psychologist Ladislav ĎURIČ, who dealt with fatigue among students (1965, 1975) and teachers (1969) in several of his monographs, were of major importance. In this fi eld, various other studies and articles were of course also published, sometimes drawing on experimental data (ŘEHULKA E. 1978), or only reporting experience. In any case, those works documented the fact that issues relating to fatigue in school, training and education are very topical.

Let us take a brief look at current knowledge on fatigue.Fatigue is a feeling that everybody knows, everybody has come across and eve-

rybody has experienced. Fatigue, feeling tired, weariness, overexertion, exhaustion, las-situde, overwork, etc. are terms that we often use to express very concrete feelings. Fatigue is a kind of a signal that tells us that we should stop whatever we are doing and take a rest. From this point of view, fatigue is a “safeguard” that guarantees the ability to perform in the future. From another point of view, the feeling of fatigue tells us also about our remaining capacity to work, to be active. J. PRAŠKO et al. (2006) stated that about 10–30 % of people in different countries complain of permanent fatigue and exhaustion.

The meaning of the term “fatigue” has been broadened and it is no longer used to only describe states and feelings of humans, but it has successfully been introduced in the same meaning to the materials science, where terms like material fatigue and struc-tural fatigue are used, and, in a more fi gurative but identical meaning, to social sciences where we speak of fatigue of the society or an exhaustion of social systems.

Defi nitions of fatigue are many and varied, but, basically, they usually character-ize fatigue as a “decreased capacity to perform an activity caused by previous exertion” (P. and H. HARTLOVI 2000) or as an “overall state of the organism consequential to physical or mental exertion” (M. MÁČEK, J. VÁVRA 1988).

Fatigue used to be studied mainly in physiology and occupational and sports medicine (see SCHERRER 1995), and the emphasis has often been laid primarily on muscular fatigue. Fatigue, however, has also quite important psychological causes, which are more diffi cult to measure, and are subjectively linked to the person’s person-ality, his motivation and willpower.

To put it generally, we may say that fatigue is a psycho-physiological state sig-nalizing the exhaustion of physical as well as mental capacity for a specifi c activity, and calls attention to the need for a rest or a change in activity.

x x x

It can help us to better understand fatigue if we characterize it according to some specifi c criteria. Then we can identify the following types of fatigue:

• subjective fatigue and objective fatigueObjective fatigue includes physiological and psycho-physiological changes that

are produced during or after an exertion. Subjective fatigue is the perception of one’s

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objective fatigue, and it also includes the projection of one’s attitude to the activity that caused the fatigue, as well as a number of personality characteristics.

• physical, mental, sensory and tension fatigue |This division is based on the type of activity that caused fatigue. It can be physi-

cal or mental activity, work that exerts senses, or work in situations of a shortage of information, high responsibility and emotional stress

• fatigue following static or dynamic workDynamic work is an activity connected with some movement with changes be-

tween strain and relaxation periods, which helps sustain the capacity to work. Static work, when a degree of tension needs to be maintained, is more strenuous.

• overall fatigue and localized fatigueIt follows from its characteristics that fatigue is always overall, i.e. that it affects

the entire organism and all its mental manifestations. Localized fatigue occurs if one organ or one mental function has been under intensive strain for an extended period of time.

• primary fatigue and secondary fatigueThe usual criterion applied here is the degree of adaptation to the activity in

question. Primary fatigue occurs in the induction phase of a new activity, when the basic fatigue is aggravated by adaptation to that new work. Secondary fatigue comes later, specifi cally in individuals who have familiarized themselves with the activity in question and fatigue in their case occurs after a long-term or intensive execution of that activity.

• acute fatigue and chronic fatigueThe usual criterion is the rest effect. By acute fatigue we usually mean a common

type of fatigue which is a direct consequence of an activity being performed. Chronic fatigue, on the other hand, is the result of protracted acute fatigue, and it begins to de-velop when the remains of fatigue not removed by the immediately preceding rest begin to accumulate.

• normal fatigue and pathological fatigueNormal fatigue stays within limits of physiological tolerance and can be expe-

rienced as subjectively pleasant (“to be pleasantly tired”), while pathological fatigue exceeds those limits. Fatigue pathology will be discussed later.

Fatigue symptomatology is very varied and differently classifi ed by different authors. Psychologist L. ĎURIČ (1965, pp 121-122), for instance, divides fatigue symp-toms into three areas:

• with respect to the relation to work and performance: aversion to work, indif-ference, uncertainty, deterioration of qualitative and quantitative performance parameters, variations in performance, decrease in initiative, etc.

• with respect to the person's relation to his social and work environment: irritabil-ity, bad temper, confrontational attitude, inadequate response to social stimuli, deterioration in cooperation within the working group, reduced tolerance to-wards defects in the working environment, etc.

• with respect to changes in cognitive and other psychological processes and phe-nomena: major changes in attention, particularly voluntary attention (concentra-tion requires more effort, attention may fl uctuate, diminished mental functions

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capacity, etc.), perception disturbances appear, memory deterioration, mental operations get slower, the success rate in task resolution decreases, speech gets simpler, etc.

Similar psychological symptoms were listed by H. SCHMIDTKE (1965, pp 151-195):• changes in perception, i.e. changes in receptor activity (interference with infor-

mation reception)• disturbances in the perception of space and complicated images• disturbances in sensomotoric coordination• attention and concentration disorders,• memory disorders,• vigilance disorders,• cognitive disorders,• personality disorders,• motivation disorders,• social relationship disorders

In fatigue studies, it is important not to neglect the differential diagnostic as-pect with respect to mental satiation and monotony, which is particularly important in overcoming fatigue.

Mental satiation usually occurs after a protracted period of an activity, which is repetitive in character and not very interesting for the person engaged in the activity. The main difference between physical fatigue and mental satiation is that the former is the result of all activities, while the latter occurs as a result of a specifi c disposition to that activity.

The feeling of monotony develops when a monotonous, repetitive activity is being performed in an environment lacking in stimulation, and usually at low energy levels of the worker. The principal subjective feelings in monotony include drowsiness, boredom and lethargy.

Similar to mental satiation, individual person’s characteristics and the specifi c character of work situation play a major role also in monotony.

Although ordinary fatigue is a normal psycho-physiologic state, it may get be-yond the limits of pathology if some psycho-hygienic principles are not obsered. (We are not referring to the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which is another category.) Pathological fatigue is usually preceded by normal physiological fatigue. According to MÁČEK and VÁVRA (1980), pathological fatigue may manifest itself in two degrees characterized by the following symptoms:

I. degree one (slight over-stress, excessive strain): a feeling of weakness, headache, eye scotomas, dizziness, nausea, decrease in systolic pressure, delayed responses to medium-intensity stimuli, speech disorders, mimic muscle cramps (“fatigue mask”), salivary defi ciency (dry mouth), rash responses

II. degree two (exhaustion): pallor of the face, cyanotic mucous membranes, blood-pressure decrease, muscle fl abbiness, thermoregulation disorders, irrational thinking, protective inhibition.In this respect, J. SEDLÁK (1981, s. 35) speaks about the division of fatigue into

levels according to its severity, distinguishing three basic degrees of fatigue: weariness (feeling of normal fatigue), strain (feeling of intensive fatigue) and exhaustion.

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Pathological fatigue is a serious psycho-physiological state. It may signalize ex-ceptional extensive exhaustion or various diseases and should be medically treated.

Research into teacher fatigueBased on the theory above, we conducted a study designed to give us some in-

sight into teacher fatigue. It is possible to establish concrete data on the severity of teacher fatigue, but questions posed in this manner are usually meaningful when teach-ers are compared with other professions, but even thus conceived research grapples with a number of problems in interpretation. We wished to look at teacher fatigue research from a different angle to get – in our opinion – a better understanding of the essence of teachers’ work. We see the approach in that we decided to study the structure of teacher fatigue under the light of the fi ndings outlined above.

The experimental group included 158 female teachers from basic schools and the study was conducted in the 2nd half of 2005. The teachers’ mean age was 42.1 years, the youngest teacher in the study was 28 and the oldest 55 years of age.

Two questionnaires were used in the study, i.e. the Subjective Symptoms of Fa-tigue Questionnaire and the Types of Fatigue Questionnaire.

The Subjective Symptoms of Fatigue Questionnaire was developed by the Japan Association of Industrial Health and contains 32 symptoms of fatigue. Respondents are requested to say whether they experience that symptom intensely, moderately or not at all. According to Yoshitake, the author of the questionnaire, the method provides infor-mation on:

1. CNS fatigue2. reduced motivation 3. somatic symptoms of fatigue We adopted the method and information on it from the publication by HLADKÝ,

A., ŽÍDKOVÁ Z. (1999).The other questionnaire, i.e. the Types of Fatigue Questionnaire contained 15

questions designed to obtain information on the magnitude of individual fatigue types that we briefl y described in the introduction to this study (ŘEHULKA, E. 2000).

Results from the Subjective Symptoms of Fatigue Questionnaire are summarized in Table 1 and Figure 1.

The overall mean value of subjective symptoms of fatigue in the group of teachers analyzed was 25.6 (SD = 5.3), which is a relatively high value if we com-pare it with the data reported by HLADKÝ and ŽÍDKOVÁ (1999). The fi gures should, however, be treated with caution because some researchers use the Subjec-tive Symptoms of Fatigue Questionnaire by administering it at the beginning of the work interval and after it fi nishes. It is interesting to note that “CNS fatigue” makes up the largest part of the overall score, with “reduced motivation” and “somatic fa-tigue” trailing far behind (Fig. 1). We may therefore conclude that work performed by our respondents caused mainly mental fatigue, as was to be expected in a group of teachers.

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SUBJECTIVE SYMPTOMS OF FATIGUE

MEAN VALUES S.D.

FATIGUE (total) 25.6 5.3CNS fatigue 13.2 4.2reduced motivation 6.1 2.1somatic fatigue 6.3 3.1

Table 1 Results of Subjective Symptoms of Fatigue Questionnaire

Figure 1 Structure of subjective symptoms of fatigue

Further information on the character of teacher fatigue was obtained from the Types of Fatigue Questionnaire (see Table 2 and Figure 2). (The higher the score, the higher the positive response to the question about the effect of the corresponding type of fatigue, for comparison see the Types of Fatigue Questionnaire in the Appendix).

somatic fatigue;

6,3; 25%

loss of motivation; 6,1; 24%

CNS fatigue;

13,2; 51%

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TYPE OF FATIGUE mean S.D.objective fatigue 3.9 1.2subjective fatigue 4.1 2.1physical fatigue 2.9 1,1mental fatigue 3.8 2.1sensory fatigue 4.1 1.9tension fatigue 4.2 1,9static fatigue 2.5 1.2dynamic fatigue 3.8 2.2overall fatigue 4.2 2,8localized fatigue 1.9 1,3

current fatigue 4.3 2.9residual fatigue 4.5 2.5normal fatigue 3.2 2.1borderline fatigue 1.6 1.1pathological fatigue 0.3 0.1

Table 2 Results of the Type of Fatigue Questionnaire

Figure 2 Magnitude of individual types of fatigue

If we are to give a brief description and interpretation of the above results, we can say that teachers clearly experience fatigue as a subjective feeling and are less able to assess fatigue as an objective state. Such a result is essentially quite normal and it is, moreover, quite positive that the objective fatigue assessment shows a fairly high value.

From the point of view of the type of activity that caused fatigue, the relatively lowest value was, as expected, ascribed to physical fatigue, while mental, sensory and

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tension types of fatigue were all ascribed higher values. We were not surprised by the re-sults because the contemporary character of teachers’ work places great demands on the senses (use of computers, visual and auditory attention given to students during classes, etc.) and on coping with situations that give rise to emotional and social tensions.

The value of static fatigue is, as can be expected among teachers, relatively low. Higher values of dynamic fatigue show that teachers in their style of work prioritize movement and activity, which is correct from the psycho-hygiene point of view.

The relatively high values of overall fatigue show that teachers’ work is psycho-physiologically and psychologically very varied and, at the same time, very stressful and comprehensively affects the entire organism, which corresponds with the data in Table 1. It is quite understandable that localized fatigue is experienced only marginally.

An important fi nding is the data on current and residual fatigue. Both of the val-ues are relatively high. They demonstrate that nowadays teachers’ everyday work causes considerable fatigue, that that fatigue is not suffi ciently removed, that it accumulates and may become chronic.

In spite of these warning signals teachers tend to think that their fatigue is normal and only a few of them consider it as bordering on pathological. The teachers in our study were also asked whether they considered their fatigue pathological, but only a few affi rmative answers were received.

We may generally conclude that teachers are aware of the fatigue phenomenon and that they are basically able to self-refl exively handle it. Teacher fatigue is a good indicator of the high demands placed on the teaching profession and, which is very seri-ous, its levels are relatively high. Teacher fatigue may be a factor that impacts health and psychological risks involved in the teaching profession, and may adversely affect its optimum performance.

Conclusions Teacher fatigue is a phenomenon that is at present receiving relatively little re-

search attention although it brings important insight into the teaching profession.Teachers are aware of the fatigue phenomenon and were able to handle it them-

selves as part of psychohygienic prevention.In some of its components, teacher fatigue shows very high values that might be

considered alarming from the future development point of view.Insuffi cient attention to teacher fatigue might be a cause of reduced quality of

teachers’ professional performance.

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APPENDIXTYPES OF FATIGUE QUESTIONNAIRE

After normal performance on an ordinary working day, I feel fatigue with the following characteristics:

1. I perceive fatigue as an objective state that I can assess [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes] 2. I perceive fatigue primarily as an subjective state [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes] 3. my fatigue is the result of physical work [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes] 4. my fatigue is the result of mental work [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes] 5. my fatigue is the result of sensory exertion [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes] 6. my fatigue stems from tension, anticipation and responsibility [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes] 7. my fatigue stems from tension and lack of exercise and relaxation [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes] 8. my fatigue stems from dynamic kinetic work, alterations between tension and

relaxation [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes] 9. I experience fatigue as an overall physical and mental state [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes]10. I feel fatigue in a specifi c place of my body or of a specifi c mental function [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes]11. I perceive fatigue as a current psycho-physiological state [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes]12. I cannot relieve fatigue by taking a rest that is available to me [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes]13. I think that my fatigue is normal [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes]14. I think that my fatigue may border on being a pathological state [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes]15. I think that my fatigue is a symptom of a disease [no 1 2 3 4 5 yes]

ÚNAVA UČITELŮAbstrakt: Studie ze zabývá únavou učitelů, které je v současné době věnovaná

relativně malá pozornost. Je podána defi nice únavy, ukázány druhy a projevy únavy. Prostřednictvím dvou dotazníků je zkoumána únava učitelů z hlediska své struktury a obecných hodnot. Charakteristiky únavy dobře ukazují na speciální a aktuální náro-ky učitelské práce. Některé zjištěné údaje únavy učitelů jsou psychohygienicky velmi závažné a mohou varovat před zdravotním i psychickým poškozením a snížením pro-fesního výkonu.

Klíčová slova: únava, druhy únavy, profese učitele, psychohygiena učitele

135


CHANGES OF THE QUALITYOF VOICE MEASURED BYTHE DSI IN RELATION TO

THE TEACHING PROFESSION

Jana FROSTOVÁ

Abstract: The present paper follows the preceding stage of research directed to the changes in the voice quality related to the professional load (FROSTOVÁ 2008).

In the fi rst stage of the project the research concerned 47 respondents, all of them students of combined (extramural) university studies who were simultaneously active in the teaching process.

After a year the voices of these teachers were recorded again and analysed with the use of the standard DSI (Dysphonia Severity Index) method.

At the same time other teachers’ voices were recorded and will be recorded again after a year; the comparison of these recordings should increase the objectivity of the obtained results. Registered were also the „new“ people’s answers given in the ques-tionnaire concerning the subjective perception of the speaking and the singing voice, the knowledge on voice hygiene, the sources of this knowledge, and the subjective evalua-tion of the voice load in extra-curricular activities.

The results suggest that the voice characteristics, as measured by the DSI, have slightly improved, which is the consequence of the teachers’ current working on voice. The results also show that the DSI is a suitable indicator of the need to give re-education or therapy of voice disorders to all teachers.

Keywords: voice, teachers, voice hygiene, voice evaluation, Voice Handicap In-dex, Dysphonia Severity Index

IntroductionExperts rightly compare the daily many hours’ use of voice in full strength and

good understandability to a sport achievement. Teachers as professional voice users are to a high degree dependent on their physical and mental condition. Every illness or disease in the whole body, physical pain or a bad state of mind are known to show themselves in the voice. Today’s advice and recommendations in the fi eld of voice hygiene are developed in accordance with the latest research and its fi ndings on man’s vocal and general health.

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According to many authors (Sataloff, 1998; Novák, 2000 and others), the risk factors unfavourably infl uencing the larynx (or mucous membranes) include: smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and the gastroesophageal refl ux (which is often caused by bad eating habits). Other major risk factors participating in the origin of voice disor-ders are especially the following: great vocal effort connected with overloading all the vocal organs, insuffi cient voice rest (voice respite) and stress.

Roy et al. (2004) observes that various authors reporting on the frequency of voice disorders in teachers greatly differ: the range extends from 4.4 % to 90 %. Simi-larly, a considerable variability can be seen in the determinations of the frequency of all the population’s voice disorders: from 0.65 % to 15 %.

In this country, the occurrence of professional voice disorders in teachers was studied by Lejska (1967), who examined 772 men and women teachers of nurse and el-ementary schools. Ill vocal cords (with nodes or chronic oedemas) were diagnosed in 34 teachers (4.4 % of the total number of 772), namely in 31 women (5.7 %) and 3 men(1.4 %). All the men were heavy smokers, while there were 4 smokers in the 31 women.

The occurrence of voice disorders in teachers and in the whole population was investigated abroad by Roy and his colleagues between 1998 and 2000 (2004). He con-tacted 2531 participants, aged 20 to 66 years, from the U.S. states of Iowa and Utah. 1243 teachers and 1288 non-teachers were asked by telephone (with the use of a question-naire) about their possible voice troubles. The research showed that 57 % of teachers and28.8 % of non-teachers had suffered from voice disorders at least once in their lives. Dur-ing the survey there were 11 % of teachers (and 6.2 % of non-teachers) who were suffering from a voice disorder just then, and 14.3 % of teachers (and 5.5 % of non-teachers) who were just then provided with medical and rehabilitation care because of voice disorders.

Roy and his colleagues came to the conclusion that a typical representative of a teacher „having some experience with a voice disorder“ is „a woman aged 40 to 59 years, with 16 and more years´ teaching practice and a family anamnesis where voice disorders occur“.

There are also other factors contributing to the development of voice disorders. ROY found out that teachers, as compared with non-teachers, are probably more prone to breath diffi culties caused by allergies. The examined teachers stated that every year they had one or more colds and one or more cases of laryngitis. On the other hand, smoking (or the use of tobacco products generally) for a year or longer, as well as drinking one or more glasses of alcoholic drinks weekly for a year or longer, was less frequent in teachers than in non-teachers. No statistical difference between teachers and non-teachers was found in the occurrence of asthma, nasal infections, hay fever or fam-ily anamnesis concerning voice disorders.

These and other results support the opinion that teaching is a highly risky pro-fession from the point of view of the development of voice disorders. Needless to say that other factors of both the socio-cultural and biophysical nature must be taken into account here as well.

It will be therefore necessary:1. to gradually discover the factors that directly cause or facilitate the origin and

development of voice diffi culties and disorders, following from both the teaching profession itself and other fi elds of teachers´ lives

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2. to look for the best ways of preventing voice disorders and of coping with them.

Any underestimation or ignorance of the basic voice hygiene requirements can lead to a deterioration of voice parameters, especially in teachers.

Lejska (2001) divides the care for professional voice users into the fi elds of pre-vention and treatment. The fi eld of prevention includes the entrance preventive ex-aminations for indicating the suitability of the choice and pursuance of a job that needs a good voice, periodical check-ups establishing the immediate state of the phonic or-gans, voice instructions and exercises for a permanently sustainable high quality voice and the protection of the vocal organs against the outer negative infl uences, vocal rest and a healthy way of life. The treatment fi eld includes the treatment of both the upper air passages diseases and the larynx diseases.

By respecting these recommendations, professional voice users can avoid mis-takes that can individually or together infl uence permanently their vocal health as well as their position at work.

The research objectiveThe aim of the present stage of research, which follows the research the results

of which have already been published (Frostová, 2008), is the comparison of the results of the fi rst measurement with those of the second measurement in the fi rst group of the examined persons; their voices were recorded at the interval of one year.

The following factors have been evaluated:1. the voice recordings, processed by means of the DSI method (the fi rst and the

second measurements, n = 47)2. the results of the questionnaire directed towards the subjective perception of the

quality of one’s speaking and singing voice, the knowledge of the principles of voice hygiene, the sources of this knowledge, the duration of the voice load in professional and extra-curricular activities, and the subjective ideas on tackling the voice disorders (n = 130)

3. the results of the VHI (Voice Handicap Index) questionnaire, establishing the subjective evaluation of the quality of one’s voice and the impact one’s voice has on socioprofessional functions (n = 130)

The research set of respondentsIn the fi rst stage of the project, 65 respondents were questioned (4 men,

61 women), all of them students of combined university studies who had already taken an active part in the educational process. In the present stage of research, other people were given the above mentioned questionnaires to answer, and the answers were evaluated. The “new“ people’s voice recordings will be compared and evaluated as a whole in the next stage of research.

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The research procedure

The recording of the voices had the following phases:

The adaptation and motivation phase:• adaptation to the experimental situation (the establishment of the contact, relaxa-

tion, the explanation of the meaning of the recordings);• the skeleton assignment (getting acquainted thoroughly with the process of re-

cording and with the instructions given during the recording, assuming the right physical posture, setting the microphone according to the person´s height, setting the prescribed distance between the microphone and the mouth);

• stimulation to the performance.

The pre-performance phase:• a rehearsal of the expected performance; • exact instructions (the fi nal details of the assignment);• the registration of the circumstances currently infl uencing the performance (a

previous or current illness, changes in the fi tness and in the personal, as well as working, load.

The performance phase:• making the electronic recording;• the registration of the examined person’s idiosyncrasies in the vocal perform-

ance, including the accompanying manifestations (e.g. nervousness, increased effort and other non-verbal symptoms of facing the situation);

• the database fi ling (the client’s card, the date of the recording, notes concerning the client’s performance).

The diagnostic phase:• the registration of spontaneous describing, evaluating and refl ecting commentar-

ies and anamnestic data

The results of the author’s own questionnaire were at the disposal as well. The questionnaire is directed to the subjective perception of the speaking and the singing voice, the subjectively felt need for a change of one’s speaking and singing voice, the knowledge of voice hygiene, the sources of this knowledge, and the intensity of the voice load in the teaching and extra-curricular activities.

The resultsThe voice load in extra-curricular activities (in hours a week)

All the respondents’ loads of both the speaking and the singing voice in the fi eld of further school (beyond the scope of the regular load) activities, as well as out-of school (leasure) activities, making demands on voice, are surprisingly low. One third of the respondents (34.6 %) do not pursue any extra-curricular activity with demands

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on the speaking voice, and more than one half of the respondents (53 %) have no such activities connected with singing.

CHART 1: The voice load in extra-curricular activities (in hours a week)

The questionnaire research has also provided an insight into the respondents’ ac-tivities they pursue in the given time. They mostly lead hobby groups, the most frequent being the ones that go in for theatre, sports, singing, dance, language, ceramics and informatics. The respondents also give remedial classes in various subjects.

Singing is pursued by the respondents in various types of choirs, folklore groups, amateur theatres or musical bands.

The extent of the knowledge of voice hygiene49 % of the respondents have some knowledge of voice hygiene, and 51 % eval-

uate their knowledge as relatively poor or completely insuffi cient.

CHART 2: The extent of the knowledge of voice hygiene

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The methods of preventing voice disorders

It was interesting to learn how the respondents had prevented voice disorders be-fore they started attending the subject “voice education“. Only 37.7 % of the respondents (49 persons = 100 %) explained how they saved their voice in practice. They said that the most frequent method they had used was “I don’t shout“, “try not to shout“(73.5 %). According to Novák (2000) the causes of the functional voice disorder (hyperkinetic dysphonia) in adults are the following: excessive voice effort, too loud speaking and shouting. Alcohol abuse and smoking are other frequent causes of voice disorders.

TABLE 1: The methods of „saving one’s voice“ as stated by the respondentsI don’t shout 73,47I don’t speak unnecessarily 38,78I use singing voice exercises 26,53I drink enough liquids 26,53I control my voice pitch 20,41I don’t lose my temper 20,41I observe the rest of voice 14,29I speak in an aired room only 10,2I speak in a low voice 10,2I look for an acoustically good place 8,16I use voice exercises 8,16I don’t clear my throat unnecessarily 6,12I use soft voice onsets 6,12I don’t stay in a room fi lled with smoke 4,08I breathe correctly 4,08I don’t whisper 4,08I don’t drink cold drinks 2,04

Johnson (1994) says that a wrong use of voice is regarded a common cause of voice dysfunction. He divides the specifi c kinds of behaviour quoted by therapists as causes of voice dysfunctions into two groups: 1) speaking activities (e.g. loud speaking or a hard voice onset) and 2) non-speaking voice activities (e.g. clearing one’s throat, loud and hard laughter, morose grumbling and muttering). Permanent models of exces-sive loudness can be found in certain personality types and certain professional situa-tions (like classes or training).

The statements of the type I don’t speak unnecessarily, I observe a partial or total rest of voice, I speak in a low voice, I look for an acoustically good place to reach the sonority of my voice bear witness to the fact that the respondents are aware of the necessity not to overload their voice organs.

For example, the respondent L. K. (a woman, 35 years of age, 7 years of practice, 22 hours´ load, teaching music to pupils aged 11 to 15 years, leading an art hobby group

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– 2 hours of the speaking voice) describes her voice care as follows: ”When I come home, I treat myself to what I call ´a protected while´ – 15 minutes at home after the classes I don’t speak, I have a quiet rest.“ She used to have losses of voice and suffers from allergy. Therefore, as she says, she observes consistently all the voice care require-ments: ”I pay attention to the voice rest, I control the intensity of my voice, I don’t shout, I don’t whisper when I’m ill, I try to use soft voice onsets.“

The ways of tackling voice problemsCHART 4, which follows, gives a comparison of the ways and possibilities of

tackling voice problems up to now and in the future. More respondents would hereafter, in case of a voice disorder, see a phoniatrician, and others would see their practitioner. They choose the practitioner partly because the specialized care (phoniatry, ENT spe-cialists) is less accessible in their neighbourhood, and partly because they trust their practitioner („he/she has known me for a long time“). On the other hand, from my practice I know that the knowledge of voice disorders has increased and that most prac-titioners, if they suspect a rather serious disease, refer the teachers (and other patients) to specialized medical establishments (phoniatric, allergologic, endocrinologic and ENT departments).

CHART 4: The ways of tackling voice problems

The comparison with the previous examination shows that there are fewer re-spondents now that would tackle their voice problems without anybody’s help. A risky attitude to one’s voice can be illustrated by the woman teacher K.L.’s statement: “Ten years ago I lost my voice 3 times during 2 months; I only wheezed and was unable to speak at all. This always subsided after 3 days and I never saw a doctor”.

Other solutions of voice problems, as given by the respondents, are homeopathic treatment and the use of medicines bought at the chemist’s on the chemist’s recommen-dation and advice. A healer has appeared in the statements for the fi rst time as a potential adviser on voice problems.

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Subjectively felt need for a change of one’s speaking voice

Although 86 % of the respondents are content with their speaking voice, 41.54 % of the total number of the respondents feels subjectively that some parameters of their voice should be changed.

Most of the respondents would like to lower the pitch of their voice (they feel that their voice is unpleasant, too high and sharp), or, on the other hand, to raise the pitch of their speaking voice (they feel that their voice is too deep, that “it has dropped“). About the same part of the respondents feels that they need a stronger voice. A notice-able priority is an improvement in the articulation; some of the women teachers even had defects that needed logopaedic care.

CHART 5: Subjectively felt need for a change of one’s speaking voice

Subjectively felt need for a change of one’s singing voice

In evaluating subjectively the quality of their singing voice, most respondents give positive evaluating judgements (the singing voice: 63 % of the respondents are satisfi ed with it and 38 % dissatisfi ed; the speaking voice: 86 % satisfi ed and 14 % dis-satisfi ed), but a considerably higher percentage of the respondents are content with their speaking voice. Music teachers seem to perceive the parameters of the singing voice as much more differentiated; their voice evaluation is, due to their specialization, also more professional than that by teachers who do not do subjects connected with singing (see CHART 6).

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CHART 6: Subjectively felt need for a change of one’s singing voice

The comparison of the 1st and the 2nd DSI measurements of the fi rst group of the examined persons

A part of the examined teachers (about a third of them) have already been meas-ured twice by means of the Dysphonia Severity Index. The 2nd measurement shows a moderate positive shift in the majority of the examined persons, but also a moderate negative shift in the remaining clients (see CHART 7). As the table in CHART 7 shows, the positive shift is approximately by one point and a half, while the negative shift by about one point.

CHART 7: The shift of the DSI values after the interval of one year (n = 47)

It must be stated that even the 1st measurement showed that most of the exam-ined teachers did not fall below the norm (i.e. they had no dysphonia). The most con-

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spicuous was the shift in the interval –2.2 to –0.4 (moderate dysphonia). There was justa small shift in the interval –0.3 to 0.7 (slight to moderate dysphonia) and practically no shift in the interval 0.8 to 1.7 (slight dysphonia). The number of examined persons with DSI > 1.8 increased slightly (for the details see CHART 8).

CHART 8: The comparison of the 1st and the 2nd measurements of the fi rst group of the examined persons

It follows from the analysis of the questionnaires and the examined persons’ statements in the diagnostical phase of the recording of their voices that during the year’s interval they were activated by the requirements of their study disciplines di-rectly connected with voice performance, and that their attitude towards their voice was also infl uenced by the disciplines giving information on the work with voice and directly or indirectly on voice hygiene. Due to the practice demands for fi tness as well as quality of voice they also began to appreciate their senior colleagues´ experience and to focus on the practical application of the various ways of voice care.

Conclusions

• The extent of the knowledge on voice hygiene in the sample of the examined teachers has improved slightly in comparison with the previous research, but it has not yet reached the level one would expect in expert pedagogues;

• the ways of tackling voice problems proceed from the given sources of knowl-edge, but the approach seems to be rather intuitive and narrowly empirical, with-out the necessary infl uence of the knowledge based on theory;

• a positive trend can be seen in the fact that the examined teachers started to tackle their voice problems more actively, including their appreciation of medical as-sistance and consultations with specialists;

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• the subjectively felt need for a change of the speaking and the singing voice does not always correspond with the subjective evaluation of the voice, which also suggests that the perception of voice as the working tool is problematic;

• the DSI values measured in the same sample after a year’s interval suggesta slightly positive trend, which seems to refl ect the real current situation of the examined sample persons: they concentrate on work with voice now and train their voice; they are more than before interested in the problems of voice and its parameters; they pay more attention to some recommendations concerning voice hygiene as well as to their senior colleagues’ experience in the fi eld of voice con-dition; more than before they tend to appreciate all information on voice hygiene and to apply it in practice; they are now more interested in the impact of their profession on their voice.

ZMĚNY KVALITY HLASU UČITELŮ MĚŘENÉ DSIVE VZTAHU K UČITELSKÉ PROFESI

Abstrakt: Příspěvek navazuje na předchozí etapu šetření, zaměřeného na zkou-mání změn kvality hlasu ve vztahu k profesnímu zatížení. O jeho průběžných výsledcích jsme již referovali (Frostová, 2008).

V první etapě projektu proběhlo šetření u 47 respondentů – studentů kombino-vaného studia působících ve výchovně vzdělávacím procesu. Po roce byly u těchto ZO opětně pořízeny hlasové snímky a byla provedena analýza charakteristik hlasu pomocí standardní metody DSI (Dysphonia Severity Index).

Zároveň byly získány snímky od dalších učitelů, které budou srovnány v dalším roce a zvýší objektivitu získaných výsledků. Znovu též byly registrovány údaje získané z dotazníku zaměřeného na subjektivní percepci mluvního i zpěvního hlasu, na vědo-mosti o hlasové hygieně, na zdroje těchto vědomostí a na subjektivní hodnocení hlasové zátěže v mimopracovních aktivitách.

Výsledky naznačují mírně pozitivní změny v charakteristikách hlasu vyjadřova-ných mírou DSI v důsledku aktuální práce s hlasem a zároveň možnost užití DSI jako indikátoru potřeby reedukace či terapie hlasových obtíží u učitelů.

Klíčová slova: hlas, učitelé, hlasová hygiena, hodnocení hlasu, Voice Handicap Index, Dysphonia Severity Index

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HEALTH-IMPROVING NOURISHMENTAS A METHOD OF STRENGTHENING

THE HEALTH OF PARTICIPANTSOF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS

Olena KONOVALOVA, Nataliia SAMOILOVA,Oleksiy POLUBOIAROV, Igor TSYMBALOV

Abstract: The considerable decline of health of students level is lately marked, especially by the end of school year. An accumulating fatigue worsens the results of summer session, negatively tells on the stte of all of the physiological systems of orga-nism. During 1998–2008 the department of valeology and interfaculty research labora-tory of the Karazin Kharkiv National University is study the mechanism of adaptation of organism in the conditions of the modern educational and ecological loading and the search of ways of correction of violations of these mechanisms, resulting to the patho-logical changes of organism. One of the directions of the valeological making healthy of children and young people offered by us is the use of the health food stuffs developed by us: teas and syrups oh the basis of medical plants, and also products form sprouts of grain-crops, The state of health of students of 4 faculties of university was estimated in 2008: philosophical, radiophysics, psychology, foreign languages. To the students 1, 2, 3 courses such health food stuffs as phytotea Vesnyanka, syrup Valeoton, sprouts of grain-growing cultures, accordingly. It is received that the state of the cardiorespiratory system and row of their indexes, on which a health level was estimated, for the students of groups, gettings a health feed were higher, than at control groups. Thus, addition to day´s ration of feed phytotea, phytosyrups and other special products of health feed developed by a laboratory, enables to promote his biological value, improve mineral and vitamin material well-being, that is instrumental in making healthy of students.

Keywords: valeology, health of students, nourishment

Almost in all countries students are allocated as a group of the raised risk because students much more often, than young men from other social groups of the same age, are observed with the considerable aggravation of health. According to a number of sources [1–3], the transition to the new social conditions of students – yesterday’s schoolchildren – causes an active mobilization in the beginning, and then the exhaustion of organism’s physical reserves, especially in the fi rst years of education. After entering the univer-

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sity, a student fi nds himself in the new social and psychophysiological conditions. The adaptation to a complex of the new factors, which are specifi c for the higher school, isa diffi cult multilevel socially-psychological process and is accompanied by a consi-derable tension, and also by the disturbance of optimal work, rest and nutrition. It often leads to a failure of adaptation process and a development of a number of diseases.

Recently there has been a considerable decrease of the students’ health level to the end of the academic year. The collected tiredness makes worse the results of summer session, negatively affects the state of all physiological systems of organism.

For the prevention of it there need, on the one hand – the profound scientifi c resear-ches, on the other – the introduction into practice a complex of the practical actions aimed at the optimization of the educational process organization, the improvement of educatio-nal, life, nutritional and rest conditions of students.

Throughout 1998–2008 the department of valeology and interfaculty scienti-fi c-research laboratory of the Kharkiv National University named after V. N. Karazin investigate the mechanisms of organism adaptation in the conditions of a modern anthro-poecological load and search for the ways of correction of these mechanisms’ disturbances leading to a condition of preillness, and further to the pathological organism changes.

So, with the use of the whole complex of physiological and psychological tech-niques, we carried out researches of the state of health of the fi rst-year students from the philosophical, philological, economical, biological, chemical, radiophysical and mecha-nic-mathematical departments, departments of psychology and foreign languages [4].

The carried out researches have shown that from year to year there is a deterio-ration of physical health of the fi rst-year students practically at all faculties. The results of researches testifi es to the decreasing amount of students in groups with a high level of health and a level of health above average, at the same time the part of students with low and below average health level is enlarged. Thus on fi gure 1 there are the results ofa physical health condition monitoring (according to an integrated indicator of health) of a number of the Karazin KhNU departments’ fi rst-year students throughout 2002–2004 years. As we can see from the presented data, at the radiophysical department in 2002 among the examined there were not students with a level of health below an average, in 2003 4,8 % of students with level of health below an average have already been expo-sed, and in 2004 the amount of students with this health level was 2,7 %.The students of biological department have had a more expressed tendency – in 2002 8,3 % of students with level of physical health below an average have been exposed. In 2003 10,5 % of students had a level of somatic health below an average, and in 2004 3,8 % of persons with a low health level and 9,4 % of students with a level of physical health below an average have been exposed. This tendency was the most indicative at the philological and foreign languages departments: in 2002 1,6 % of students with a low level of phys-ical health and 1,6 % of students with a level of somatic health below an average have initially been exposed; in 2003 the amount of students with a low level of health was 2,6 %, below an average – 7,9 %. In 2004 the amount of students with a low physical health level was already 7,7 %, and a health level below an average – 18,3 %.

Thus, the results of long-term monitoring testify to the progressing tendency to the decreasing of physical health level of the Karazin KhNU fi rst-year students throughout the period of observations. Our researches exposed an orientation to decrease of adaptive

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possibilities of cardiovascular system at the students arriving in each next year of monito-ring [5]. It refl ects the rising of degree of vegetative and central nervous system strain and it is one of the important factors in decrease of adaptic possibilities of students during this period of training. These conclusions are verifi ed also by studying the KhNU medical aid station’s data: it is shown that 29 % of fi rst-year students have one, and 28 % – two or three chronic diseases. The presented data testify to an urgency of carrying out the effective preventive work for keeping and improving the health of studying youth.

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Figure 1 – Dynamics of physical health level at university’s fi rst-year students

One of our directions of valeological improvement of children and youth is using an improving food products developed by us: teas and syrups based on domestic vege-table raw materials and also products from sprouts of grain crops. The productivity of such approach is shown on an example of improvement of children’s preschool institu-tions and schools pupils of some regions of Ukraine. According to our researches, the application of improving food products have been picked up according to an ecologi-cal condition of residing region, and also the intensity of academic load of the given educational institution, helps to overcome seasonal infection fl ashes, to decrease the informative processes’ indicators owing to tiredness in the end of an academic year, to improve the indicators characterizing a condition of cardiovascular, immune and respi-ratory systems [6–9]

The given research is devoted to studying of infl uence of various health-improving products developed by the valeologists of the Kharkiv National Univer-sity named after V.N.Karazin and earlier offered for the improvement of health indi-cators to the Ukrainian schoolboys, on the indicators of physical health of university students.

In the spring semester of 2008 we estimated the state of students’ health of4 university departments: philosophical, radiophysical, psychology, foreign langua-ges. The students of 1, 2, 3 courses were offered such products of health-improving food as phytotea «Vesnyanka», a phytosyrup «Valeoton», dishes from sprouts grain, cultures accordingly in the quantity corresponding to their age. A number of physi-ological indexes was used for an express-estimation of physical health of students: Ketle index, Robinson index, Skibinsky index, Ruffje index and Shapivalova index. These indexes are closely bound to the variety of indicators of physical preparation and somatic health of students. [10,11]

According to the table the estimation in points was given to each index indicator and the total sum of points on which level of physical health was defi ned paid off:

For an estimation of functionality of an organism the adaptical potential (AP) as a whole paid off, and also the mathematical analysis of a warm rhythm (variation pulso-metry) was carried out by the methods offered by R. M. Baevsky. [12,13]

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After taking up a course of seasonal tea «Vesnyanka» we did not observe the signifi cant differences on the majority of measured indicators, except for adap-tical potential: in experimental group on 10 % the share surveyed with satisfactory adaptation was enlarged. The results of the spent researches confi rm a conclusion made by us after courses of improvement of schoolchidren, that seasonal phytoteas are expedient for applying in the cases which are not demanding high mobilization of the reserves of organism: in ecologically pure regions, at a small academic load and for conservation of level of the health reached by means of stronger receptions of correction.

The results of improvement of two-year students by the syrup «Valeoton» (fi gure 2–4) have shown the augmentation of level of somatic health of students from the experimental groups, accompanied by rising of adaptical possibilities and a voltage reduction in regulatory systems that is proved by ascending of quantity of students with satisfactory value of adaptical potential and normal level of a strain index.

It is possible to come to a conclusion, that the syrup «Valeoton» has more stron-gly affected a state of health of two-year students than phytotea. It is explained by the presence of larger quantity of plants in the syrup, as a result it has richer spectrum of trace substances, vitamins and other biologically active substances. Besides, the syrup contains the amber acid positively infl uencing functioning of nervous and warmly vas-cular systems.

Figure 2 – Dynamics of physical health level changes at 2nd course students before and after reception syrup “Valeoton”

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Figure 3 – Dynamics of changes organism’s adaptic possibilities level at 2nd course students before and after reception syrup “Valeoton”

The further researches have shown that the use of nutrition with lucerne sprouts has led to augmentation at 10 % of number of students with health level above an avera-ge and satisfactory level of adaptation. The profound researches of functioning of car-diovascular system have shown that at the students, using the sprouts in nutrition, the

Figure 4 – Dynamics of strain index changes at 2nd course students before and after reception syrup “Valeoton”

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index of a strain Baevsky (Figure 5) was normalized, that is there was an optimizations of regulation of heart activity. If on indicators of physical health we have received the same insignifi cant augmentation, as well as a post of the use of phytotea the mathema-tical analysis of a warm rhythm grants to us is right to assume the further augmentation of level of health as the organism has already reconstructed the regulatory systems aside the most effective scheme of management.

Figure 5 – Dynamics of strain index changes at 3nd course students before and after reception sprouts of grain-growing

If according to norms and phytotherapy principles the monthly course of the use of a syrup «Valeoton» is maximum, further it is necessary to make a break, supporting the reached level of health phytoteas the nutrition with sprouts can be applied constant-ly. Thus, the monthly course of the use in nutrition of sprouts does not show all the improving possibilities of this perspective view of health-improving food.

Thus, as a result of defi nition of physical health level, the functionality of orga-nism and the adaptic possibilities of cardiovascular system at fi rst-year students before tea reception «Vesnyanka», at second-year students before syrup reception «Valeoton» and the using of sprouts in nutrition students of the 3rd course it is shown that the grea-test positive infl uence on studied indicators was rendered by a phytosyrup which can be recommended for improvement of students during the periods of the greatest academic load. Phytotea is better for drinking in the beginning of a semester or after a course of improvement by the syrup for conservation of the reached health level. Dishes from sprouts are necessary for introducing in a daily ration of students for achievement of stable improving effect.

Summing up, it is necessary to notice that including in nutrition as additives toa daily food allowance of the phytoproof-readers developed by our laboratory, gives the chance to raise its biological value, to improve mineral and vitamin security that

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promotes the improvement of participants of educational process. Therefore it is possible to recommend them for a wide introduction for the purpose of expansion of assortment of products in student’s dining rooms, and also for a dietary and trea-tment-and-prophylactic food. For improvement the quality of food of their students it is possible to recommend them as in the organized collectives (dining rooms at universities, student’s dispensaries and bases of rest), so as in the house conditions (including student’s hostels).

ZDRAVÍ ZLEPŠUJÍCÍ VÝŽIVA JAKO METODA POSÍLENÍ ZDRAVÍ ÚČASTNÍKŮ VZDĚLÁVACÍHO PROCESU

Abstrakt: V poslední době zaznamenáváme významný pokles zdraví studen-tů, a to zejména ke konci školního roku. Kumulovaná únava zhoršuje výsledky let-ního semestru a vypovídá negativně o stavu všech fyziologických systémů organis-mu. Během let 1998–2008 se oddělení valeologie a mezifakultní výzkumná laboratoř národní univerzity Karazina Kharkiva zabývaly studií mechanismu adaptace organis-mu v podmínkách moderní vzdělávací a ekologické zátěže a hledáním cest k nápravě porušení těchto mechanismů, což vedlo k patologickým změnám organismu. Jedním ze směrů valeologického zajištění zdraví dětí a mládeže, který nabízíme, je používá-ní zdravých potravin, které vyvíjíme: čaje a sirupy založené na zdravotních rostlinácha také produkty z výhonků obilovin. Stav zdraví studentů 4 fakult na univerzitě byl odhadován v roce 2008: fi losofi cká, radiofyziky, psychologie a cizí jazyky. Pro studen-ty 1, 2, 3 se jednalo o takové zdravé potraviny, jakými jsou fytočaje Vesnyanka, sirup Valeoton a výhonky obilnin. Zjistilo se, že stav kardio-respiračního systému a sada jeho indexů, podle které se odhaduje úroveň zdraví, byla u skupiny studentů získávající lepší potravu pro zdraví vyšší, než v kontrolní skupině. Přidání výživy ve formě fytočaje, fytosirupů a dalších zvláštních produktů zdravé výživy vyvinutých naší laboratoří nám tedy umožňují propagovat její biologickou hodnotu, zlepšovat zdraví ve formě přísunu minerálů a vitamínů, který pomáhá zachovávat zdraví studentů

Klíčová slova: Valeologie, zdraví studentů, výživa

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PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN ADOLESCENCE

Magda TALIÁNOVÁ

Astract: Even though physical activity has a positive effect on health state, its share in the life of young people has been decreasing. The purpose of my contribution is to point out the values of the Body Mass Index (BMI) in adolescents and what their approach to physical activity is.

Keywords: physical activity, health state, Body Mass Index (BMI), hypo-mobil-ity, adolescence

Theoretical BackgroundPhysical activity performs an important role in the life of every human, help-

ing to keep human organism in a good health state and physical and mental fi tness. Regular physical activity increases physical fi tness of the individual, helps reduce body weight and blood pressure, improves lipid profi le and saccharide metabolism, reduces the risk of thrombi formation etc.

In the period of adolescence everyday physical activity of the young person drops, for he or she spends a lot of time at school and at home learning and prepar-ing for the following day at school. Most young people then spend their leisure time watching TV, working and playing on their computer and thus they fi nd lit-tle time for sporting activities. This condition is considered beginning of the stage called hypo-mobility. In this period it is important to motivate the adolescents to recreational sport. For this purpose it is possible to build on their interest in new attractive sports such as spinning, aerobic, art of combat, yoga, baseball, fl oor-ball, etc. Physical activity increases energy spending, develops endurance, agility, fl ex-ibility, attenuates aggressiveness and may teach application of self-discipline, es-pecially in collective games. If the physical activity is suffi ciently invasive and takes a suffi cient period of time then, according to Rippe, it may lead to relatively long subsequent increase of the ease metabolism, to the so called Q-effect. The recommended endurance physical activities in the young age include walking, cy-cling, swimming, running, collective ball games, tourism, skiing, water sports etc. In the case of overweight adolescents, however, it is necessary to consider adequacy and specifi c effects of the individual sporting activities to prevent worsening of the physical condition of the individual.

156

Purpose of Research

The purpose of the research was to assess the standards of physical activity of the adolescent population between 15 and 20 years of age. The standards of physical activity have been assessed by a comparison of two groups of young people on the basis of their BMI (body mass index).

Methodology of ResearchIn the research part of my thesis I attempted at a probe into the area of physi-

cal activity. I used the questionnaire method for data acquisition for my thesis com-plemented with anthropometric body weight, body height and fat mass measurement.I measures 1,020 respondents in total and subsequently had them fi ll out the question-naires focused on physical activity. All questionnaires were returned duly fi lled out. The obtained data have been processed in diagrams of relative values (in %) of the studied phenomena for both study groups. Statistical signifi cance was verifi ed with the help of the good compliance test chi-quadrate.

Research sample characteristics – The research was performed in 1,020 re-spondents of the age group 15–20 from the Pardubice and the Hradec Králové regions (secondary school students) and from the whole Czech Republic (university students). The subjects included 835 boys and 185 girls. After handing out the questionnairesI briefed the respondents about the purpose of my research and gave them basic instruc-tions about how to fi ll out the questionnaire. The respondents were given 25 minutes for fi lling out the questionnaire.

Interpretation of ResultsTable 1 Respondent BMI values

15 years 16 years 17 years 18 years 19 years 20 years

absolute relative absolute relative absolute relative absolute relative absolute relative absolute relative

frequency freq. in % frequency freq. in

% frequency freq. in% frequency freq. in

% frequency freq. in% frequency freq. in

%Below 18.5 underweight 16 1.5 16 1.5 9 0.8 9 0.8 10 0.9 5 0.5

18.5-24.9standard 113 11 113 11 109 10.6 108 10.5 116 11.3 127 12.4

25-29.9overweight 39 3.8 41 4 48 4.7 51 5 42 4.1 34 3.3

30-34.9obesity I 2 0.2 0 0 3 0.3 2 0.2 2 0.2 2 0.2

35-39.9obesity II 0 0 0 0 1 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0.1

Above 40obesity III 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.1

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Figure 1 Diagram of BMI values by age

The highest share in the underweight group was represented by the age group of the 15-year-olds (1.5 % of all measurements) and the age group of the 16-year-olds (1.5 % of all measurements). The highest share in the standard weight group was represented by the 20-year-olds (12.4 % of all measurements). The highest share in the overweight category with the percentage of 4.7 % of all measurements was rep-resented by the 17-year-olds. The highest share in the obesity I category (0.3 % of all measurements) was represented by the 17-year-olds, while the highest share in the obesity II category was represented by the 17-year-olds (0. 1% of all measurements) and the 20-year-olds (0.1 % of all measurements) and the only share in the obesity III category was represented by the 20-year-olds (0.1 of all measurements).

A positive approach to physical activity was mentioned by 88.1 % of the ado-lescents with BMI above 90.0 percentiles and 83.1 % of the adolescents with BMI below 90.0 percentile. Even though a positive attitude to physical activity seems to exist in over 80 % of the adolescents, the question is why the nearly 20 % expresseda negative attitude to physical activity. Do the reasons mainly include their health state or rather insuffi cient motivation or even laziness?

The question about participation in school physical training lessons was an-swered in positive by 94 % of the adolescents of the BMI above 90.0 percentiles category and 72.9 % of the adolescents of the BMI below 90.0 percentile category. These data also corresponded to the information obtained from the school where the research was conducted.

158

Figure 2 Diagram of physical activity in leisure time A sport club is attended by 46.4 % of the adolescents with BMI above 90.0

percentiles and 35.8 % of the adolescents with BMI below 90.0 percentiles. The most frequently attended sports clubs in the group of boys included ice hockey, football, basketball and volleyball. In the girls group they were aerobic, stretching, spinning and volleyball. In addition to the classical sports this group also included chess, shooting and fencing. Diagram 3 shows intensity of physical activity in the individual age groups per 24 hours. Most physical activity in all intensity levels was shown by the group of the 17-year-olds. On the other hand, the lowest physical activity was reported by the 15-year-olds and the 20-year-olds.

Figure 3 Diagram Intensity of physical activity in hrs/day

<1 hr 1 hr 2 hrs 3 hrs 4 and more hrs

Higher physical activity in hrs/day

Medium physical activityin hrs/day

Lower physical activity in hrs/day

Physical activity in leisure time

Intensity of physical activity in hrs/day

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Diagram 4 shows the most frequent physical activities of the inquired adoles-cents. The respondents could choose more than one sport. Respondents of both groups most frequently mentioned ball games and cycling. The least practised sports in the adolescent group with BMI above 90.0 percentiles included athletics and arts of combat in the adolescent group with BMI below 90.0 percentile.

Discussion and ConclusionThe results of the research show that the number of overweight individuals in

the age group of 15 to 20-year olds has been increasing. One of the main reasons of the increased body weight in the developed industrial countries is the reverse ratio be-tween food intake and physical activity. Although the results show a positive attitude to physical activity in more than 80% of the respondents in both BMI-based study groups, the share of physical activity in the lives of the young people and its intensity keep de-creasing. In the adolescent group with BMI below 90.0 percentiles nearly 27 % of the respondents reported exemption from physical training lessons at school on the basis of a medical recommendation. The question is whether so many adolescents really suf-fer from health problems big enough to prevent them from at least partial engagement in school physical training. Around 40 % of the adolescents of both groups reported maximum 1 hour a day spent by physical activity and another about 38 % of young people of both groups exercised or performed sporting activity for the mere 30 minutes a day, which in the adolescent age falls below the bottom limit of recommended physi-cal activity. The results also show that the preferred sports of the present period include cycling, tourism, ice hockey, football, or fl oor-ball. The truth is, unfortunately, that some sports are too fi nancially demanding for the parents of the children and that is why the parents do not let their children attend the sports clubs. Our towns and villages lack suf-fi cient numbers of sports grounds where the children could practise sports. If we want this trend to improve the adolescents and their families need to be motivated by means

Gymnastics and aerobic

Tourism

Cycling

Arts of combat

Swimming

Ice hockey and football

Athletics

Ball games

No sport at all

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of a proper education. It is important to know what the family can do for its adolescent´s sporting and what the role of the school is in this area. The family is expected to allocate time for both sedentary activities and physical exercise of their children, to positively motivate their children to sporting, to select a suitable sport for each child, to get in-volved in sporting activities together with the children, to avoid inadequate demand on the sporting activities and to support natural physical activity of their children. The schools are expected to include in the physical training lessons the new sports attrac-tive for the young generation, not to criticize or ridicule young people without talent for sports but on the other hand to encourage and motivate even these young people for sporting activities, to help adolescents fi nd sports in which they could excel and not to give bad marks for physical activity results.

POHYBOVÁ AKTIVITA V ADOLESCENCIAbstrakt: Ačkoliv má pohybová aktivita pozitivní vliv na zdravotní stav, tak se

její podíl v životě adolescentů neustále snižuje. Cílem mého příspěvku je upozornit na to, jaký je Body mass index u sledovaných adolescentů a jakým způsobem přistupují k pohybové aktivitě.

Klíčová slova: pohybová aktivita, zdraví, Body mass index, hypomobilie, ado-lescence

161


A CONTRIBUTION TO THE RESEARCH OF OBESITY INCIDENCE AMONG CHILDREN OF

YOUNGER SCHOOL AGE

Jana JUŘÍKOVÁ, Jan ŠIMŮNEK, Marcela BUDÍKOVÁ

Abstract: The article gives information on the measurement of selected anth-ropometric parameters of 11-year-old children attending primary schools in Brno. Body weight and height were measured and the acquired data was used to calculate the BMI (body mass index). Further, the volume of body fat was calculated as a sum of thicknesses of three skinfolds (the skinfold above biceps brachii, the subscapular and the supraspinal skinfolds). The results show that most children fall within the category that corresponds to the norm, both when the BMI method or the method of fatty tissue volume are used. The method of fatty tissue volume calculated from the thickness of the three skinfolds seemed to be more suitable for eleven-year-old children.

Keywords: body weight, height, BMI (body mass index), skinfold thickness, skin-fold over biceps brachii, subscapular skinfold, supraspinal skinfold, volume of fatty tissue

Theoretical Foundations Younger school age starts at the age of 6 or 7 and it is characteristic for

the fact the child starts attending school. The period ends at the age of 11 or 12 when there are fi rst signs of sexual maturation (MACHOVÁ, 1993; SUCHÝ et al., 1985). When children start attending school, their way of life changes. The main activity is then the class; the pupils have to submit to the requirements of school life, to cope with the demands laid on them. Their position in the family changes as well, their new role of a pupil is respected. At this stage of school age there is new progress in the development of their personality, their moral behaviour, their hobbies, their cognitive processes, their feelings and will, and considerable changes occur in the pupils’ socialization process.

The pupil’s personality is formed step by step and the class, learning, work activities and the socialization play an important role in the process of personality formation. The cognitive abilities develop, pupils learn moral norms, and their will strengthens. Pupils attempt to meet certain principles and social rules of their own will. Their needs and interests become more pronounced and this leads to better self-

162

cognition and self-assertion. Their interests are still changeable but the effort to satis-fy them has a positive effect on the motivation and the performance of the personality being formed (KURIC, 2001).

The younger school age is a period when children get a lot of movement. They fi nd the movement satisfactory and they attempt at its perfection. The coordination of muscles improves, especially the small muscles of the hand. Movement is one of chil-dren’s basic needs in this period. There is also the typical enjoyment and the spontaneity of the movement (PÁVKOVÁ, 2002).

The way children of young school age spend their free time and the way they choose their hobbies are strongly influenced by the social environment. The environment children spend their free time in can be very varied. It can by home, school, various social organizations and institutions. The most considerable is the influence of the family, where parents serve as role models. An interest or a hobby can arise as a response to parents’ support or in connection with parents. If the fam-ily is not able to play its upbringing role, schools or other educational institutions with qualified staff can compensate for the deficiency up to certain extent. If the compensation is not efficient enough, the children are in danger of being influ-enced by an undesirable group of their peers and even their healthy development can be threatened. One of the strong social influences nowadays is the media. The media, especially TV, can influence the children and their choice of hobbies. The children who spend too much time watching TV tend not to have enough time for their own interests; they replace their own activity with passive watching of TV programmes (PÁVKOVÁ, 2002; ŠULCOVÁ, 2005). Woynarowska (2005) states that 29 % of boys and 23 % of girls of younger school age watch TV for 4 and more hours a day in the Czech Republic. Most children watch TV in Latvia (43 % of boys and 35 % of girls), fewest boys watch TV in Sweden (18 %) and fewest girls watch TV in Greece (14 %).

In the younger school age, children grow vertically, their lower limbs get long-er, their muscles get stronger, in general they get more strength and they gain weight. Bone ossifi cation continues and the organs become more effi cient. The development of movement and other abilities is heavily dependent on the body growth.

Consistently, studies from around the world have reported that children´s phy-siques are changing, in particular that height, weight and waist girth of children have been steadily increasing. While some of these physique changes are attributable to “sec-ular trend” (TANNER, 1962) related to healthier living conditions and better access to food than earlier generations, the changes seem to be escalating.

Obesity is an increasing problem for children and adolescents (BOOTH et al., 2003). In addition to obesity many young people show early signs of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, and rates of diagnosis are increasing (kol., 2001; MC-MAHON et al., 2004). Excess energy intake and high intakes of saturated fat, salt and sugar contribute to these problems, which compound in the adult population. Develop-ing good eating habits that can be carried into adulthood is very important for the short and long term health of young people (HANDS et al., 2004).

Several large anthropometric surveys of Western Australian children have been conducted (BLANKSBY et al., 1974; BLANKSBY et al., 1986). Using these data sets Hands

163

et al. (2001) compared height, weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) for ages 6 to 16 years. They found that the children were heavier and taller in 2 000 than the previous data sets, with a similar trend in both sexes. Of concern was the fi nding that there was a strong upward trend in weight, particularly between the 1 974 and 2 000 data sets, and particularly for 10- to 12-year -old children.

Schlűter says that in technologically advanced countries, the obesity occurs with 5–30 % of children, out of which 70–80 % remain obese when adults. About 30 % of obese adults were also obese when they were children (LISÁ et al., 1990).

Obesity is a condition when excessive amount of fatty tissue accumulates in the body. For children, the weight exceeding the ideal body weight by 20 % is considered obesity (SOTHERN et al., 1999).

Chart I shows the classifi cation of obesity.

BMI value BMI category< 18.5 Underweight

18.5 – 24.9 Normal25.0 – 29.9 Overweight30.0 – 34.9 1st grade obesity35.0 – 39.9 2nd grade obesity

> 40 3rd grade obesity – ‘morbid obesity’

Chart I - Classifi cation of obesity (according to WHO, 1997 – in: Hainer et al., 2004, adapted)

Research AimsWoynarowska et al. (2005) researched how children of younger school age see

themselves – if they feel to be “too fat”, “all right” or “too thin”. 19 % of Czech 11-year-old boys said they feel to be too fat, 61 % felt all right and 20 % felt too thin. With Czech eleven-year-old girls the situation was as follows: 34 % saw themselves as too fat, 51 % felt all right and 15 % had the impression they are too thin.

The aim of our research was to fi nd out what the situation is like when we meas-ure some of the anthropometric parameters. 98 eleven-year-old children (54 boys and 44 girls) who attend primary schools in Brno were examined. Basic anthropometric pa-rameters, such as height and body weight, were found out and used to calculate the body mass index so that children could be divided into BMI categories. Then the thickness of skinfolds was measured and their sum made the fatty tissue volume.

Hypotheses

Literature states global spread of obesity, also for the population of children. The research hypothesis was that the sample of eleven-year-old children from primary schools in Brno, Czech Republic is not infl uenced by globalization so much as to fi nd a higher incidence of obesity.

164

Material and Methods

The body composition of children of younger school age was measured using anthropometric parameters. The set of children under research consisted of 54 boys and 44 girls; in total, there were 98 children from Brno primary schools. All the children were 11 years old.

The following anthropometric measurements were taken:body weight and height for the calculation of BMI, classifi cation of children into BMI categoriesthickness of three skinfolds and classifi cation of children into categories accord-ing to the volume of fatty tissue in the body

Ad 1) The body weight was taken using SOENHLE medical electronic scales, 75xxLED

type, resolution 0.1 kg, capacity 150 kg. Each child was in their underwear with no shoes when being weighed (KLEINWACHTEROVÁ et BRÁZDOVÁ, 1992). The weight of underwear was not taken into consideration.

The height was taken using a Sieber Hegner Co. anthropometer. Each measured child was standing upright, with their heels together, toes slightly apart, a fi xed body, a slight breath in and a balanced head. The anthropometer measurements were taken with 1 mm resolution.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a complementory indicator that is derived from the body weight and height. BMI measuring is generally spread both in the civil and the military sectors (JUŘÍKOVÁ et al., 2001). BMI is calculated using the following formula:

body weight [kg]BMI = --------------------------------- (height [m])2

The body weights and heights the researchers found out were used to calculate BMI. The results were classifi ed into a 6-grade scale. Individual categories are derived from percentile values (according to et al., 1995) – see Chart II.

Category Percentile Evaluation1. < 10 Serious malnutrition2. 10 – 25 Malnutrition3. 25 – 75 Norm4. 75 – 90 Overweight5. 90 – 97 Overweight / obesity6. > 97 Obesity

Chart II – Categories of BMI values (according to Prokopec in: et al., 1995)

1.

2.

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Ad 2)Skinfold thickness was taken using Harpenden-type Bests callipers, i.e. with

constant spring pressure set by international agreement to 10 p/mm2 with the size of bezels at least 40 mm2, with 0.1 mm resolution. When measuring a skinfold, fi rst the skin is to be drawn away from the muscles and the skinfold is caught between fi ngers (the thumb and the index fi nger), then the skinfold is to be taken by the plastic arms of the callipers – the distance between the bezels of callipers and the fi ngers is about 1 cm. The measurement has to be read from the scale in 2 s at latest (BRÁZDOVÁ et FIALA, 1998). The skinfolds were taken on the left or the right side of the body, in dependence on the right-handedness or left-handedness of each child.

These 3 skinfold were measured:the skinfold above the triceps brachiithe subscapular skinfoldthe supraspinal skinfold

The sum of thicknesses of the three above-mentioned skinfolds was classifi ed into a 5-grade scale. Then the number of members of each category was expressed in percents. The fi ve-grade scale includes the following categories, the marginal categories are open (MĚKOTA et KOVÁŘ, 1995) – see Chart III.

GroupFatty tissue volume

very low bellow average average over average very high

Boys < 13,5 13,6 – 17,5 17,6 – 28,0 28,1 – 52,0 > 52,1

Girls < 15,0 15,1 – 19,5 19,6 – 41,0 41,1 – 62,0 > 62,1

Chart III – Categories of fatty tissue volume (according to Měkota et Kovář, 1995)

Results and DiscussionThe measured values of body weight and height and the calculated BMI values

are shown in Chart IV.

GroupWeight [kg] Height [m] BMI

m s m s m s

Boys 39,5 8,50 1,476 0,064 18,14 2,88

Girls 60,1 9,36 1,720 0,065 20,21 2,24

Chart IV – Average weight, height and BMI of the children under researchKey: m – arithmetic mean, s – standard deviation

1.2.3.

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There was a minimum weight difference between sexes of the eleven-year-old children. The girls were found to be taller on average than the boys but the BMI values were not considerably different for both sexes. Chart V shows the numbers of children in individual BMI categories.

GroupBMI Category

1 2 3 4 5 6

Boys 4 12 22 12 2 2

Girls 6 8 18 7 5 0

in total 10 20 40 19 7 2

Chart V – Number of children in individual BMI categories

Most children were classifi ed as category 3 which corresponds to the norm. Al-most the same number of children is in categories 2 and 4: 20 children in the Malnutri-tion category and 19 children in the Overweight category.

Chart VI shows the classifi cation of children according to the fatty tissue volume calculated from the sum of thicknesses of three skinfolds.

GroupFatty tissue volume

very low bellow average average above average very high

Boys 0 8 24 16 6

Girls 2 8 26 7 1

in total 2 16 50 23 7

Chart VI – Number of children in individual categories according to the fatty tissue volume

The category of the average fat volume is the largest both for each group and in total, the category of the very low fat volume is the smallest.

ConclusionsThe results of the measurement of fatty tissue volume show that more than half

of the children (51.5 %) have an average fatty tissue volume, 23.7 % are above average and 7.2 % have a high volume of fat. 16.5 % of the children are bellow average and only 2 % of the children are very low on fat. It is obvious that the number of children with the above average and very high fatty tissue volume considerably (almost twice) exceeds the number of children with the bellow average and very low fatty tissue volume.

In comparison to the measurement of skinfold thickness, the results of Body Mass Index were slightly different. The highest number of the children is also in the normal category – 41.2 %. However, there are 19.6 % of the children in the Overweight category and 20.6 % of the children in the Malnutrition category.

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For the purposes of this work, the method of measuring skinfold thickness seems to be more suitable as it expresses the proportion of fatty tissue. BMI value is not able to express this proportion and it causes inaccuracies in the measurement characteristics. For example, a person with a high proportion of muscle and therefore with weight above average would be characterized as overweight.

PŘÍSPĚVEK KE SLEDOVÁNÍ VÝSKYTU OBEZITY U DĚTÍ MLADŠÍHO ŠKOLNÍHO VĚKU

Abstrakt: Práce podává informaci o měření vybraných antropometrických para-metrů u jedenáctiletých dětí navštěvujících základní školy v Brně. U vyšetřovaných dětí byla měřena tělesná výška, tělesná hmotnost a ze získaných údajů byl vypočten BMI (body mass index). Dále bylo u dětí zjišťováno množství tělesného tuku pomo-cí součtu tloušťky tří kožních řas (jednalo se o kožní řasu nad biceps brachii, kožní řasu subskapulární a supraspinální). Z výsledků měření bylo zjištěno, že nejvíce dětí se nachází v kategorii odpovídající normě, ať už byla použita metoda využívající BMI, nebo metoda stanovující množství podkožního tuku. Metoda stanovující množství pod-kožního tuku výpočtem z tloušťky tří kožních řas se pro soubor jedenáctiletých dětí jevila jako vhodnější.

Klíčová slova: tělesná hmotnost, tělesná výška, BMI (body mass index), tloušťka kožních řas, kožní řasa nad biceps brachii, kožní řasa subskapulární, kožní řasa supraspinální, množství podkožního tuku

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BODY IMAGE AND EATING HABITSOF OLDER SCHOOL CHILDREN

Sylva ŠTAJNOCHROVÁ

Abstract: The goal of this study was to measure the subjective body image and weight satisfaction of young ages 11–15. Satisfaction with their body image was measured by a series of questionnaires and other interactive interview techniques. From these results, a plan of suggested dietary changes, such as increasing daily servings of fruits and vegetables or in some cases omitting meals to reduce their overall calorie intake. An important part of the study was the silhouette matching section. The results of the study of 109 boys and 112 girls confi rmed that boys are more satisfi ed with their body than girls. In general, 70 % of boys were more satisfi ed with their bodies than girls. Many girls (57 %) felt that they should be slimmer and were actively dieting to reduce their body weight. Even though the diet regimen was a common behaviour in the girls, 32% of all respondents were overweigh or obese.

Keywords: Personality, self-esteem, body image, eating disorders, anorexia ner-vosa, bulimia, bigorexia, objective and subjective evaluation of body, diet, silhouette matching task.

Introduction: „Human body is an integral part of human personality. Human body is the bearer

of human existence, telling about the race, the gender, the family, the constitution, the age, the health state and the social standing of the owner of the body. The body is the basic value of man, a benchmark for his self-esteem, a permanent source of pleasure but sometimes also frustration.“(5)

The notion of body image covers all ideas of man related to his own body. People perceive their bodies and assess them not only on the basis of the changes

on their surface (wrinkles, grey hair) but also as a physical unit in the sense of assess-ment of the outer appearance (nice, ugly, physically attractive). At present the signifi -cance of how man perceives himself grows and man tries to meet his own criteria of evaluation of his physical appearance.

Thus every man creates a certain body image in the course of his life accented bya certain level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with his outer appearance, refl ecting reactions of the environment on the physical appearance of the subject. Thus the body image becomes an important source of self-confi dence or on the other hand physical insuffi ciency.“(11)

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Assessment of and satisfaction with own body are important for self-esteem and for psychic health, conditioning our relationships to other people and our behaviour in the process. The basic aspects of body image include appearance, fi tness and health. The roles of these aspects change with age and depend on the gender.

A positive or a negative relationship to one ´s body image develops as early as at the age of 6 and gains importance in the period of puberty. Pursuant to Thompson at the age of 6 body appearance is already more important for girls than for boys and the former are also much less satisfi ed with their bodies than the latter. The interest in physi-cal appearance grows with age in both gender groups(13). There is a frequent discussion on the role of the media in depiction of male and female body. As the mass media refl ect the period standards depiction of slim bodies in the media may affect the way females and males perceive their own bodies, their size and proportions. There is a general con-sensus in that the pressure exerted by the society on females is much stronger that the pressure exerted on males. Studies on depiction of both genders in the mass media have found out that females are depicted in a way quite different from depiction of males. While males are depicted in their standard body weight, females are usually depicted as abnormally slim(4). The scientists usually believe that both females and males derive their idea of the ideal body from the media and from other sources. However, as there is often a discrepancy between the ideals and the reality, human body image may thus be distorted, which may lead to the feeling of insuffi ciency. As the mass media strongly af-fect the lifestyle of the adolescents, they also infl uence their behaviour and self-esteem. Pursuant to Grogan (4) girls already at the age of 8 are largely dissatisfi ed with their body weight and the girl body and begin to prefer the slim body required by the society. In the period of adolescence the girls´ worries about their own body image culminate for the reason of the ongoing physical transformation, which moves the girls far away from their ideal of a slim fi gure. Research has reliably shown that most young girls at the age of 13–16 are dissatisfi ed with their bodies, believe to be corpulent and want to lose their body weight. Thus their fi gures become one of their major concerns. In the context of this discrepancy the number of dysmorphophobias grows. Dysmorphophobia is a psychic disorder involving distorted perception of the body or its individual parts. Kolouch also includes in this group food intake disorders (mental anorexia and mental bulimia) and bigorexia (6).

Methodology:The study was realised in the course of December through March 2008 at 4 ran-

domly selected elementary schools in Brno and in surgeries of general practitioners in paediatrics. The questionnaires were presented to pupils of 6th to 9th grades of elemen-tary school.

The respondent group consisted of 221 children, of which 112 were girls and 109 were boys at the age of 11–15 years.

The data collection method used for the children at school and in the paediatric surgeries was a questionnaire. For the reason of weighing and measurement of the chil-dren the parents of the children were fi rst asked to sign the informed consent with their children ´s participation in the study.

171

The anonymous questionnaire was fi lled out by the pupils in one of their school lessons. The pupils were fi rst briefed about the method of the questionnaire fi lling out, weighed and measured.

In the case of the visitors to the paediatric surgeries the respondents fi lled out the questionnaire in the waiting room and the paediatrician in the surgery then added the weight and the height of the respondent in the questionnaire.

Tab. 1Age 11 years 12 years 13 years 14 years 15 years Total Boys 10 15 28 27 32 112Girls 6 25 21 36 21 109Total 16 40 49 63 53 221

Method:The questionnaire was used for collection of data on the children ´s body image

and eating habits. The model for the questionnaire preparation was a questionnaire used in a simi-

lar study performed in the Czech Republic in 2005. Some questions were directly taken over from this questionnaire. The title of the 2005 study was “Lifestyle and Health of Czech School Children” (Csémy, Krch et al.)

The questionnaire was complemented with the silhouette matching test (SMT),a technique developed by Stunkard et all. in 1983. The test is designed for measurement of satisfaction with body image. The respondents are presented with a scale of fi gures from very slim to very obese. The scale usually consists of 5–12 silhouettes used for presentation of various anthropometric shapes based on different waist-hip measure ratios. The subjects are asked to choose a silhouette in their opinion matching their own body and then a sil-houette matching their idea of the ideal body. The difference between the two silhouettes is used as the indicator of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with own body image (15,10,2, 12).

In the following section of the inquiry the respondents were asked to asses their subjective relationships to various parts of their body. The level of satisfaction was measured against a fi ve-point scale similar to school evaluation marks (1 – complete satisfaction, 5 – complete dissatisfaction).

The questionnaire also included questions concerning satisfaction with body weight and dietary measures taken. The following section was represented by a fre-quency questionnaire aimed at fi nding out eating habits of the respondents.

Statistical Methods Used The obtained data were non-parametrical. That is why in the case of compari-

sons of 2 quantities the Kruskal-Wallis or the chi-quadrate test was used. In the case of a found correlation the Spearman Correlation Coeffi cient was used. The data were evaluated by the EPI INFO program for healthcare statistics. The Spearman coeffi cient represented a problem. The R system was used for its calculation.

172

Results and Discussion:

Table 2 shows distribution of the weight-height ratios among the respondents and the numbers of the individual ratios out of the total number of respondents. The same is shown by diagram 1. Out of the total study population 23 % of girls and 17 % of boys were underweight. Overweight or obese girls represented 22.4 % and boys 41.3 % of all respondents. The total number of respondents included more obese boys than obese girls.

Table 2

Category Weight-height ratio Share in the total numberof respondents

Underweight Below 25 20 %Normal weight 25-75 48 %

Overweight 75-90 14%Obesity Above 90 18%

The subjective evaluation of their body in the respondents does not agree with the objective values of the weight-height ratio. Both some of the boys and some of the girls assessed their fi gure as normal despite obvious overweight or even obesity. On the other hand, some girls, despite their underweight fi gure, classifi ed themselves as normal (see diagrams 2 and 3).

Diagram 1 – Weight-height ratio in boy and in girl respondent population

Boys Girls

Underweight Normal weight Overweight Obesity

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- 90% of the overweight boy respondents defi ned their fi gure as normal - 76% of the obese boy respondents defi ned their fi gure as normal

The value of the Spearmen coeffi cient was = 0.6103516, i.e. a positive correla-tion between the subjective and the objective assessment. This positive correlation was not very high for the reason of subjective classifi cation of the fi gures of many boys as normal despite the objective classifi cation of the same fi gures as overweight or obese. This trend may evidence the fact that the boys do not know what their normal body weight should be or that they confuse obesity with body building (musculature).

- 53% of obese girls assessed their fi gure as fat- 80% of overweight girls assessed their fi gure as normal- 46% of underweight girls assessed their fi gure as normal

Diagram 2 – Subjective and objective assessment of fi gure in boys

Slim

Objective assessment

UnderweightSubjective assessment

NormalFatTotal

Standard Overweight Obesity

Diagram 3 – Subjective and objective assessment of fi gure in girls

Slim

Objective assessmentUnderweightSubjective assessment

NormalFat

Total

Standard Overweight Obesity

174

The value of the Spearmen coeffi cient was = 0.5661810, i.e. a positive correla-tion between the subjective and the objective assessment. This positive correlation was not very high for the reason of subjective classifi cation of the fi gures of many girls as normal despite the objective classifi cation of the same fi gures as overweight or obese or underweight.

This trend may evidence the fact that the girls do not know what their normal body weight should be or that they consider an extremely slim fi gure as presented by the media as the optimum.

A comparison of the boys to the girls shows that girls more often assess them-selves as fat (11.6%) and boys more often assess themselves as slim (21.1%) despite the fact that there were considerably fewer obese girls than obese boys, see diagram 4.

The following part of the questionnaire focused on assessment of satisfaction with individual parts of the body. A similar method was used by Fialová (3) in 2006. The respondents were asked to score the individual parts of their body with marks 1-5 (see table 2). Fialová came to the conclusion that while males were more often dissatisfi ed with the top parts of their body (breast, neck, shoulders), females were most dissatisfi ed with the bottom parts of their body, such as waist, hips and thighs, and they were gener-ally more dissatisfi ed with their body proportions than males.

Our results show that the boys did not show worse evaluation of their upper body parts (arms and breast), while the girls expressed greater dissatisfaction with most parts of their body, with the greatest dissatisfaction with their breasts, bellies, hips, buttocks and thighs (see table 3).

Diagram 4 – Comparison of boys to girls

Slim

Boys

Normal

Valu

es

Girls

Subjective assessment of fi gureFat

175

Table 3

Mean values – individual body partsBoys Girls

Eyes 1.6 1.6Mouth 2.2 2.0Nose 2.3 2.9Hair 2.1 2.1Arms 2.1 2.4Breasts 2.4 2.7Belly 2.4 3.1Hips 2.3 2.9Buttocks 2.3 3.4Thighs 2.3 3.7

The values for the individual body parts were used for calculation of the over-all satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the body image. Overall dissatisfaction did not change considerably with age in girls while in boys there were statistically signifi cant differences in different age (table 4).

Table 4

Mean values of overall satisfaction Age Mean - girls Mean – boys 11 2.04 1.512 2.3067 2.01213 2.1929 2.314314 2.1407 1.869415 2.1531 1.8524

This leads to the conclusion that girls are less satisfi ed with their fi gure than boys since 11 years of age.

The silhouette matching test measuring satisfaction with body image is rather used in foreign studies and older age groups, preferentially of females. In our country this test was not used before in this age category.

Diagram 5 shows that girls wish to be slimmer (PP-3 to PP-1) than boys. Boys are more often satisfi ed with their fi gure (value PP0) or would like a stronger constitu-tion (PP1 to PP3). As for percentages a slimmer silhouette was selected by 54 % of the girls and 28 % of the boys. A stronger silhouette was selected by 9 % of the girls and 22 % of the boys. The same silhouette as their actual silhouette was selected by 35 % of the girls and 48 % of the boys. The difference between the boys and the girls was statistically signifi cant: Kruskal – Wallis p = 0.0000

176

These results are nearly identical with the results of other studies where this test was used. Helen Truby performed a study in 312 children between 7–12 years of age. She came to the conclusion that many children showed a high level of dissatisfaction with their body image: 48 % of the girls and 36 % of the boys wished a slimmer silhouette than they had, and only 10 % of the girls and 20 % of the boys wanted a stronger silhouette14.

Kimerly Adams in her study of 4th and 7th grade school children came to the conclu-sion that the girls in 4th grade were less concerned about their fi gure than the older girls and that the girls in 7th grade often described themselves as fat. The boys signifi cantly more often selected a stronger body silhouette than was their own. The girls, on the other hand, signifi cantly more often selected the ideal silhouette slimmer than their current fi gure(1).

Angela Thompson studies 77 non-obese girls at the age of 7–16 years. The sil-houette matching test results were as follows: Dissatisfaction with their body image was increasing in adolescent girls with their age: 34 % pre-puberty, 36 % puberty and 76 % post-puberty girls selected the ideal silhouette slimmer than their current one(13).

Similar results were shown by studies performed in males and females over 18. Females more often than males wished to be slimmer than they actually were. On the contrary, males were more often satisfi ed with their current appearance(2, 15).

Social pressure on the adolescents is the strongest in the puberty. Both the boys and the girls want to adapt to their environment and become attractive for it. The current ideal is repre-sented by a slim fi gure and normal weight is not considered the ideal. The reason why the girls are less satisfi ed with their fi gures in the adolescent age may also be due to the fact that in this period of life puberty causes body changes moving the girls away from their “slim” ideal.

Social pressure on the boys is probably weaker and that is why the boys are much more often satisfi ed with themselves. The reason of their satisfaction may also lie in the fact that the ideal male fi gure is not a slim fi gure but rather a normal to muscular one.

The next part of the questionnaire concerned satisfaction with body weight and diets. On the basis of these data the overall mindset concerning diets for body weight loss could be assessed and the girls could be compared to the boys in this respect.

Assessment of satisfaction with body weight may be compared to the study performed by Krch in 2000. The study focused on the relationships between satisfaction with the body and quality of life of Czech adolescents. The study group included 614 female students and 639 male students at the age of 16 years from Prague and from České Budějovice.

Diagram 5 PP (desired fi gure)

Desired fi gure

Valu

esBoys

Girls

177

The results shows that 65 % of the girls are not satisfi ed with their body weight. Out of that number 87 % of the girls wish to lose some weight. As for the boys 29 % are dissatisfi ed with their weight. Out of that number 65 % of the boys wish to reduce their body weight and 35 % wish to increase it. These differences are statistically highly sig-nifi cant. The girls wish to reduce their body weight in a statistically signifi cantly higher number of cases despite the fact that only 22.4 % of the girls are overweight or obese. The wish to increase body weight is statistically signifi cantly more frequent in boys than in girls, despite the fact that the study group included 51.2 % of overweight or obese boys (see diagrams 6, 7). The same conclusions were drawn by Krch, who said that the girls were slimmer than the boys on average, even though most of them wanted to be even slimmer. In his opinion most girls did not know what their normal body weight should be and wished to lose weight despite their normal body mass(7).

More frequent dissatisfaction with body weight in girls than in boys. Confi rmed by χ2 test (p< 0.01)

Boys Girls

No

Yes

Diagram 6 – Satisfaction with body weight and gender

Boys

Weight reduction Weight increase

Diagram 7 – Wish of increased or reduced body weight in boys and in girls

Girls

178

The wish of a lower body weight is statistically signifi cantly less frequent in boys than in girls. The girls statistically signifi cantly more often wish to reduce their body weight. Confi rmed by χ2 test (p < 0.01).

The attempts to reduce body weight by means of a reduction diet increase with age of the adolescents. Most girls at the age of 18 already have some experience with a reduction diet. The factors leading to the reduction diets in effect represent the most signifi cant effect on food intake disorders. Pursuant to Patron et al. the risk of PPP in-creases eight times in individuals on a reduction diet(8,9).

The study group confi rmed and the statistic results supported the fact that girls are on a reduction diet more often than boys or more often think they need one (see diagrams 8, 9). This activity may be related to the overall higher dissatisfaction of girls with their fi gure and appearance.

Diagram 8 – Boys

Yes

No

I needa diet

Diagram 9 – Girls

Yes

No

I needa diet

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The last part of the questionnaire focused on eating habits of the respondents. The studied eating habits were compared to dissatisfaction with body weight and the girls were compared to the boys in this respect.

The study found out that frequency of daily meals such as breakfast, lunch, after-noon snack and dinner depends on the level of satisfaction with body weight.

The respondents not satisfi ed with their weight have breakfast, lunch or dinner less frequently or skip some of the daily meals. This fact may be driven by the effort to reduce energy intake and thus lose weight.

The difference between boys and girls in frequency of afternoon snack and evening dinner was statistically signifi cant. Boys ate afternoon snack and evening din-ner signifi cantly more often than girls. But there was no statistically signifi cant dif-ference between boys and girls in consummation of breakfast, morning snack, lunch and 2nd evening meal (the supper). There was also a statistically signifi cant difference between the two genders in the number of meals with the family. Boys ate with the rest of the family more often than girls.

The difference in the frequency of consummation of evening dinner may be re-lated to the more frequent dissatisfaction of the girls with their body weight and there-fore to the desire to reduce their energy intake and thus their body weight. The more frequent dining with the family in the case of the boys is surprising. One of the reasons may be the fact that the most frequent common family meal is the evening dinner, which the girls more often skip.

No statistical result has confi rmed increased consummation of vegetables and wholemeal bread at the expense of sweets and sausages in the pupils wishing to reduce their body weight.

Conclusion: The results show that dissatisfaction with the fi gure, worries about obesity and

body weight reducing dietary trends are already apparent in the 11–15 age group. This dissatisfaction signifi cantly affects eating habits and lifestyle of the adolescents.

The study further shows that girls are signifi cantly less satisfi ed with their fi gure than boys and that they want to reduce their body weight despite the fact that most of them are underweight or at normal body weight. As a consequence of this dissatisfaction they are on a reduction diet more often than boys. The diet and the desire for a slimmer fi gure in girls may represent a risk of food intake disorders in this population.

Boys, on the other hand, showed an overall higher satisfaction with their bodies than girls, despite the fact that 40 % of the respondents in our study were overweight or obese. The desire for a reduced body weight was not so pronounced in this population, most of the boys being satisfi ed with their body weight or even wanting to weigh more.

The desire for a slimmer fi gure leads to the efforts to reduce energy intake. This changes eating habits of the subjects. The most negative effect observed was the result-ing irregularity in the daily mean pattern.

As our study group included more girls than boys who wanted to reduce their body weight, we may conclude that our girls showed worse eating habits than our boys.

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The results point to the need of development of intervention programmes for the studied age group including introduction of the anthropometric standards as well as ele-ments of nutrition education.

BODY IMAGE A STRAVOVACÍ ZVYKLOSTIDĚTÍ STARŠÍHO ŠKOLNÍHO VĚKU

Abstrakt: Práce hodnotí subjektivní názor dětí staršího školního věku na svůj vzhled a postavu, zda jsou spokojeni s tím jak vypadají a kolik váží, nebo zda touží po hubenější resp. svalnatější postavě. Dále zjistit zda s touhou po hubenější nebo svalna-tější postavě mění stravovací návyky jedí více zeleniny, méně sladkostí nebo vynechá-vají některá denní jídla a drží diety. K tomuto zjištění byl použit dotazník, jehož součástí byl také test přiřazování siluet. Výsledky studie zahrnující 109 chlapců a 112 dívek uká-zaly, že chlapci jsou mnohem více spokojeni se svým vzhledem a hmotností než dívky. 70 % chlapců je spokojeno se svou váhou, naproti tomu 57 % dívek si přeje vážit méně a vypadat štíhlejší. Dále bylo zjištěno, že dívky častěji než chlapci vynechávají některá denní jídla nebo drží diety. Z celkového souboru mělo 32 % respondentů nadváhu nebo obezitu.

Klíčová slova: Osobnost, sebepojetí, body image, poruchy příjmu potravy, men-tální anorexie, mentální bulimie, bigorexie, objektivní a subjektivní hodnocení těles-ných proporcí, diety, test přiřazování siluet

181


RESULTS OF THE STUDY ON THE PROGRAM NON-SMOKING IS A NORM IN THE THIRD

CLASS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Iva ŽALOUDÍKOVÁ, Drahoslava HRUBÁ

Abstract: The aim of the study is to specify effectiveness of the program Non-Smoking is a Norm for third classes of the elementary school. The evaluation of the program was verifi ed in the three items – knowledge, attitudes and risky behaviour. Data collection was realized by using the questionnaire method, before the intervention in January 2006 and after the intervention in June 2006. The results show an increasing level of knowledge after the intervention but no change in the level of negative attitudes with respect to smoking. Heightened fi rst attempts with cigarette appeared in our group of children. The parental social model and parental smoking behaviour are important factors to infl uence start of children’s smoking.

Keywords: drug prevention, educational-preventive programme, anti-smoking education, primary prevention in schools.

IntroductionThe program Non-Smoking is a Norm has been prepared for children of the lower

school age and it is focused on support of the healthy lifestyle and anti-smoking education. With its complex methodology the program belongs to desirable supports concentrated not only on the anti-drug prevention but also on oncology and cardiovascular educational pre-vention aims at school. The program can at least partially cover defi ciencies in realizing drug addiction prevention activities for the fi rst grade of elementary school; it is closely related with the drug addiction prevention in nursery schools and makes connection with prevention activities of the second grade of elementary schools. In this way, a continuous anti-smoking curriculum has been created for children in the age of 6 up to 15 years. Its orientation fulfi ls many demands that should and could be expected from schools in relation to educational-preventive work. The program has been composed as a system speaking to children from the fi rst class up to (now) the third class. In its gradualism, with smoking cigarette considered as an entrance agent, primary source of addictive substances (according to the so called gate-way theory), the program stepwise continues with prevention of other drugs (alcohol etc). The program attitude and methodology comply with development particularities of lower school age children and common everyday situations. Education themes are outlined by

182

using experience, games, staging performance, colouring books, rhymes, cloze-tests and other amusing methods to clarify the program topics. The program is in close relation to the Framework Educational Program, with unambiguous interrelationships to individual thematic areas and intersection topics; in this way teachers can implement educational-pre-ventive themes to the school education program. Also students of Faculty of Education, Ma-saryk University (mainly those specialized in the fi rst-grade teaching and health education) can participate in the program pilot study. The students can obtain valuable experience and skills in relation to prevention of risky behaviour and creation of school education programs. So the program can indirectly contribute to professional preparation of future teachers. The aim of this research is to verify effectiveness of the program Non-Smoking is a Norm for the third class of elementary school.

Research design of the evaluationSample Data collection Intervention Evaluation Methods Results

Children in the age of 8 and 9

years

Non-randomi-zed, non-repre-

sentative set

311 children in pre-test

373 children in post-test

Elementary school

3rd class

ProgramNon-Smoking is

a Norm

5 lessons focused on the

activity

In 4 weeks

Diplomas for children

Pre-test x Post-test

Post-test, 4 months after intervention

Control group

Experimental group

Questionnaire (based on own construction)

Increased knowledge

Change of attitudes

Change of behaviour

MethodsOur respondents were asked in a structured questionnaire constructed by our

own proposal; attitudes, knowledge and frequency of risky behaviour concerning ex-periments with smoking, alcohol and well-balanced diet were monitored. The attitudes of respondents to smoking of adults were evaluated by use of the fi ve degree scale. Further, four closed questions were prepared with possibility of a limited choice, fi ve open items for free formulation of answers in a whole extent and three half-closed questions. The questionnaire was anonymous and its data was collected with the ut-most correctness and fi delity. Two questions were focused on risks of smoking and consumption of healthy food. Two items dealt with attitudes to smoking and ten of them included behaviour. Five of the open questions, namely 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, were processed by the content analysis (Hendl 2005) with the open coding and a categorial system. The quantitative analysis was used in the program EPI Info 6.09, the statistic signifi cance was checked by the χ2 test and its modifi cation by Yats and Fischer (with the test for small numbers).

183

Data set examined

Research sample was neither representative nor random one. The studied set was formed with ten complete and non-complete public elementary schools from Brno town and its near neighbourhood; the schools agreed with realization of the research and application the preventive program in the third classes. Two schools participated in the Healthy School program but they were not evaluated separately. The studied set contained 311 children in the pre-test and 373 children in the post-test in two groups, the experimental group and the control one in order to compare results and evaluate the program. The respondents of the same age were included in the both experimental and control groups, approximately with the same representation of boys and girls coming from similar environment, approximately of the same size; so the groups can be consid-ered to be homogenous.

In the fi rst and the second class of elementary schools the initial human educa-tion curriculum is aimed at social features, while in the third class it is focused more on biological aspects, on anatomy of body organs and their function etc. The children of the experimental group have participated in the long-term primary program Non-Smok-ing is a Norm for more than two years; the program has been focused on support of the healthy lifestyle – i.e. non-smoking, suffi cient moving activities and well-balanced diet. The control group of children has not been infl uenced by this program or similar intervention.

ResultsThe study brings quantitative evaluation of children’s knowledge, their attitude

and behaviour concerning support of health and healthy lifestyle, with paying attention to smoking, alcohol consumption and well-balanced diet. The evaluation was structured in three thematic units:

AttitudesRisky behaviourKnowledge

1) Attitude of children to smoking of adultsAttitude of children to smoking of men and women was evaluated by use of the

scale from 1 to 5; 1 – I like it very much, 5 – I do not like it at all (i.e. it was marked similarly as at school). 1 and 2 were put to the category Positive attitude to smoking, 4 and 5 to the category Negative attitude to smoking (see Table 1).

Table 1: Attitude of children to men smoking (%)Men smoking Program Pre-test Control Pre-test Program Post-test Control Post-testPositive attitude 4,1 2,9 6,9 5,3Negative attitude 90,6 92,9 86,8 84,1*

* p < 0,05

1)2)3)

184

Differences were not statistically proved for positive attitude to men smoking, ei-ther in the experimental or the control group. Children of this age considered smoking to be negative and they refuse smoking. The respondents of the intervened set admired smoking men slightly more than those of the control set, but with the value not higher than 7%; however the difference is not signifi cant. 90% of respondents refused men smoking in the experimental set, with small differences before and after intervention. In the control group, without intervention, a signifi cant difference appeared (p < 0,05) in decrease of the respondents not liking men smoking in the post-test. So we speculate that the program could keep the same level of negative attitude to men smoking, while in the control group the number of respondents of negative attitude to men smoking has decreased.

No signifi cant differences were demonstrated in attitudes to women smoking but in the post-test the positive attitude to women smoking has increased practically by 3%, which is almost the same value for the both sets. About 94–98% of the respondents re-fused women smoking in the both sets without substantial differences (see Table 2).

Table 2: Attitude of children to women smoking (%)Smoking women Program Pre-test Control Pre-test Program Post-test Control Post-testPositive attitude 0,6 0,7 3,6 3,1Negative attitude 96,5 98,6 94,1 96,4

In general the respondents are more critical to women smoking than to men smoking; smoking men are better tolerated, in correspondence with common social at-titude. Thus, the attitudes of children have not been infl uenced by the program.

2) Risky behaviourIn this study smoking attempts and tasting alcohol were included in risky be-

haviour. In the both experimental and control sets the number of children with smoking attempts has increased from 11% in the pre-test to 13% in the post-test. Disappointing fact is that the number of smoking children in the experimental set was higher than in the control set - signifi cantly (p < 0,05) in the pre-test and also in the post test. Thus, in our intervened set signifi cantly higher number of children tried smoking, twice more by the results of Table 3.

Table 3: Number of children with smoking attempts (%) Program Control TotalPre-test 14 7,1* 10,9Post-test 16,2 9,5* 13,1

* p < 0,05

In the pre-test the respondents realized their fi rst smoking attempts mainly with parents, but in the post-test they inclined more to friends. Statistic differences were found between the control and experimental sets. In the set infl uenced by the pro-gram the children made use of an opportunity to smoke with their parents and friends

185

(p < 0,05). By the post-test results, the family environment infl uence was decreased and the infl uence of contemporary friends was higher. In the group with the program the children smoked with their parents and friends signifi cantly (p < 0,05) more in the pre-test. Infl uence of the social model of smoking parents is here signifi cant (Table 4a, 4b, 4c).

Table 4a: Opportunity to smoke (%)Attempts to smoke Program Pre-test Control Pre-test Program Post-test Control Post-testWith a friend 30* 11,1 43,3* 29,4With parents 41,7* 33,3 26,7 23,5

* p < 0,05

Table 4b: Opportunity to smoke – the group with the program (%)Attempts to smoke Program Pre-test Program Post-testWith a friend 30 43,3*With parents 41,7 26,7*

Table 4c: Opportunity to smoke – the control group (%) Attempts to smoke Control Pre-test Control Post-testWith a friend 11,1 29,4*With parents 33,3* 23,5

* p < 0,05

A known fact is that parents can substantially infl uence attitude of children to smoking. The parents can act as a very strong social model. In the studied set intervened by the program in the pre-test almost half of the parents smoke at home; this fact could infl uence number of children with smoking experience (see Table 5).

Table5: Parental smoking (%)PARENTAL SMOKING Program ControlPre-test 45,6 40,7Post-test 41,9 47,1

We also studied number of children with experience and opportunity to taste alcohol. An alerting fact is that almost three fourths of children tasted alcohol, mainly from hands of their parents. Half of them tasted beer and one third wine. About 20 % of children tasted another type of alcohol, mostly champagne, vodka, egg liqueur, plum brandy, half-fermented wine, apricot brandy. Surprisingly the number of the children deceased in the post-test, in the control group by 10% (Table 6).

Table 6: Number of children with experience of tasting alcohol (%) Program Control TotalPre-test 70,3 72,3 71,2Post-test 65,3 62,4 64,0

186

The children of the control group indicated tasting alcohol with their parents more often then the children of the intervened set, both in the pre-test and the post-test, but the differences were not signifi cant. In the experimental set, neither the pre-test nor the post-test indicated signifi cant differences (see Table 7, 8).

Table 7: Opportunity to taste alcohol (%) Program Pre-test Control Pre-test Program Post-test Control Post-testAlone 7,8 5,3 7,6 5,0With parents 78,3 83,2 79,4 87,1Another way 9,6 10,5 6,1 7,0With a friend 4,3 1,1 6,9 1,0

Table8: Type of alcohol tasted (%) Program Pre-test Control Pre-test Program Post-test Control Post-testBeer 55,8 52,5 54,2 52,1Wine 37,2 29,8 38 29,9Other 16,3 17,7 17,7 19,5

We evaluated also behaviour for support of principles of the well-balanced diet. Children were asked what healthy food they often consumed. The most frequent answers quoted, by our expectation, fruit and vegetables, then milk products, whole-meal bakery products and white meat. Many of them mentioned also improper products – rolls, bread, chocolate, salami etc. Comparing the pre-test and post-test results, statisti-cally signifi cant (p < 0,05) answers of the children indicated that the children under the program consumed more often milk products and the children of the control set used wholemeal bakery products (see Table 9a, 9b, 9c).

Table 9a: Frequently consumed food (%) Well-balanced food Program Pre-test Control Pre-test Program Post-test Control Post-testFruit, vegetables 93,6* 87,2 90,2 92,9Milk products 23,8 29,8 33,8* 28,2White meat 2,9 2,8 0,5 1,8Wholemeal bakery products 4,1 2,1 6,9 7,1*

* p < 0,05

Statistically signifi cant differences appeared for fruit and vegetables, in favour of the experimental set in the pre-test, but not in the post-test. Thus, children of the intervened set indicated signifi cantly more often (p < 0,05) consumption of fruit and vegetables, in comparison with the children of the control group; but there were no mu-tual differences in the post-test. In the control set another difference was found, namely more often consumption of wholemeal bakery products by comparing the pre-test and the post-test (p < 0,05).

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Table 9b: Frequently consumed food – the check group (%)Well-balanced food Control Pre-test Control Post-testFruit, vegetables 87,2 92,9Milk products 29,8 28,2White meat 2,8 1,8Wholemeal bakery products 2,1 7,1*

* p < 0,05

Table 9c: Frequently consumed food – the experimental group (%) Well-balanced food Program Pre-test Program Post-testFruit, vegetables 93,6 90,2Milk products 23,8 33,8*White meat 2,9 0,5Wholemeal bakery products 4,1 6,9

* p < 0,05

We examined why in the experimental group an increase had been indicated in the number of children with attempts to smoke. One reason could be a higher number of smoking parents in this group. The parental model is more impacting in this age, which corresponds with results of studies from abroad (Pust et al. 2007). The chil-dren are characterized by a strong tendency to assume parental habits, later on they enter under infl uence of their contemporaries and start smoking in groups of friends. Another explanation can be that the program was not effective but on the contrary it could in-crease interest in smoking. Signifi cantly higher number of children tried smoking in the intervened set. No improvement of healthy lifestyle oriented behaviour can be confi rmed concerning healthy food consumption for children in the intervened set in comparison with the control set. An alerting fact was indicated, namely that almost three fourths of children tasted alcohol, predominantly offered by their parents. Half of them tasted beer and one third wine. Number of children with risky behaviour has not signifi cantly decreased.

3) KnowledgeKnowledge was here characterized as specifi cation/knowledge of risks of

smoking and knowledge of healthy food. Risks of smoking were characterized by the children unambiguously: cancer and lung damage. Addiction and damage of teeth were mentioned very rarely by the children. Both the experimental and the control sets proved statistically signifi cant differences in this knowledge of children, in the pre-test and the post-test, too. The children of the set with the program indicated cardio-vascular and heart diseases more often and also more frequently they mentioned cancer as a consequence of smoking. Statistically signifi cant differences were detected between the pre-test and the post-test; in this way a medium-term effectiveness of the intervention to improve knowledge of children is unambiguously confi rmed. We can not unambiguously confi rm that no other infl uence could act here – another school edu-cation, after-school activities, home environment, media. Our investigation was realized

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after four months space. Nevertheless, the positive shift was confi rmed in the sense of higher knowledgeability in the post-test of the intervened group (Table 10a, 10b, 10c).

Table 10a: Risks of smoking (%) Risks of smoking Program Pre-test Control Pre-test Program Post-test Control Post-testCardiovascular/heart diseases 19,2** 2,8 24,1** 5,9Tumours/cancer 54,7 49,6 62,7* 51,8Drug addiction 1,2 1,4 0 0,6Other diseases 20,3 19,1 10,3 12,9Lungs damage 34,9* 21,4 43,1* 31,8

* p < 0,05, ** p < 0,01

However, the most noticeable difference was proved for heart diseases, between the control and experimental group, in favour of the experimental group, both in the pre-test nad the post-test (p < 0,01). The children ascribed the highest risk of smoking to cancer. Another signifi cant difference (p < 0,05) was proved for lungs diseases, in the experimental group.

Table 10b: Risks of smoking – the experimental group (%)Risks of smoking Program Pre-test Program Post-testCardiovascular diseases 19,2 24,1Tumours/cancer 54,7 62,7*Drug addiction 1,2 0Other diseases 20,3* 10,3Lungs damage 34,9 43,1*

* p < 0,05

Table 10c: Risks of smoking – the control group (%)Risks of smoking Control Pre-test Control Post-testCardiovascular diseases 2,8 5,9Tumours/cancer 49,6 51,8Drug addiction 1,4 0,6Other diseases 19,1 12,9Lungs damage 21,4 31,8*

Other infl uences could not be excluded, so the results do not refl ect only effects of our program on knowledge of the children. Total results are, however, positive. If the program only should create conditions for strengthening the knowledge in a consequent way, not only by the school education, the program object can be considered effective. An increased knowledge of smoking has been confi rmed.

Then knowledge of healthy food was studied. The statistic difference (p < 0,05) was indicated in favour of the set with the program, for fruit and vegetables in the pre-test, for milk products ( p < 0,05) and wholemeal bakery products (p < 0,001) in the post test. In the post test no difference was indicated for fruit and vegetables between the experimental and the control group. Anyway, a generally known fact is that fruit and

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vegetables belong to healthy food. Also no differences appeared for white meat (see Table 11a, 11b, 11c).

Table 11a: Knowledge – healthy food (%) Program Pre-test Control Pre-test Program Post-test Control Post-testFruit, vegetables 98,2* 90 97,1 95,3Milk products 23,8 29,8 38,7* 27,6White meat 2,9 3,5 6,4 5,9Wholemeal bakery products 4,1 4,2 15,2 9,4

* p < 0,05, ** p < 0,01, *** p < 0,001

Table11b: Knowledge – healthy food, the experimental group/the group with the program (%).Program Pre-test Program Post-test

Fruit, vegetables 98,2 97,1Milk products 23,8 38,7*White meat 2,9 6,4Wholemeal bakery products 4,1 15,2***

Table11c: Knowledge – healthy food, the control group (%)Control Pre-test Control Post-test

Fruit, vegetables 90 95,3Milk products 29,8 27,6White meat 3,5 5,9Wholemeal bakery products 4,2 9,4

The children of the both groups indicated reliably that fruit and vegetables are healthy food. Stepwise they are making acquaintance also with the wholemeal bak-ery products, white meat and milk products. The number of children considering milk products was increased in the experimental group, also by infl uence of the intervention. They often mentioned also pasta and incorrectly salami, chocolate, rolls, ice-cream, sweets, etc.

Intention of children to smoke in futureIn our study we have made survey of children’s intent to smoke in future.

The number of those intending to smoke was not changed; about 1% of children both in the set with the program and in the control set, in the pre-test and the post-test, too. The number is slightly higher in the set with the program. However, the number of those not intending to smoke in future stepwise decreased in favour of individu-als not yet decided to smoke (about 25% of children). This tendency was more noticeable in the set with the program. With statistic signifi cance (p < 0,05) more children not yet decided to smoke were found in the intervened/experimental set, in comparison with the control group in the pre-test. This is considered to be an alerting result which also indicates that children concern themselves with this phenomenon. However, in the post-test the values were not signifi cantly different. This tendency

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can be infl uenced by various factors – family, contemporaries, society. A statistically signifi cant difference was proved in favour of the control set for refusing decision in the pre-test. The most noticeable decrease of the children not intending to smoke was seen in the control set, also the number of not yet decided children increased. So, a negative tendency to hesitation and the decreased number of the future non-smokers was indicated in the control set (Table 12a, 12b).

Table 12a: Intention to smoke in future (%) Intention to smoke in future Program Pre-test Control Pre-test Program Post-test Control Post-testYes 1,2 0,7 1,4 0,6No 72,1 85,1* 69,2 74,1I do not know 26,7* 14,3 29,4 25,3

* p < 0,05

Table 12b: Intention to smoke in future – the control group (%)Smoking in future Control Pre-test Control Post-testYes 0,7 0,6No 85,1* 74,1I do not know 14,3 25,3*

The children expressed their opinion of prospective motive/impulse to smoke or not to smoke. Many respondents did not answer at all. The most of a small number of answers belonged to the category others. Examples of the answers were as follows: I would smoke because my fried is a smoker; smoking is trendy; because of curiosity; my parents are smokers; because of psychic problems (stress, despair etc.); probably I would like it; it seems to be appetizing for me; it smells well; under a pressure; for a joke. Substantially more children indicated smoking because of curiosity in the set with the program in the pre-test.

The most frequent reason why not to smoke given by the children was “be-cause I could be ill“; it was more often quoted in the post-test and in the control group. Further reasons were death, reek, bad habit. The sets were not mutually diverse in other answers. Other reasons followed from the answers: I do not like it; it is expensive; I could not get rid of it; it is not appetizing for me; it contributes to air-pollution; I could threaten other people; I am ill; it is harmful, dangerous, toxic; it does not smell well; I am sportsman; it is sinning; I would like enjoy my life in a proper way.

Characteristics of children with smoking attemptsAbsolute number of the children that tried smoking increased, from 34 in the pre-

test to 49 in the post-test. As regards the fi rst attempts, the number of boys is higher than the number of girls, which could be connected with the motive of the boys – satisfaction of curiosity. However, this trend can be stepwise expected also by taking into account an increasing pressure in groups of contemporaries in the age of 9–10 years, when infl u-ence of those groups is higher in general. It seems to be evident that more than more than a half of the children with smoking attempts does no know if to smoke in future.

191

Thus, the attempts can be repeated, the fi rst attempt was not discouraging. The children after fi rst smoking attempts have thought noticeably differently in comparison with the total set, primarily about smoking of men and women. About twice more respondents demonstrated positive attitude to the men smoking and three times more to the women smoking. The most evident difference can be seen in refusing attitudes to men smoking, counted against the children with smoking experience. They appreciated men smoking far more. Their attitude to smoking of men and women is less refusing, more posi-tive. About 90–97 % of those children had experience with alcohol; this number is about 20 % higher in comparison with the total set. Around two thirds of them tasted alcohol with their parents, 90% of them had experience with beer and half of them tasted wine; these values are again higher than the values of the total set (for beer 55%, for wine 35%). Two thirds of them lived in smoking households – in comparison with a half of them in the total set. The most substantial difference was found in their intent to smoke in future – 1% of children in the total set and 6% in the set of children with smoking attempts. Here also the number of hesitating children was about twice higher, at the expense of unequivocally negative answers.

DiscussionIn our set positive attitudes to smoking of men and women appeared for 3 to

7% percent of respondents. The responding children evaluated smoking negatively and in a natural way they refused smoking About 90% of children refused smoking. In spite of this fact, a shift to hesitation and neutral attitude has been indicated. Gener-ally, the respondents are signifi cantly more disapproving towards women smoking that towards men smoking; tolerance to men smoking is higher, in correspondence with a common social attitude. Thus, the attitudes of the children to smoking have not been changed by application of the program. It is a common knowledge that the attitudes can be often resistant to changes and so it is not easy to change children’s attitudes by a the shot term intervention. Indisputably a stepwise decreasing trend has appeared to refuse smoking and also higher number of hesitating respondents.

The attempts to smoke, to taste alcohol and consumption of healthy food were included in the risky behaviour study. The number of children with smoking attempts increased after the intervention – and more than in the set without the intervention. We tried to explain why the number of children with smoking attempts increased in the experimental group after the intervention. The reason can be seen in a higher number of parents – smokers for the children in the experimental group. The parental model can act strongly in this time period, which corresponds with the studies from abroad (Pust et al. 2007). Parental smoking is very substantial factor determining behaviour of smokers in childhood. The children tend to copy parental models; this infl uence is then stepwise supplemented by the infl uence of contemporaries and the children start smoking in groups of friends. Smoking in childhood and adolescence is a multicultural phenomenon which is infl uenced by local and social factors. Prevalence of smoking grows with the age, which was confi rmed by many international and domes-tic studies. In general, a social gradient exists for smoking. Higher number of smokers was detected in lower socio-economic spheres. It was proved that a low education level

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is a signifi cant risky factor of smoking for girls in the age of 12–14 years and boys in the age of 15–17 years (Pust et al. 2007). In our study the socio-economic status of families was not monitored, so we could not demonstrate its infl uence on the increased number of children with smoking experience. Prevalence of smoking is signifi cantly higher in families with the lower education level in comparison with families where the education level of parents is higher. Smoking of a family member is the most important factor that infl uences smoking in childhood and adolescence (Pust et al. 2007).

The second explanation could be that the used program was not effective; on the contrary it could trigger a higher interest in smoking – signifi cantly more children tried to smoke in the intervened set. No improvement of healthy lifestyle oriented behaviour was confi rmed concerning healthy food consumption for children in the intervened set in comparison with the control set. Only consumption of milk products increased. Alerting fact is that almost three fourths of children tasted alcohol, mainly from hands of their parents. Half of them tasted beer and one third wine. Number of children with risky behaviour has not signifi cantly decreased. Here it is necessary to mention that such behaviour is mostly infl uenced by everyday habits of individual families. School is here only an additional, less effective agent. Further, the effect of the program Non-smoking is a Norm is given by the program extent – 5 education lessons. Unquestionably it is a short intervention to change everyday behaviour and attitudes. It can only contribute to such intent and induce interest, open discussion, activate attention.

Knowledge area was here characterized as specifi cation/knowledge of risks of smoking and knowledge of healthy food. Risks of smoking were characterized by the children unambiguously: cancer and lung plus heart damage. It can not be unambigu-ously confi rmed that no other infl uence could act here – another school education, after-school activities, home environment, media. However, also the mere induced interest in this topic and common increased knowledgeability are important aims of our interven-tion. The generally known fact is that fruit and vegetables belong to healthy diet; it was mentioned by the children most frequently. They also quoted white meat, wholemeal bakery products and milk products. Knowledge infl uenced by the intervention could be indicated most easily, it is most provable. The problem is that knowledge and be-haviour do not mutually correlate. Knowledge is far from everyday behaviour. For this reason the program was also focused on infl uencing attitudes and behaviour. A positive infl uence of the intervention was indicated by increased knowledge of smoking risks and well-balanced diet. Increased negative attitudes to smoking and positive changes in healthy lifestyle oriented behaviour were not proved.

ConclusionsThe concept of our program is unusual by its design: to ask children also in

the fi rst and second classes of elementary school, while foreign programs started with interventions in the fourth and fi fth classes and exceptionally in the third class, if ever focused on children of the lower school age. We worked on assumption that attitudes to an appropriate behaviour, in the sense of keeping healthy lifestyle principles, are being formed in the preschool and early school age. Family is here of primary importance but effective preventive school programs can supplement the role of family. And just here

193

it is suitable to use educational programs of primary prevention for the school age chil-dren to infl uence the children towards health support and disease prevention; it was also the aim of our effort by using the above mentioned program Non-Smoking is a Norm. Effectiveness of this program was confi rmed only partially. The school program could substantially infl uence attitudes and risky behaviour of the children only reluctantly. The most important is here everyday impact of family environment. School can effectively infl uence knowledge but it is also a suitable motivating agent and supplementary factor in forming attitudes and behaviour. The question of the near future is in what measure the program will be spread in the real life and the daily school practice in the Czech Re-public, how children, teachers and parents will like it; if they can accept it and complete it creatively according to their own typical local conditions. Just in this way the program could be realistic and lively, with positive infl uence on child population. Meaningful-ness of all activities in creation of school programs for primary prevention is directed to the goal of our long-term intent - to change behaviour of children and adolescents, to decrease prevalence of smoking and support of healthy lifestyle.

VÝSLEDKY STUDIE 3. TŘÍDY PROGRAMU NORMÁLNÍ JE NEKOUŘIT

Abstrakt: Cílem tohoto šetření je zjištění účinnosti programu „Normální je nekouřit“ pro 3. třídu základní školy. Evaluace programu je ověřována ve třech ob-lastech: znalosti, postoje a rizikové chování. Sběr dat byl proveden metodou dotazníku před intervencí v lednu 2006 a po intervenci v červnu 2006. Výsledky potvrzují zvýšení znalostí po intervenci, ale nepodařilo se zvýšit negativní postoje ke kouření. Objevilo se i zvýšené první experimentování s cigaretou. Důležitým faktorem ovlivňující počátky kouření je sociální model rodičů, kuřácké domácí prostředí.

Klíčová slova: drogová prevence, preventivně-výchovný program, výchova k nekuřáctví, primární prevence ve škole.

195


EVALUATION OF THE PRIMARY ANTIDRUG PREVENTION OF MASARYK UNIVERSITY

STUDENTS

Petr KACHLÍK, Marie HAVELKOVÁ

Abstract: In 2007 the research aimed at the primary prevention of pathological ad-dictions was carried out. With the assistance of an anonymous questionnaire, a sample of 2176 respondents – full-time students from all the MU faculties – was addressed. The re-sults show that only fi fth of the addressed students met the addiction prevention topic dur-ing their study in MU, mostly in Faculty of Education, Medicine and Science. With regard to preventive impact on MU students, especially the monologue lectures are applied, rarely the lectures with discussion and participation in after-university preventive programmes. More than three quarters of asked students answered that university prevention activities involved only alcohol and nicotine problems, only tenth of the sample had the experience with complexly conceived pathological addictions prevention. For all practical purposes, 9 of the 10 questioned students mean that these are only isolated preventive activities, there is no succession and systematic ness. More than half of respondents consider the university addiction prevention as pointed and useful; the commentary about prevention of tenth of the sample is rather critical (unclear focus, usefulness, even time loss). Third of all the respondents would agree with extending of addiction problems advisory service for university students. Anti-drug Consulting Centre in MU would welcome all the respond-ents, their opinion differ only in a matter of Consulting Centre localisation.

Key words: Masaryk University, students, pathological addictions, primary anti-drug prevention activities, Anti-drug Consulting Centre in MU

PreambleGravity centre primary prevention of pathological addictions by children and ado-

lescents consist expect the family also on shoulders of primary and secondary school. Young adults to which belong also high schools students are treating in enough adult personalities to achieve effectually resist of offer different addictive substances and addic-tive behaviour to not become a victim of pathological addictions. From epidemiological aspect they do not present signifi cant risk group. According to whole series of investiga-tions is necessary to pay attention to them because after graduation, in their jobs they are in touch with young people, patients, clients, they are in contact with community and media,

196

they present authority for community, they present specialist with model way of behav-iour. Their personal image becomes a part of community imagination about health service standards, education, science, law system and business. Important is individual sample of each specialist – university student because of propagation his own qualities and defects. (Dubský, 1994; Dvořák, 1995; Nešpor, Csémy, 1996; Pavúk, Koščo, 1997)

To the stress moment of study on high school pertains problems with adaptation on dif-ferent life stereotype which put a high requirement on independence, responsibility, planning and usage of time, concentration ability and relaxation of young people. (1996 Annual Report Centre for Drug and Alcohol Studies, 1997; Kandell, 1997; Novotný, Kolibáš, 1997)

After graduation young specialists are looking for job and more and more poten-tial employers take account not only of quality achieved education and personal char-acteristics but also possible problems of candidate with addictive substances including alcohol and tobacco. (The NNIC Report, 1996; Thy Supply of Illicit Drugs to United Sates, 1997; Lenton et al., 1997; Rouse, 1996)

At Masarky University has been proceed, after some pilot investigations (1993–1997 LF MU, equal Kachlík, Šimůnek, 1995 a 1998; Hrubá, Kachlík, 1998) representative epi-demiological study focused on description of drugs scene by high school students. In Czech Republic has been followed less attention to this population group than to children and ado-lescents therefore it is possible to confi rm that Masaryk University played pioneer role.

In period 2005-2007 was performed 3 years project called “Description of drug scene at Masaryk University (MU) and proposal of preventive disposal”. First year was realized a sonde in drug scene on two faculties MU (pedagogical and medicine) to evaluate methodologies of study (Kachlík, Havelková, 2007), the second year was performed an investigation on representative sample of 1000 respondents (results are in process), last year was attend to mapping over the preventive activities at University. Selected data from third part are presented in this announcement.

Materials and methodsMain target from this part of project was to map over activities and level of prime

prevention pathological addictions on sample of present student of MU and presentation of these results to direction of University. To adjacent targets belong creating of original questionnaire specifi ed for description free time and preventive activities at MU and outside University, also focused on experience and needs of student in area prevention of social pathology with accent to addiction of behaviour. For other targets could be con-sider consolidation of realization preventive activities at faculties, publication of outputs on professional forum and involvement of diplomats in project solving.

The matter of investigation becomes the auditory all 9 faculties MU. Totally it is go-ing about 2176 respondents – attendance students, from this 592 males (27,2 % and 1584 fe-males (72,8%). The average age of respondents in the whole group was 21,6 years, SD 2,75, males 20,9 years, SD 2,14 and females 21,8 years, SD 2,91. The directory on University was aware about thoughtful action and approved this action on meeting. Students were addressed by help of special marked message in application University information system board.

Authors of the study try to obtain standard questionnaire focused on prime ad-diction prevention but even of addressing another institutions (Medical faculty MU,

197

national health institute Prague, station Regional Hygiene) was not such a document in disposition. Therefore was created own non-standard form.

Obtaining on information was anonym questions method. The questionnaire con-tain the basic indicators (age, male, faculty, year of study) and 21 questions, from that 16 with close and 5 with half-close chose of answer. Questions were focused of present respondents experience with prime addiction prevention at secondary school and at University, for orderliness and prevention offer, type of preventive activities and their subjective evaluation, needs and students wishes. Electronically questionnaire form was transform in to face of Inter-graphics (fl ash application) and placed in public web ad-dress http://boss.ped.muni.cz/drogy . Currently was created and verifi ed collection data-base where the respondents put their answers.

In the form was ahead of the questions insert short information about the project, his intention and revolvers together with their contact addresses. Persons concerned about the study could have free choice to be present of addressing. Rejection or acceptation of fulfi ll-ing the form was not tied together with other offers. Data were electronically recorded into prepared database on server. After questioning were transformed into usable form for data transformation into statistical software and in consequence proceed by EpiInfo 6 En program (Dean et al., 1994) and Statistica for Windows 7 Cz (StatSoft Inc. 2004). With help of statis-tical tests (x2, Fisher exact) were evaluated statistical relevancy differences between marks during dividing of fi le according to sex, according to faculty and according to study year.

ResultsThe study results are presented in graph form with text comment. Title of the

graph is in the same time also the title of monitored mark. In tabled statement “abs” means absolute count and “%” relative count of monitored mark.

Graph 1: Meeting with addiction prevention at MU (sorted by sex)

Only the fi fth from the whole segment (graph 1) has meet during the study at University with prime addiction prevention, by males in concerned about tenth, by

77,9

22,1

89,2

10,8

73,7

26,3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

%

a ll ma le s fe ma le s

noyes

198

females about the quarter respondents (p < 0,001, x2). Differences were recorded also during the sorting of respondents according to year-class of study. With additional prevention meets at University tenth of interviewee in fi rst year-class, third from sec-ond year-class and third from third year-class, only 7% from fourth year-class and up to 50% in fi fth year-class.

Graph 2: Opportunities in which respondents meets with prevention of addiction (Sorted by sex, mentioned only positive answers)

Overview of whole segment positive answers (graph 2) shows that in education meets with prevention of addictions at University fi fth of sample from attendance stu-dents, during the sorting according the male tenth of males and quarter of females (p < 0,001, x2 ). Preventive activities at campus registered hardly 2% of segment. Females little bit more, in scope of education actions arranged by University less than 1% from whole sample, it goes practically about males. Other action produced by Masaryk Uni-versity mentioned less than 2% of segment, here goes practically only about females. In education meets students with prevention of addictions most often at pedagogical, science and medicine faculty.

According to graph 3 has with prevention of addiction during the education at University never meet 80% investigated sample, 92% males and 76% females. Approxi-mately tenth of whole segment students and females has meet with prevention by re-quired subject, from males lass than 3% (p < 0,001, x2). Around 2% of sample mentioned contact in scope required selective subject, it goes practically about the females. The tenth from whole sample mentioned selective subjects, females more (p < 0,001, x2).

Mostly of respondents has meet with prime prevention of addictions in scope of required subjects at pedagogical faculty (34%), then at faculty of medicine (9%), faculty of law (7%) and philosophy faculty (6%). Required selective subjects were mentioned only by pedagogical faculty (7%), selective subject more often (economical – adminis-trative faculty 11%, philosophy faculty 6%, information science faculty 25% faculty of medicine 9%, pedagogical faculty 7%, science faculty 19%)

19,9

8,1

24,2

1,52,7

1,00,7

2,7

0,01,5

0,0

2,0

0

5

10

15

20

25

%

e duca tion colle a gue e duca tion a ctionMU

othe r a ctions MU

a ll

ma le s

fe ma le s

199

Graph 3: Type of subjects in which respondents meets with prevention of addictions in scope of education at MU (sorted by sex)

Group All(n=2176)

Males(n=592)

Females(n=1584)

Answer abs. % abs. % abs. %Simple seminary 256 11,8 0 0,0 256 16,2Seminary with discussion 80 3,7 32 5,4 48 3,0Chat with specialist 16 0,7 0 0,0 16 1,0Chat with ex-user 0 0,0 0 0,0 0 0,0Visit at K-centre, tec. 0 0,0 0 0,0 0 0,0Visit at therapy institution 16 0,7 16 2,7 0 0,0School preventive program 0 0,0 0 0,0 0 0,0Out of school preventive program 32 1,5 16 2,7 16 1,0Art activities 16 0,7 16 2,7 0 0,0Sport activities 0 0,0 0 0,0 0 0,0

Table 1: Overview of activities which students could pass in scope of anti-drugs prevention at MU (Sorted by sex, mentioned only positive answers)

From positive answer sample of all respondents ensue that the tenth has with pre-vention at Masaryk University meets on monologic lead lectures (it was mentioned by females only), around 4% on seminary with discussion (without big difference between males), less then 1% on chats with specialists (mentioned by female only) and during the visit at therapy institution for addicted (mentioned by males only). Approximately 2% of all respondents has participate on out of school preventive programs (more males), less then 1% different art activities (marked by males only).

At faculties are used mostly the simple seminary (without feedback), which men-tioned mainly students of pedagogical and medicine faculty, less commonly also of phi-losophy and science faculty. Chats with discussion were mentioned from side auditory

10,3

2,7

13,1

1,5 0,0 2,0

8,1 5,4 9,1

80,1

91,9

75,8

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

%

re quire d subje cts re quire d se le ctivesubje cts

se le ctive subje cts e duca tion no

a ll

ma le s

fe ma le s

200

of pedagogical, law and information science faculties. Sporadically were marked also other types of activities, for example chat with specialist, visit of therapy institution, involvement into out of school preventive program and art activities.

Group All Males FemalesAnswer abs. % abs. % abs. %Only on legal druha 1824 83,8 528 89,2 1296 81,8Only on illegal drugs 32 1,5 16 2,7 16 1,0Only on virtual drugs 0 0,0 0 0,0 0 0,0On legal and illegal drugs 112 5,1 32 5,4 80 5,1On all types of addictions 208 9,6 16 2,7 192 12,1Together 2176 100,0 592 100,0 1584 100,0

Table 2: externalization of preventive activities at MU (sorted by sex)

From the point of view externalization preventive activities at MU (table 2) was most often frequented answer (80% at whole subject and by females, 90% by males) that preventive activities at MU are focused only on problematic with alcohol and tobacco. Prevention of additions on forbidden substances was mentioned by 2% of respondents, no one mentioned that it goes about prevention of addiction on so-called virtual drugs. Mention about more complex proposal of University prevention mentioned by 5% questioned (addiction on alcohol, tobacco and forbidden substances). Approximately the tenth of all questioned and females, by males only 3%, answered that prevention at University was focused on all types of addictions so on substances, virtual drugs and ad-dictive behaviour. Globally was recorded statistical signifi cance between answer from males and females (p < 0,001, x2).

According to meaning most of respondents from single faculties are preventive activities at University mostly focused specially on alcohol and tobacco, less than other addictive substances and activities. For more complexes consider the prevention part of questioned students pedagogical faculty (52%), information science (25%), faculty of law (13%), medicine faculty (9%) and faculty of philosophy (3%).

Group All Males FemalsAnswer abs. % abs. % abs. %Sporadically 2112 97,1 592 100,0 1520 96,0Systematically 64 2,9 0 0,0 64 4,0Together 2176 100,0 592 100,0 1584 100,0

Table 3: orderliness universitarian preventive actions (sorted by sex)

For systematical consider universitarian preventive activities only about 3% from whole segment (Table 3), practically females only, no males. The rest has opinion that it goes about sporadically efforts. Only respondents from pedagogical faculty (14%) mentioned that at University meets with systematical preventive activities. More than 93 % questioned, practically in all year-classes agreed that preventive anti-drug activi-ties at University has sporadically character. With systematical preventive activity, dur-ing sorting by year-class, meets only minimum of respondents (maximally 7%), relative count has softly increase in way to higher year-class.

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Graph 4: Subjective feeling of respondents of preventive activities at MU (sorted by sex)

More than 55% from whole segment (without principle difference between males and females) consider addiction prevention as targeted and useful (graph 4). Around 4% of all respondents evaluated prevention at University as not targeted but useful, females more. The third of all has no pronounced opinion. More than 7 % of all questioned, 3 % males and the tenth of females criticize fact that prevention was darkly focused and almost without use, 2 % of all respondents (5 % males, 1 % females) has describe it as completely lost of time. Globally was recorded statistical signifi cance between answer from males and females (p < 0,001, x2).

Approximately half of respondents from single faculties consider prevention at University as targeted and useful, however there is exist relatively high percent those who could not take a stand, they have no opinion. Globally is the low useful and consid-eration of prevention claimed by students from faculty of philosophy (3%), faculty of medicine (18%), pedagogical faculty (17%) and science faculty (10%). Part of auditory faculty of law (7%) and science faculty (10%) fi nally means that prevention at Univer-sity is completely lost of time.

Group All Males FemalesAnswer abs. % abs. % abs. %Insuffi cient 2000 91,9 512 86,5 1488 93,9Suffi cient 176 8,1 80 13,5 96 6,1Together 2176 100,0 592 100,0 1584 100,0

Table 4: Time space for prime addictions prevention at MU (sorted by sex)

Nine from ten respondents think that to prime addiction prevention at Univer-sity is not dedicate with enough time (Table 4). Females are more critical than males (p < 0,001, x2). Only 6-9 % of sample in single year-classes means that to prime pre-vention of addictions is dedicated with enough time space, the rest do not follow this opinion.

55,954,1

56,6

3,7 2,7 4,0

30,9

35,1

29,3

7,4

2,7

9,1

2,15,4

1,00

10

20

30

40

50

60

%

targeted andus eful

not targeted butus eful

c an not judge not targeted, toliitle us eful

los t of time

a ll

ma le s

fe ma le s

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Group All Males FemalesAnswer abs. % abs. % abs. %Insuffi ciently various 1968 90,4 496 83,8 1472 92,9Suffi ciently various 208 9,6 96 16,2 112 7,1Together 2176 100,0 592 100,0 1584 100,0

Table 5: Diversity the offer of prime addiction prevention activities at MU (sorted by sex)

According to table 5 was recorded similar evaluation like by previous item. Nine from ten respondents hold an opinion that the offer of prime addiction prevention activi-ties at University is insuffi ciently various. Females are again more critical than males (p < 0,001, x2).

Group All(n=2176)

Males(n=592)

Females(n=1584)

Answer abs. % abs. % abs. %Interpretation with discussion in scope of education 448 20,6 80 13,5 368 23,2Chat with specialist from proffesion 1104 50,7 208 35,1 896 56,6Chat with ex-user 1120 51,5 256 43,2 864 54,5Visit at preventive or therapy external institution 992 45,6 160 27,0 832 52,5Cooperation on preventive project/grant 752 34,6 160 27,0 592 37,4Campus actions 608 27,9 144 24,3 464 29,3Out od campus actions 672 30,9 112 18,9 560 35,4

Table 6: The consolidation/implementation the preventive anti-drugs activities at MU according to respond-ent’s opinions (Sorted by sex, mentioned only positive answers).

How is resulting from table 6 the fi fth of whole segment (the seventh of males and quarter of females, p < 0,001, x2) would care about implementation or more often exploitation of interpretations with discussions in scope of education. Chat with specialist from profession would be welcome half of all questioned (35 % males, 57 % females, p < 0,001, x2), alike chat with drugs ex-user (43 % males, 55 % females, p < 0,001, x2). Visit of external preventive or therapy institutions has wish 46 % questioned sample (quarter of males, the third of females, p < 0,001, x2). Approximately the third of segment (females more) would support or consolidate cooperation of auditory on preventive project (grant). The third of whole sample (quarter of males, the third of females, p < 0,05, x2) would consolidate or imple-ment different preventive campus activities, the third of all respondents (the fi fth of males, the third of females) out of campus activities ( for example educational, art, sports, etc., p < 0,001, x2). Globally students supported activities with higher ratio of feedbacks and visits at cross-country institutions.

Group All Males FemalesAnswer abs. % abs. % abs. %No 1440 66,2 256 43,2 1184 74,7Yes 736 33,8 336 56,8 400 25,3Together 2176 100,0 592 100,0 1584 100,0

Table 7: Respondents opinion onto enlargement of offers the services for students at MU concerning consul-tancy at problem with drugs and additional behavior. (Sorted by sex)

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According to table 7 would the third of all respondents (57 % males and 25 % females, p < 0,001, x2) agreed with enlargement consultancy about problematic of ad-diction. The rest consider this topic as not actual.

Group All Male FemaleAnswer abs. % abs. % abs. %In place of current consultant centre 688 31,6 112 18,9 576 36,4In place of some college at MU 304 14,0 48 8,1 256 16,2In place of some fakulty at MU 544 25,0 112 18,9 432 27,3Out of objects MU 640 29,4 320 54,1 320 20,1Together 2176 100,0 592 100,0 1584 100,0

Table 8: Respondents opinion about placing the anti-drugs prevention centre (Sorted by sex)

In case that respondent would need to use anti-drugs consultation, they can choose from some possibilities (acc. to table 8). The third of them (the fi fth of males, the third of females) would identify the consultation at addictions with place of current consultant centre at University; the seventh (8 % males, 16 % females) would consulta-tion placed in object of some high school college at Masaryk University. The quarter of all questioned (the fi fth of males, the third of females) in place of some University faculties, the third of segment (half of males, the fi fth of females) then completely out of University range. Globally was recorded statistical signifi cance between answer from males and females (p < 0,001, x2).

DiscussionAccording to available literary sources existing different descriptive and compar-

ative studies of drugs epidemiology focused on usage legal and illegal drugs by different population groups. Relatively the best monitored situation is within the adolescents at primary and secondary schools which belong to most vulnerable groups. On high school auditory is focused already less attention and very often stays covered in bigger popula-tion samples – for example 18-35 years (Collective, 1998a; Collective,1998b, Collec-tive, 1998c; 1996 Annual Report Centre for Drug and Alcohol Studies, 1997; Nešpor, Csémy, 1997). Experiences of high school students with prime addiction prevention and with her use in universitarian life are very rarely analyzed specially at humanity focused faculties. More often comments about the way of application of prevention at University environment are coming from foreign countries.

Kachlik a Šimůmek (1995, 1998) have follow the monitoring of drug consum-mation and attitude to them by high school students at MU since year 1993. In period 1993–1997 performed anonym questionnaire investigation on sample of 456 auditory (177 males and 279 females) the fi fth year-class of medical faculty MU. They recorded high level of syndrome “personal immunity” when the risk the usage of batch of addic-tive substance were played down. The students allow the danger of tobacco consumma-tion but no hempen drugs. The female were more critical than males.

Unless of anti-smoking functioning were medicals in scope of residency at pre-ventive medicine institution addressed by activities concerning prime prevention viola-tion non-tobacco and non-alcohol drugs. Prevention of addiction was going through in

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education of future pedagogue and set in study materials. It was enhanced cooperation with consultant centre MU and students get opportunity to solve their problems with addiction on University land.

More than 10 years is Mrs.Hrubá successfully realized complex program preven-tive anti-smoking functioning on medicine students at faculty of medicine MU (Hrubá, Kachlík, 1998). She addressed also the clinical workplaces, so the auditory of medicine get knowledge of modern theoretical and practical knowledge’s about tobacco smok-ing and possibility of hos reduction. During the study comes to creation positive model doctor-non smoker, students are trained how to be addressing and recruit their future patients into successfully manage the smoker problem.

Csémy et. al. (2004) has investigated sample of 904 Prague’s high school stu-dents with help of anonym structured questionnaire which was focused on violation of drugs and attitude to them. It contain also scale monitored some psychological char-acteristics. The risk or socially undesirable forms of addictive substance usage were found by the third of segment. Persons with risk behavior to addictive substances show higher level of depressives, worse mental health, they hardly identify with globally valid socially norms. Students used more alcohol or consummated other drugs support more apologetic attitude to addictive substance usage. There were found no signifi cant ties between quality of family environment and the risk of drugs usage.

Čapalova et. al. (1997) investigate attitude of high school auditory to problemat-ic of addictive substance with help of her own questionnaire with 22 items. 112 students of fourth year-class from medical and law faculty Komensky University Bratislava par-ticipate on this investigation. The body of questionnaire was formed by statements from media to which questioned formulate different strength scale of agreement or disagree-ment. Signifi cantly more females (81 %) then males (71 %) fell the regularly marihuana smoking as risk. Females attribute higher importance during occurrence of addiction to family environment and believe that with using of drugs is possible to stop only based on own decision and strong will. Respondents proved good level of information’s about the drug problem, but more in theoretical area. They are missing more accurate informa-tion’s about therapy and after-treatment of addictive persons.

Orosová a Schnitzerová (1997) reported about communicative training pro-gram of addiction prevention for students of pedagogical faculty UPJŠ at Košice. In students preparedness for anti-drugs activities played signifi cant role their present ex-periences with addictive substances, attitude to them and acceptance of prime addic-tions prevention which mapped also questionnaire study. It was addressed 77 future pedagogues and 125 auditory of non pedagogical orientation. To drugs demonstrate 47 % questioned dramatically negative attitude (especially future pedagogues), 52 % questioned softly negative up to neutral attitude, 1 % softly positive attitude. Nega-tive attitudes were more dramatically often recorded at females, non smokers and at abstainers. In students existing signifi cant differences within opinions at single areas of preventive work and evaluation of own preparedness for work with pupils therefore is key involvement of information’s and skills from area of addictions prevention into undergraduate education.

Effective addictions prevention programs should contain professionally presented in-formation’s, especially about long-term negative drugs effects, consolidation adequate self-

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assessment and opportunities for life targets realization, preparing young people for manage-ment of confl icts, the pressure of peers, development social skills and art of drugs refusing.

Universities at USA defend against increasing of addictive substance violation by their students out of own preventive programs also realization so called “clean” (sub-stance-free or alcohol-free) living in campuses. Absolutely forbid availability of drugs is practically not possible but this kind of living lead to decreasing of problems related to drugs consummation. (Wechsler et. al., 2001; Novotný, Kolibáš, 2003)

In USA were compared 3 approaches to anti-alcohol education: program focused on identifi cation the risks, program concentrated on right decision and program targeted on clearing the life fi gures. The mostly acceptable and most increasing the knowledge program focused on identifi cation the risks, as leas effective appears strategies targeted on value ladder, which was confi rmed during the evaluation of impact on current and expected alcohol consumption by respondents. (Goodstadt, Sheppard, 1983)

Program counted with connection Americans high schools into prevention of problems caused by alcohol investigate effi ciency of campaign performed with help of junk mail. It monitored the willingness of students participate, get knowledge, de-crease alcohol consumption and occurrence of driving in drunkenness. Inquiry shows that 93 % questioned has been reading the mail, their knowledge were better, neverthe-less their behavior does not changed. (McCarty et al., 1983)

South Californian University preventive medicine institution mentioned 6 points im-portant in area of investigation and anti-drug prevention. It goes: joint decreasing of offer and enquiry, choose the strategy of prevention which affects the population groups with high risk, complex or extended prevention which in several lines and time period address targeted population, transformation of new technologies, development research of preventive meth-ods and usage interfaces of basic investigation with social science discipline.

University students, especially those who intensively drinks alcohol has predis-position over valuated frequency of occurrence consummation excessive amount of al-cohol within their peers. Self-regulated model forecast that feedback informing about real occurrence undesirable deviation from norm standard could be the reason for cor-rection of behavior desirable direction, it means to acceptable norms. Model was used at study 568 American high school students University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, from which 64 were identifi ed as strong drinkers and was offered to them opportunity participate on study about alcoholism. Roughly the third of students (26) accepted par-ticipation and provide detail information’s about their consummation practices. Part of them got by mail feedback focused on comparison their alcohol drinking with global social norms. In followed questioning subjects affected by feedback shows reduction of weekly alcohol consummation and typical sings of intoxication against controls. This simple intervention with feedback, not requested personal contact, could present effec-tive strategy for decreasing the risky drinking. (Agostinelli et al., 1995)

In England used preventive program against abnormal alcohol consummation. Communal organizations opened experimental restaurant at university campus which was lead by higher year classes student – absolvent of anti-alcohol education course (Mills, 1983). Target of this program was modifi cation of average alcohol consumption per head. Input data and prospective study monitored level of alcohol consumption, frequency of problem and attitudes related with drinking. Participation at actions related with project

206

was high. By students increase consummation of alcohol free drinks, their attitudes to ab-normal drinking, driving the cars and aspect of campus entertainment has changed. But the results shows that consummation of beer, wine even hard alcohol does not dramatically fall down, alike was not affected frequency of occurrence the problems related with abnor-mal alcohol consummation (hang-over, driving in drunkenness, riots, disorderliness).

Studied sample do not present segment of all attendance students Masaryk Uni-versity. Even if all auditory were theoretically addressed with help of bulletin board in information system they were not forced to fulfi lling the questionnaire, it goes strictly about optionally decision, not obligation. From this reason are frequency of respondents by some faculties (information science, sport study) and year-class (the sixth) low. Also it is related with fact that naturally the number of students is different on each faculty MU and study is practically fi ve years long (we do not count graduates and medicine faculty). These facts were indeed take in account during statistical analysis, but during the ma-nipulation with results and their interpretation is to be careful. Because it goes about one of the fi rst study focused on prevention at MU the time interval to compare the result with other questioned should be on, it will be also necessary to “adjust” used questionnaire and methodic of data collecting. Practically the authors of the project moved between two phenomenons: full anonymity but relatively low answer yield (access to web form with-out login) versus single valued identifi cation with followed anonymity and high answer yield (access to questionnaire after login to universitarian information system). If was by some questions recorded zero answer frequency it should not mean that occurrence moni-tored appearance is in whole segment MU zero. Zero is only in their choose segment, for presentation of results is necessary approach critically and guardedly.

By high school students shows as key the positive affection their attitudes and behavior models, because it was recorded discrepancy between their (mostly qualifi ed) knowledge and acceptance of risky activities oriented to drugs experiments.

ConclusionFrom the results of study ensue that 2 of 10 questioned students has meet at MU

with addictions prevention, namely mostly on pedagogic faculty, information science fac-ulty, medicine faculty and science faculty. Similarly has only 2 of 10 questioned respond-ents meet with prevention at MU in scope of education, only few percent than on cam-puses, various educational and special-interest actions performed by University. The tenth of investigated segment was with addictions prevention at MU questioned at education of required and selective subjects, 2 % in required selective subject; most often goes about students pedagogical, science, information science and medical faculties.

To preventive action on students MU are used mostly monologically lead semi-nary, infrequently seminary with discussion and involvement to out of University pre-ventive programs, very little of chats with specialists, visit at therapy institutions for addictive and present on art or sport actions. More than three quarters of segment an-swered that universitarian preventive activities are mostly focused on alcohol and to-bacco problematic, only 10 % of sample got experiences with complex taken prevention of pathological addictions. Practically 9 of 10 questioned students’ means that it is only about preventive activities with single character, sequence and orderliness are missing.

207

More than half monitored segment consider universitarian addictions prevention as targeted and useful, the third could not tale a stand, the tenth is critical (not clear focus, not useful, even the lost of time). According to opinion 9 of 10 respondents is attend to prime addictions prevention at University not enough time, similarly they an-swered about diversity the offer preventive activities at MU. Questioned auditory would mostly care about implementation or more often usage chats with specialists and drugs ex-users, further about the visit preventive or therapy institution focused on pathological addictions (half of segment), the third questioned would support or consolidate coopera-tion on preventive project (grant), various preventive activities at high school campuses and out of campus actions (educational, art, sports, etc.), the fi fth usage interpretation with discussion in scope of education.

The third of all respondents would agree with expansion of consultant services for University students about the problematic of addictions, the rest do not take this topic as actual. The third of monitored segment would identify the anti-drugs consultant centre at MU with current object, the seventh would rather placed the consultant centre into place of high school campus MU, the quarter would welcome integration centre into object of some high school faculties at MU and the third of segment wholly exter-nally out of University range.

HODNOCENÍ AKTIVIT PRIMÁRNÍ PROTIDROGOVÉ PREVENCE STUDENTY MASARYKOVY UNIVERZITY

Abstrakt: V roce 2007 proběhl výzkum zaměřený na primární prevenci pato-logických závislostí. Pomocí anonymního dotazníku byl osloven vzorek 2176 respon-dentů – prezenčních studentů všech fakult MU. Z výsledků studie vyplynulo, že pouze pětina dotazovaných se setkala na MU s prevencí závislostí, a to nejvíce na fakultě pedagogické, lékařské a přírodovědecké. K preventivnímu působení na studenty MU jsou využívány zejména monologicky vedené přednášky, řídce přednášky s diskusí a zapojení do mimouniverzitních preventivních programů. Více než tři čtvrtiny sou-boru odpověděly, že se univerzitní preventivní aktivity týkaly především problematiky alkoholismu a tabakismu, pouze desetina vzorku získala zkušenost s komplexně pojatou prevencí patologických závislostí. Prakticky 9 z 10 dotazovaných studentů míní, že jde spíše o preventivní aktivity ojedinělého charakteru, schází jejich návaznost a systema-tičnost. Více než polovina sledovaného souboru považuje univerzitní prevenci závis-lostí za cílenou a užitečnou, desetina se vyslovuje o úrovni prevence kriticky (nejasné zaměření, neužitečnost, dokonce ztráta času). Třetina všech respondentů by souhlasila s rozšířením poradenských služeb pro studenty Univerzity o problematiku závislostí. Centrum protidrogového poradenství na MU by uvítali všichni oslovení, jejich názory se liší pouze v tom, kde by mělo být centrum situováno.

Klíčová slova: Masarykova univerzita, studenti, patologické závislosti, aktivity primární protidrogové prevence, Centrum protidrogového poradenství na MU.

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IMPLEMENTATION OF MINIMAL PREVENTIVE PROGRAMME IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL CONDITIONS

Petr KACHLÍK, Marie HAVELKOVÁ

Abstract: The minimal preventive programme (MPP) represents a key device to implement prevention in education in the primary, secondary and special school con-ditions. The problems of habit-forming substations usage and addiction behaviour are a part of serious forms of social pathology, children and adolescents are an important risk group. This contribution informs about selected projects that are in motion under the terms of MPP in schools, further information is about the questionnaire survey implemented in 26 schools in the Czech Republic and aimed at the MPP characte-rization and evaluation. The study conveyed a result that preventive programmes in schools should be oriented and directed to pupils studying all the grades of schools, their realization should step not only into the lessons, but also into the children’s free time activities, every child needs an individual approach, the cooperation with parents and their knowledge ability should not be neglected, it is purposeful to outline the pre-vention as a matter of community with state and other subjects connection, and to use the interactive methods.

Keywords: Minimal preventive programme, school, pupil, prevention, commu-nity, addiction

PreambleDrugs are everywhere around us and become part of our life. Ideal society without

drugs does not exists and unfortunately it could not exists. It is all about how to equal with this problem in best way. It is not possible to fi nd multi-purpose tip. Appearance of drugs problem could not be removed with best pedagogy, not even with prevention in best meaning and not even with the best legislative provision. With the measures on the most high number of society levels (family, school, sports and culture proposal, mass media, health care institutions) is possible to decrease the number of potentional consu-mers and also the risk related to usage, and that is the point.

One of the major preferences becomes the anti-drug prevention in schools and area of free time. It results to necessity of methodology and evaluation of preventive intervention focused of risk groups. So our objective should be to focused on subject,

210

fi nd the reasons which lead him to usage the drugs, eliminate these reasons and then start with preventive touch on the others. (Nešpor 1996b; Jedlička a Koťa, 1998)

To basic principles of effective general prevention program belongs (Nešpor et al., 1996; Nešpor a Csémy, 2003):

• If it is possible early beginning and age suitability;• Reasonable size and interactivitation;• Involvement of essential part of pupils;• Obtaining of relevant social skills and skills needed for life;• Respecting of regional specifi city;• Exploitation of positive models;• Involvement the problem of legal and illegal habit forming substances and social

pathology behaviour;• Systematisation and long term;• Qualifi ed and trustworthy presentation;• Complexity, usage of more strategies;• Readiness on appearance of complications, proposition of possibilities their

encompassment

The most of good foreign general preventive programs includes legal and illegal as well habit forming substance, because (Nešpor, 1995):

• Legal drugs raising measure of risk elements and possibility of pass to illegal drugs;• Beginning of addiction on habit forming substance is by teen-agers more quicker

than later in life• Teen-agers has determination to feel prevention focused on legal habit forming

substances like one-sided;• Very is often is the combination alcohol and other habit forming substances;• Children from families where the addiction on habit forming substances has been

occurred are more in danger than children from families where has been to occur-rences;

In prime drugs prevention is going above there has been mostly reduction of drugs enquiry, that drugs would not be searched and being consume, there will be no reasons to abuse them. It is desirable and necessary to induce behaviour of person by change of values and society norms in which he lives (population as unit, family, school collective), a which brings specific risk to his life, so to despatch or enfeeble them that in their consequence could not the drugs problem come into begin. Efficient prime prevention is multi-disciplinary matter, when widely coo-perative specialist from different scopes (Nešpor, 1996a; Nešpor, 2001; Nešpor a Csémy, 1996).

Mostly risk factors, which could cause the drugs problem is recruiting by these areas: family, school, peers, others social factors. Important is also the atmosphere in which are created norms and values. (Nešpor et al., 1994)

211

In prime prevention is above three plains of action whose combination is for resulting effect desirable (Nožina 1997):

• Give the basic, objective information’s about kind of drugs, their effect, origin, expansion, beginning of addiction, actual situation in state, place of live. Clearly and truly show where the drugs addiction lead together with society relevance.

• Introduce, or train strategy and techniques how to live in society endangered with drug and remain away. If these techniques of behaviour are more elaborate thereby could have more deeper impact on person in accordance to changes of his life style

• Offer as much ways as possible how to achieve life satisfaction and understand how to manager diffi cult situations

In Czech Republic exist different form of prevention. Not each of them has the same high preventive effectiveness. (Keller a Pecinovská, 1996; Nešpor 1996b).

If we want to be successful in fi ght against drugs we have to act jointly and globally. Department of schools which guarantee action on mostly endangers part of population( children and adolescents, is aware about it. Just the Ministry of Education Czech Republic (MŠMT) becomes with complex anti-drug program which with his con-ception of prevention address all age categories of children and adolescents. There has been made “ Conception of prevention of the habit forming substances exploitation and another social pathology appearance by children and adolescents in scope of department by Ministry of Education.

It response to actual status of drug scene in Czech Republic, on structure, dynamic and expectant progress of criminality and other social pathology effects by children and adolescents. Part of approved conception is „ Minimal prevention pro-gram“ (MPP) called „School without drugs“, which is specifi ed for schools and child institutions. Conception create necessary space for cooperation between departments and that is why prefer open preventive system, makes possible for active reaction on changed conditions of social process, continuously modifi ed preventive strategies and deepen effectiveness of used accepted disposal and applied methods. (Collective, 1999; Collective, 2000a)

Schools and schools institutions must contain prime attitude in prevention system rea-lized in scope of Ministry of Education whereas this prime attitude comes out of fol-lowing arguments (acc.to Collective, 2000a; Collective 2000b):

• Children spent one quarter or one third time of day, school has a dramatically infl uence on his life style and way of decisions

• The fi rst signifi cant problems in child behaviour which usually needs special care are most often appears at primary school;

• School department has large site of counselling services.• Child present the fi rst symptom of problems behaviour more earlier than is given

to care of social department in section of work and social department

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• Social department institution comes at that time when is necessary to make a intervention in family and complex preventive actions made by school depart-ment are not enough effectual

• School and school institutions are often only one instrument in which is possible to correct positive infl uence of contemporaries.

• Base of preventive system by children and adolescents must be made on close connection of family, school and subjects which are involved in area of free time

MPP is complex systematically component in realization of preventive activities at primary schools, secondary school and special school system. His realization is for each school and each shown school institutions bind. MPP “School without drugs” react s to actual status of anti-drugs prevention in school department and create methodical premise of creation effective preventive system in which will have priority the schools and school institutions relationship of activities in free time management.

MPP is specifi ed for basic orientation by pedagogic performers who are involved on school program realization. It also can be used by school anti-drug Methodists who are co-ordinators of anti-drugs incidence at school. Realization of MPP is since 1.1.2001 bind and is subject to control of Czech school inspection. There is embedded responsibi-lity of systematically education of pedagogical workers, of enlightenment to healthy life style, building up of child and adolescent’s personality and creation of condition for free time usage. Methodical assistance for preventive work by school and school institution is fi rst given by methodical of prevention.

One of the main task and activities at school and mentioned school institutions in scope of MPP are:

• responsibility of systematically education of school preventive methodical and other pedagogical workers in methods of prevention enlightenment, in not usual techniques pedagogical preventive work with children and adolescents and in solving of problematical situations related with presence of social pathological phenomenon’s

• Systematically implementing ethnical and law enlightenment, enlightenment to healthy life style and other areas of preventive pedagogy into pedagogy of single subjects in which could be used

• Realization different forms and methods of incidence on single person or groups of children and adolescents focused on personality and social behaviour develo-pment assistance

• Creation of conditions for meaningful free time usage• Cooperation with parents and further education in area on healthy life style and

in area of prevention of problems in development and pedagogy of children and adolescents

• Continuously following of concrete conditions and situation at school or school institution in light of risk of social pathology appearance and in applying diff-erent forms and methods susceptible early interception of children and adoles-cents in danger

213

• Differentiable applying preventive activities and programs specially focused on single risk groups of children and adolescents

• Providing of consultants services by school preventive Methodists and careers master to pupils and their parents and ensurance of special consultants services

MPP is regularly ones per year evaluated. The whole effectiveness and behaviour of MPP is controlled. There is also measured effectiveness of single activities which runs in scope of MPP (Collective, 2000b)

Material and methods Target of control was evaluation the realization level of Minimal preventive pro-

gram on choice schools and readiness of prevention Methodist to execution of their fun-ction. It was also controlled the effectiveness of disposal to prime prevention to reducti-on occurrence of social pathology phenomenon (with accent on dependency behaviour) in population segments of primary school pupils and students of secondary schools in Moravian region.

In year 2007 was under care of Ministry of Education realized investigative pro-ject guaranteed by Anti-drugs commission. It goes about addressing of Methodist of social pathology appearance (n=26) and detection effectiveness of preventive interven-tions on sampled primary and secondary schools. Investigation was made by 18 trained consultants at 26 schools and school institutions at Moravian region (totally visits 8337 pupils in 449 classes, from this was 12 primary schools with 5528 pupils in 249 classes, 8 institutions from area of special educational system with 760 pupils in 88 classes and 6 secondary schools with 2049 pupils in 112 classes)

Data were get with help of not standard questioner in which was 15 areas of questions separated according to content to 4 areas:

1. Determination of problem ( appearance of social pathology addictions at concre-te school, target group, targets and realization of MPP)

2. Preventive intervention (activities applied in area of MPP, priority accesses and methods which are used in relation to target group, persons participant on MPP, their qualifi cation and personage expectations).

3. Program effectiveness evaluation (information about the offer of activities for next education of pedagogy workers, evaluation of prime prevention in MPP scope, checked indicators and risk facts, presentation achieved results in level of school, community and region).

4. Support of prevention and educational activities (applicant arguments at get-ting the fi nancial support for anti-drugs prevention program, thinking about the choice school MPP in case of suffi cient resources, courses, seminary and other educational activities which made possible and support application captured edu-cations and skills into natural condition of school during realization of anti-drug prevention).

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Because it is going about the sonde into background of primary and secondary schools it were collected data evaluated only with help of overview statistics. For rea-sons of high number of free answers it was necessary to sort them into artifi cially cre-ated categories. The key results are presented in table form with text comment.

Results and discussionThe target group, in which is MPP focused, is acc. to table 1 are in a board sense

all pupils at school. In strict sense of word are determinate groups which need special focus with regard to problems and negative appearance of behaviour, from them unrol-ling following intervention. For closer determination of target group are often missing incoming information’s about the pupil, and fi rst of all in light of structure of personality and family neighbourhood. Very important resistance in work with target group is con-nection commuter pupil into after school activities.

Answer Relative count in % (n=26)

All pupils 54Pupils from 2nd grade at primary schoul 33Pupils from problematical families 17Pupils with specifi ed failure of teaching 17Pupils 2nd and 3rd grade 4Boys in age 15-18 years 4Children families 4Romany pupils 4Children with drug experience 4

Table 1: Target groups whereby is MPP done according to respondents

To most frequented activities realized in scope of MPP belongs acc.to Table 2 non-violent implementation of addiction problematic into education, chat, seminary and personal consultations. Other forms of prevention are used infrequently (thematic excursion, special-interest bee, cooperation with parents, contents of class hours)

Answer Relative count in % (n=26)

Implementation of addictions theme into education 54Chats, seminaries 50Personal consultation 42Thematic excursion in centre of addictions therapy and prevention 21Usage of boards, skilled literature offer, contact on pedagogical-psychological clinic 17Free time activities, cooperation with parents usage of class hours 13Links and box of trust, reference on skilled consultants 8Media, pupils autonomies, communication meetings focused of prime addictions prevention 4

Table 2: Preventive intervention activities applied in scope of MPP (Possible choice of more answers than one)

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Acc. to Table 3 are most frequented contents organized children free time special-inte-rests courses and working with internet, less other actions (games, chats, school clubs visiting).Answer Relative count in % (n=26)Special interest clubs 42Work with internet 25Games, chats, excursions 17School club 13Single actions 4

Table 3: Free time activities used by school in scope of MPP (Possible choice of more answers than one)

Acc. to Table 4 the consultations are mostly done by Methodist of prevention, or careers master, further PPP, SPC and pedagogue at schoolAnswer Relative count in % (n=26)School Methodists of prevention against social pathology appearances 42Careers master 33Pedagogical-psychological clinic Special pedagogical centre 21Teacher 21Social law protection authorities 8Information’s on boards 8Parents 4Paramedics 4

Table 4: Consultations made in scope of MPP (Possible choice of more answers than one)

Acc. to Table 5 the whole quarter of respondents use no strategy to raising social competence of pupils, very often this question have no answer; 13% support method of active social educationAnswer Relative count in % (n=26)None 25Method of active social education 13Meetings with social workers 8Chats 8Action on weekends 4Paramedics 4

Table 5: Raising of social competence (Possible choice of more answers than one)

Acc.to Table 6 more than third of respondents choose in relation to handicapped and risk groups individual approach, attend to them in interest groups. It is evidently low involvement of parents and specialized consultant centre into care.Answer Relative count in % (n=26)Individual approach 38Work in interest clubs 38Involvement of parents 17Pedagogical-psychological clinic visit Special pedagogical centre 13Raising of motivation 8Method of active social education 4

Table 6: Specifi ed approach to social handicapped and risk group (Possible choice of more answers than one)

216

Table 7 shows that half of populations solve cooperation with parents on formal level during the class meetings, 38% with addressed individual discussions, third taking care of it on open doors days or take parents on the trip with children

Answer Relative count in % (n=26)Class meetings 50Individual discussion 38Open doors days 33Trip with parents 21Roman consultants 8Visit in families 4

Table 7: Cooperation between school and parents (Possible choice of more answers than one)

On enquiry if the respondents welcome the offer of anti-drugs prevention pro-grams or concrete methodises, from which they can choose, 75% gives unique positive answer, 56% will welcome them but only if they will free of charge, 1% do not see such offer as needed.

Presented results could not be generalizing on the whole segment of school pre-vention Methodists in CZE. It is the sonde which could be in future followed represen-tative investigation for example form of multi-centre study. In the fact of determinate areas for free answers is by all respondents large difference during answering of single questions. There are various facts in their reaction like tradition of the school, regional aspect and experiences of preventive Methodist.

It is positive that to pupils is present a full scale of preventive intervention activities in which cooperated large collective of specialists. Like very mandatory problem in lower involvement of parents into prevention, many times only on for-mal level.

ConclusionFrom results questioning of Methodists of social pathology appearance preven-

tion is at 26 schools in Moravian region resulted the creation new and quality method-ises of prevention is required, projects should be focused on pupils of all grades, their realization should blend together with all children activities (education, free time). It is necessary to prefer individual approach to each child, intensify and improve the quality of communication and cooperation with parents.

Like example of implementation parts of MPP into each single subjects is pos-sible to introduce: community education, family education (ethics, health risks, legis-lation, family, environment, models situation and their solutions, prevention – smok-ing, AIDS, alcohol, other drugs); mathematics (verbal exercise – resources spending for drugs, therapy of results after insult of health); geography (drugs production ar-eas, expansion of HIV in the world); history (history of fi ndings, production and using of drugs); Czech language (class contract, analysis of literature, composition, essay, poem); art education (competition, painting, poster, collage); physical training (achieve-ment without doping, kalokagathia).

217

REALIZACE MINIMÁLNÍHO PREVENTIVNÍHO PROGRAMU V PODMÍNKÁCH ZÁKLADNÍ A STŘEDNÍ ŠKOLY

Abstrakt: Minimální preventivní program (MPP) představuje klíčový nástroj k realizaci prevence ve školství v podmínkách základních, středních a speciálních škol. Problematika zneužívání návykových látek a návykového chování patří k závažným formám sociálních patologií, děti a mladiství jsou významnými rizikovými skupinami. Příspěvek informuje o vybraných projektech, které v rámci MPP na školách probíhají, dále o dotazníkovém šetření uskutečněném ve 26 školách v ČR a zaměřeném na cha-rakteristiku a hodnocení chodu MPP. Ze studie vyplynulo, že preventivní projekty na školách by měly být cíleny a určeny pro žáky všech stupňů, jejich realizace by měla zasahovat nejen do výuky, ale též do volnočasových aktivit dětí. Každé dítě vyžaduje individuální přístup, nesmí se zapomínat na spolupráci s rodiči a jejich dobrou informo-vanost, je účelné koncipovat prevenci jako komunitní se zapojením státních i nestátních subjektů, využívat interaktivních postupů.

Klíčová slova: Minimální preventivní program, škola, žák, prevence, komunita, závislost

219


ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS´ AWARENESS OF LOBBING AND THEIR

EXPERIENCE FROM THE ENVIRONMENT OF CZECH SCHOOLS

Tomáš ČECH

Abstract: This report focuses on the problems of mobbing (bulling at workplace) and it presents partial results of extensive research investigation in Czech elementary schools, concretely the fi ndings about teachers´ awareness about this negative pheno-mena and experience of pedagogues at schools.

Keywords: School, school social climate, interpersonal relationships, mobbing, bossing, non-awareness, experience

The initial conditions of the problemTogether with the society development and the pressure on carrier growth, as-

sertion of an individual on the work market the issue of mobbing is more frequently discussed. It can be expected that similar problems can appear in school environment and they can naturally refl ect in the total climate and operation of schools. According to the accessible sources more extensive researches in the school environment have never been implemented in Czech conditions, and that is why this issue is concerned in the current centre of professional and research interest of the author.

Mobbing as a professional term has been gradually entrenched in Czech termi-nology as there is not such an apt name. The term bulling, which is the closest in terms of the meaning, does not cover the basis of mobbing and they cannot be confused. Bulling appears in primitive societies as for instance school or army environment, it presents more simple forms of aggression, in most cases it includes physical attacks. In mobbing, on the contrary, we talk about a psychological form of attack, with espe-cially psychological and psychosomatic detriment. It concerns more cunning, insi-dious and long-term psychoterror, which is, in many cases, very inconspicuous and contrary to the physical violence and it is diffi cult to be proven (Kantor, 2009, pg 37). To help the public understand well, a possible Czech equivalent used for this term is bulling at work. In more narrow conception mobbing is also used for physical vio-lence among people in the same work line. Within a work group there is then another

220

form of mobbing called bossing, where the initiator is a leading authority. Bossing must be perceived as a dangerous form of psychoterror at work as the duty of the leading authority is, in fi rst place, to create pleasant work conditions. Further on the leaders have, due to their position, some certain power that is, in this case, negatively used, which is totally inadmissible for such position (Beňo, 2003, pg 10, 126). One of other les frequent ways of mobbing, which can be seen in professional literature, is staffi ng. In case of staffi ng the attacks come from subordinates with the aim of utter discrediting or destruction of the leading workers or the leadership, or the whole per-sonnel policy (Kraft, 2005, pg 16).

We have penetrated the basic principles of mobbing and next comes a question, what spreading of this phenomenon in workplace, in any form, brings for the work climate, interpersonal relations and work effi ciency of individual workers. If we trans-fer such considerations into the school environment, the signifi cance of the problem reaches deeper intensity – if we consider the fact that school is a place where we try to form maturing generations, which cannot be ensured in a socially deprived environ-ment. As Havlínová and team state (1994, pg 29–30), the quality of the environment that is applied to school is formed by four elements:

- Ecological school environment, where the material of physical and esthetical quality of school are included, as the environment that we live and work in for people and groups that act here,

- Social school environment – quality and authority of the people and groups that the organization is formed of (pupils, teachers, parents, school leadership, local council and others),

- Social school system – the way of communication and cooperation, relationships and behaviour within and among the groups,

- Culture of the school – the system of belief, value priorities, recognition and evaluating approaches and public opinions that exist, dominate or are required at schools.

It is obvious that mobbing, in any form, has a negative infl uence in all these ele-ments of school environment and it has an effect on the whole school climate, which we comprehend in analogy of Spilková (2003, pg 342) as a complex quality of interperson-al relationships and social processes in the relevant school, including the social partners of the school, on long-term social-emotional level and relatively stable ways of dealing, which are based on implicit or explicit values and rules of life at school.

It brings a few fundamental questions. What is the reality at Czech schools? Is this phenomenon present there? If yes, in what extend? If we expect pedagogues to have certain personal qualities, where would tendencies to mobbing be clearly absent? Do actually pedagogues know that psychological attacks are professionally named and that they can be prosecuted? We (together with D. Kantorem) tried to fi nd answers to these and many other questions during the extensive research that was carried out in school terms 2008/2009 among the teacher of elementary schools in Czech Republic. Quantitative strategy was chosen in order to implement this research. The research tool used was a questionnaire that was, due to the representativeness, verifi ed and triangulated few times by independent specialists and presented on the Internet in an

221

electronic form. Through the database of Czech elementary schools, which included 4194 schools, we gained contacts of teachers and in this way we directly addressed them to participate in the research. This less standard procedure was chosen due to requirements of reaching ordinary teachers directly so that there would be no restric-tions from the school leadership. The total number of teachers participating in the research was 1135. After the evaluation of results the sample was formed by 1103 respondents.

In more extensive outcomes, where some are still in the process of evaluation, we present the results mapping the awareness of the phenomenon mobbing, respectively bossing, among the teachers and primary indicators of its occurrence in the environment of Czech elementary schools.

Teachers’ awareness of mobbingTo map the awareness of mobbing we were inspired by the fact that, as it is for

children, if they do not gain enough information in terms of specifi c primary prevention concerning bulling, then even many adults do not know that there is a phenomenon of bulling present at work, which has its natural relations, progress that can be defi ned and that can be avoided and defended against.

We were convinced that this condition was correct, which the following table 1 reveals.

Table 1: Awareness of mobbing and bossing (without introducing the phenomenon)

Based on it 43.9 % (respectively 42.8 concerning bossing) of respondents is confi dent in their awareness of mobbing, not having this phenomenon introduced in advance, in contrast to the number of respondents (26.5 %, concerning bossing 27.7 %) that was not able to defi ne this phenomenon. The awareness was a bit higher in case of male respondents (they formed 18.6 % from the total number of respondents), that is 48.8 %, and 42.7 concerning women.

An interesting indication is awareness of mobbing in terms of the age of respond-ents, which, in both cases, had a rising tendencies with advance age. That confi rms the fact that naturally higher awareness comes with age and practice (see chart 1).

abso

lute

fre

quen

cy

rela

tive

frequ

ency

cum

ulat

ive

frequ

ency

abso

lute

fre

quen

cy

rela

vite

fre

quen

cy

kum

ulat

ive

frequ

ency

yes, I know what problem it is 484 43,9 43,9 472 42,8 42,8

probably yes, but I m not sure 325 29,4 73,3 320 29,0 71,8

no 292 26,5 99,8 305 27,7 99,5

did not answer 2 0,2 100,0 6 0,5 100,0

total 1103 100,0 1103 100,0

awareness of mobbing awareness of bossing

222

Chart 1: Awareness of mobbing and bossing according to age groups

On another stage of the research the respondents were introduced to defi ning the phenomenon mobbing, respectively bossing, in order to enable them to work clearly with the questionnaire to avoid misunderstanding. After the introduction it was worth to question them to fi nd out whether information about mobbing was clear.

Table 2: Awareness of mobbing and bossing after the subject was introduced

Based on the table 2 it is obvious that is case of some respondents the phenom-enon was clarifi ed, especially then the one concerning bossing. The tendencies taking age and sex in terms did not change.

Awareness according to age groups

35,7 40,045,8

52,2

32,7

42,545,0

48,2

20 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 and more

Yes,

I kn

ow w

hat p

robl

em it

is

bossingmobbing

abso

lute

fre

quen

cy

rela

tive

frequ

ency

com

ulat

ive

frequ

ency

abso

lute

fre

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cy

rela

tive

frequ

ency

com

ulat

ive

frequ

ency

yes, I knew it 492 44,6 44,6 504 45,7 45,7

I thought so, but I w asn´t sure 307 27,8 72,4 297 26,9 72,6

I presumed, but now I learn something different 45 4,1 76,5 30 2,7 75,3

no, I didn t know it 254 23,0 99,5 267 24,2 99,5

I didn´t answ er 5 0,5 100,0 5 0,5 100,0

total 1103 100,0 1103 100,0

awareness of mobbing after introducing the

topic

awareness of bossing after introducing the

topic

223

Other results that are worth are the ones focusing on the level of awareness of mobbing in relation to features, causes, respectively possibilities of protection against negative behaviour (see chart 2).

Chart 2: The level of awareness of mobbing and bossing

In this chart we can see that even though a large number of teachers has a rela-tively enough information about mobbing (56 %, respectively 54.2 concerning bossing), they would be able to indentify it, describe it, they would know (at least theoretically) what to do in order to protect themselves against it, there is still a large group of peda-gogues at elementary schools that do not have enough information and therefore can be affected by victimity, that means they become a risk group in the relation to a possible psychical violence at school and for their personality.

Elementary school teachers as a victim of mobbingWhat is the current situation in Czech basic schools? Is the phenomenon of mob-

bing present there, to what extend? The following chart presents the fact concerning how many pedagogues have been exposed to the aggression of a mobber during their carrier, from both colleagues and the leadership.

The level of awareness about mobbing and bossing

11,3 10,9

45,6 43,3

31,7 31,6

10,8 12,1

0,6 2,1

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

mobbing % bossing %

no answercertainlyrather norather yescertainly yes

224

Chart 3: Victims of mobbing and bossing during pedagogic practice

As we can see, 17.2 % of the respondents have become victims of mobbing dur-ing their pedagogical activities (8 % repeatedly) and 23.1 has been exposed to psycho-logical pressure coming from their leaders (9.9 % repeatedly).

Out of these groups, which were exposed to mobbing at school, the largest one was formed by teachers who were bullied for more than one year – 33.9 % pedagogues concerning mobbing and 43.3 % bossing! Chart 4 displays that.

Chart 4: Victims of mobbing and bossing during pedagogical practice according to the time duration

Victims of mobbing and bossing during pedagogical practice

8,0 9,9

9,213,2

16,212,3

64,166,1

0,50,5

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

mobbing % bossing %

no aswer

no

probably not, but I´m notsure

yes, once

yes, more times

v ictim of mobbingN = 189

v ictim of bossing

N = 254

all the respondents N = 1103

Victims of mobbing and bossing during pedagogical practice

33,943,3

20,6

18,9

14,3

16,1

18,928,0

2,83,2

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

mobbing % bossing %

don´t know, noanswer1 - 3 months

4 - 6 months

7 - 12 months

victim of mobbingN = 103

victim of bossingN = 158

respondednts exposed to mobbingu N = 189

respondents exposed to bossingu N = 254

all the respondents N = 1103

victim ofmobbingN = 189

victim ofbossingN = 254

victim ofmobbingN = 103

victim ofbossingN = 158

225

During the last school year (2008/2009), as the chart 5 displays, out of the number of teachers that have ever experienced mobbing, 46 % were exposed to mobbing and 62.6 % to bossing. Within the whole context of teachers population presented in the research sample it therefore concerns 7.1 % of pedagogues (N=78) identically for mob-bing and bossing who are currently a victim of psychoterror at school.

Chart 5: Victim of mobing and bosing on the current working place

ConclusionThe presented results are only a partial outcomes of an extensive research inves-

tigation concerning the occurrence of mobbing in Czech elementary schools. Especially the last charts present the alarming situation showing that at schools, where our chil-dren are educated, teachers do not have a pleasant atmosphere and they are exposed to various forms of psychological violence, in some cases repeatedly and in long terms. Therefore it is necessary and fundamental to eliminate the occurrence of this negative phenomenon in school environment, to work with teachers in terms of prevention so that they are able to recognize the unwanted behaviour in time and that they know what to do in order to protect themselves from such attacks.

Other fi ndings of the research will be gradually presented at conferences and in professional periodicals.

Victim of mobing and bosing on the current working place

15,3 15,0

25,915,7

12,7

6,7

55,936,5

6,79,5

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

mobbing % bossing %

Victim of mobing and

bosing on the current working

placeN = 78

Victim of mobing and

bosing on the current working

placeN = 78

respondednts exposed to mobbingu N = 189

respondents exposed to bossingu N = 254

victim of

mobbing and

bossing on

the current

working place

N = 78

victim of

mobbing and

bossing on

the current

working place

N = 78

226

POVĚDOMÍ UČITELŮ ZÁKLADNÍCH ŠKOL O MOBBINGU A JEJICH ZKUŠENOSTI Z PROSTŘEDÍ ČESKÝCH ŠKOL

Abstrakt: Příspěvek se zabývá problematikou mobbingu (šikany na pracoviš-ti) a prezentuje dílčí výsledky rozsáhlého výzkumného šetření v českých základních školách, konkrétně poznatky o informovanosti učitelů o tomto negativním fenoménu a zkušenosti pedagogů ze škol.

Klíčová slova: Škola, školní klima, mezilidské vztahy, mobbing, bossing, infor-movanost, zkušenosti

227


READINESS OF THE FUTURE TEACHERS TO PREVENTION AND PROTECTION IN

EMERGENCY

Eva MARÁDOVÁ, Jaroslava HANUŠOVÁ

Abstract: This report focuses on the current problems of readiness of teachers to implement the thematic complex “Human Protection in Emergency” into education-al plans at elementary schools. The selected results of a research study are presented hereby. The study was done at Charles University in Prague (Pedagogic Faculty) in co-operation with the Fire Service of Czech Republic. The aim of the research was to moni-tor the level of awareness concerning the problems of protection in emergency among students of pedagogy, to fi nd out about their needs in the given area and their readiness to impact pupils according to the valid curriculum. The results were used in drafting of a new accredited educational program “Teaching of education towards health”.

Keywords: Human protection in emergency, education towards health, training of teachers

Progress of education in the area of protection in emergencyMenace of population due to the, so called, emergency cannot be underestimated

in any time. The present conception of protection of population points out especially the need of education and building-up people´s responsibility for their protection. It stands on the assumption that a well informed person is able to estimate dangerous situation more realistically, to prevent exceptional risk events and, when the need arises, to help not only to himself but to others as well.

How is this assumption accomplished? When evaluating the present state of pop-ulation awareness of possible emergency situation and drills in case of emergency we must consider the historical context of education progress of elementary and secondary schools and university training of teachers in the given area.

“Emergency – harmful effects of forces and phenomena caused by human ac-tivity, natural effects, and also accidents, which threaten lives, health, property or the environment and require rescue and liquidating works to be carried out” (Law no. 239/2000 Code, about the integrated safety system and law amendments).

From 1973 to 1991, according to Law no. 73/1973 Code, national defect educa-tion was compulsory for the elementary and secondary schools. In years from 1991

228

to 1997 (after the national defect education had been cancelled) there were no lessons covering this area, nor teachers gained this kind of training. From 1995 to 1997 an ex-periment was carried out at selected elementary and secondary schools, with the aim to verify whether, under the terms of in-that-time valid curriculum, there was a possibil-ity to include some of the themes concerning human protection in emergency in some selected subjects and through this way to fulfi l the required targets without the need of creating a new subject.

Further on to the results of this experiment, on 4th May 1999, Instruction MŠMT čj. 34776/98-22 was established, which ordered all the schools providing elementary and secondary education to include this issue into their education by 1st September 1999. In the same time, a methodical brochure for teachers was published, which included detail information and recommendations for teaching in the subject area. According to the Government Resolution of ČR and recommendations of the Czech School Inspec-tion these instruction were updated by School, Youth and Physical Education Ministry in 2003.

Based on the new Instruction MŠMT (čj. 12 05/03-22) concerning integration of human protection in emergency into educational programs, the issue of human protec-tion in emergency was included into educational documents. The supplement of teaching documents “Human protection in emergency” (čj. 13 586/03-22 from 4th March 2003) included the following additions: The subject matter Human Protection In Emergency in the extent of six lessons a year for every level was implemented into teaching docu-ments for elementary schools, secondary schools and colleges and into teaching docu-ments for special schools. The content of teaching was based on the methodical materi-als prepared by HZS ČR. Since 2002 several other methodical materials for teachers and textbooks for pupils of elementary and secondary schools were published in Czech Republic. Within the last few years, schooling of teachers in this area has been carried out within the courses of lifetime education and with the help of HZS regions in their educational facilities. However it has not been included into the pre-gradual studies of teachers.

Protection in emergency in transformed schoolThe situation has signifi cantly changed in relation to the progressive transforma-

tion process in school system. The issue of human protection in emergency is included in the general educational programs for elementary, grammar and secondary schools.

In the General educational programs for basic education there are certain ex-pected outcomes within the educational areas “Human and his world” and “Human and his health”. It is stated that pupils should be able:

- put useful behaviour manners into practice in situations where life and health are threatened and also in model situation simulating emergency events (outcome 1, elementary schools),

The law stated that “national defence education should be an organic compo-nent of education of students and pupils and that it should be carried out in terms of

229

obligatory defence education, other subjects, in other forms of teaching and in interest defence activities”.

Bulletin MŠMT issue 6/1999.Government resolution of Czech Republic no 11, 8th January 2003, addressed

the abstract of selected problems for priority solving, which were identifi ed during the crises situation that occurred as a consequence of fl oods in August 2002.

More detailed data and recommendations are presented especially in the me-thodical brochure “Human protection in emergency”, which was published in March 2003 by MV – general directorate of Fire Service of Czech Republic.

- express responsible behaviour in situations where health and personal safety are threatened and in case of need to provide adequate fi rst aid (outcome of basic education).

Meeting of the above stated targets presents the fact that all schools in Czech Republic will implement the theme Human protection in emergency (together with the program support of health at schools) into their educational programs, system-atically and in relation to the age specifi cs and requirements of pupils. It is recom-mended to use subject Education towards health as the fundamental area for spiral development concerning this issue when implementing it at the second level of el-ementary schools. It is obvious that the new approach towards education in this area will, without doubt, put excessive demands on teachers in both preparation process and its realization.

Research investigationsIn order to fi nd out the actual possibilities of implementing “Human protection

in emergency” into study programs of pre-gradual education of pedagogues there was a pilot project carried out at Charles University in Prague, Pedagogic Faculty in August 2007. Its outcome is the proposal of study modulus, which, after being verifi ed at Peda-gogical Faculty of Charles University, will be offered to other universities that prepare teachers. The General Directorate of Fire service took part in the preparation and reali-zation of the project.

Under the terms of this research project accessible documents concerning the problems of protection in emergency were accumulated: legislative framework, in-volvement and competence of individual resorts focusing on the educational area. A list of professional publication that is presently available was produced.

Targets and methods of orientation probe between the students and teachers

The necessary starting point for composition of an effective study program for pedagogues is an objective evaluation of the present education reality in the area of emergency.

230

With the intention to create a suffi cient foundation on the theoretical level and also in relation to the real needs there was an orientation research probe prepared and realized focusing on the students of pedagogy.The aim of the research probe was:

- to observe the level of awareness among students of pedagogy in the area of protection in emergency,

- to fi nd out their educational needs in the given area,- to evaluate their readiness to impact pupils in accordance to the valid curricu-

lum.

We expected that the knowledge of student in the given area would reach at least 60 % (that means that the answers will be correct at least in 60 %). To express the hy-pothesis we were led by the fact that:

- emergencies has become a current reality in this world and the skills connected with protection in emergency are highly required for saving lives and supporting health of every individual.

- According to MŠMT the problems of human protection in emergency was in-cluded into educational programs of elementary and secondary schools a few years ago. Therefore it can be assumed that the current students of universities have been in some way educated in this area.

To verify the hypothesis the method of an anonymous questionnaire was used. The questionnaire had the following structure:

A. information about respondents (sex, age, fi eld of study, carrier),B. knowledge test (outline of elementary and secondary schools),C. possibility of free expression on the observed issue.

3.2 Characteristics of the observed group of respondentsThe questionnaire was distributed in summer term (2007) to students of vari-

ous study fi elds at Charles University in Prague – Pedagogic Faculty. There were 210 completely fi lled questionnaires. The ratio of participants was 89 % of women and 11 % of men.

According to the completed secondary education 58 % of students graduated at grammar schools, 33 % at professional secondary schools and 6 % stated it had been collage (7 students did not tick any of the given possibilities). Most respondents (84 %) were at the age of 18 to 25.

Considering the gained data, there is a larger number of respondents that visited secondary school from 2000 to 2005 within the observed group, which is the time when, through the methodical instruction, all schools had to include the theme “Human pro-tection in emergency” into their teaching. This fact supported the set hypothesis about satisfactory awareness of the questioned students in the given area.

231

Completed education in the area of protection in emergency

Information about respondents´ experience with school teaching concerning pro-tection in emergency was one of the most signifi cant fi ndings.

Although school legislative assigns the obligation to pay attention to the prob-lems of protection in emergency at all types of elementary and secondary schools, 63 % of respondents stated that this issue had not been introduced to them during their studies at secondary school or college.

When the respondents were educated in the area of protection in emergency, they noted the following subjects: civics, family education, physical education, chemistry, and health or law education.

The answers gained in this part of the questionnaire are alarming. They provide a view into education reality in the observed area and recall some necessary questions: Did the school pay enough attention to meeting the tasks set in the relevant methodical instructions? How did they engage the problems of protection in emergency into educa-tion, when students are not aware of it now?

Selected results of the knowledge researchThe key question was aimed at trying to fi nd out whether respondents were

able to identify the warning signal “General warning”. Unfortunately, only in fi ve cases (2 %) the respondents correctly recognized the fl uctuating tone of siren that lasts for 140 seconds. Since the student did not know how to recognize the signals, they were not able to answer the following question, which concerned the use of signals, correctly.

WERE YOU DURING YOUR STUDY AT SECONDARY OR HIGHER

VOCATIONAL SCHOOL AWARE OF THE PROTECTION IN

YES NO

ANSWER

232

Unfortunately, even in the question about the basic elements of integrated safety system we cannot talk about the expected 60 % of correct replies – see the chart. All the three elements ISS were stated by 94 (45 %) of respondents. What is also interesting is the fact that not even one answer included information about the possibility to contact the hot line 112 or the police.

Evacuation of school

The respondents were asked about what they would do in case of evacuation. Un-fortunately their answers recalled a serious concern. In case of an emergency situation that would be announced by as warning signal, the whole half of them (51 %) would call their relatives, 81 % would try to get home, no matter the circumstances. Most students did not consider the rules of evacuation at all.

WERE YOU DURING YOUR STUDY AT SECONDARY OR HIGHER

VOCATIONAL SCHOOL AWARE OF THE PROTECTION IN

YES NO

ANSWER

Police

Medical Rescue Service

Fire Brigade

incorrectly

correctly

Fire BrigadeMedical Rescue

ServicePolice

99 98 94

116112111

99

98

94 116

112

111

SPECIFY THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF THE

INTEGRATED RESCUE SYSTEM

233

It is noteworthy that only 74 of the questioned students (35 %) know where the assembly point in Pedagogic Faculty of Charles University is. 133 respondents (64 %) do not know where the place is. 3 students (1 %) did not answer this ques-tion at all. The evacuation plans are available to students in free access places at the faculty.

Exposure to dangerous substancesOne of the articles focused on the knowledge of symbols for marking dangerous

substances:

The ability to recognize the symbols is important for everyday life of an individual, not only in case of emergency. The knowledge of the symbols that are placed on the covers of common products helps us to consider the possible risks when using them and to protect our health when manipulating with dangerous substances.

Further on the research showed that, concerning this issue, there is a need to pay extra attention to education towards health.

Police

Medical Rescue Service

Fire Brigade 99

98

94 116

112

111

SPECIFY THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF THE

INTEGRATED RESCUE SYSTEM

234

Based on the chart it is clear that only 89 participants of the research (42 %) marked the toxic substance correctly and only 84 of them (40 %) knew the symbol that is used for substances that are dangerous to health. In other cases the symbols are prob-ably so obvious that the respondents had no doubts about marking them correctly.

Procedures in fi rst aid in case of burns and scalds

DESIGNATION OF HAZARDOUS

SUBSTANCES ON THE LABEL

harmful to the environment

harmful

explosive

highly flammable

toxic

corrosive

harmful tothe environmentharmfulexplosive

highlyflammabletoxic corrosive

incorrectly

correctly

DESIGNATION OF HAZARDOUS

SUBSTANCES ON THE LABEL

harmful to the environment

harmful

explosive

highly flammable

toxic

corrosive

235

*Some students marked more possibilities.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitationThe key skill when giving fi rst aid are operations leading to an immediate resto-

ration of the fundamental life functions.According to the recommendations of European resuscitation counsel in 2005

there was a change in the proportion when giving cardiopulmonary resuscitation. For children above one year and adults the proportion should be 30 chest compressions and two breaths into the mouth.

FOR BURNS

we strive to ensure thatthe affected area not-refrigerate too

amount

served a sufficient amount of fluid

burn cools 20 minutes under running water

aseptically cover the wound and find a doctor

fundamentally do not drink fluids

pierce blisters and glue health patches

use disinfecting ointment and coverthe wound with sterile material

wt

affnot-r

served a sufficientamount of fluid

use disinfectingointment and cover

the wound withsterile material

pierce blistersand glue health

patches

fundamentallydo not drink fluids

aseptically coverthe wound andfind a doctor

burn cools20 minutes

underrunning water

FOR BURNS

we strive to ensure thatthe affected area not-refrigerate too

amount

served a sufficient amount of fluid

burn cools 20 minutes under running water

aseptically cover the wound and find a doctor

fundamentally do not drink fluids

pierce blisters and glue health patches

use disinfecting ointment and coverthe wound with sterile material

we striveto ensurethat the

affected areanot-refrigerate too

served a sufficientamount of fluid

use disinfectingointment and cover

the wound withsterile material

pierce blistersand glue health

patches

fundamentallydo not drink fluids

aseptically coverthe wound andfind a doctor

burn cools20 minutes

underrunning water

236

Only 53 respondents gave a correct answer then (25 %), most of the questioned student, precisely 103 (49 %), stated the proportion 15:1. Proportion 3:1 is used for children younger than one year – this possibility was marked by 21 % (45 students). 9 students did not answer this question.

Suggestions and commentsBased on the blank answers it is obvious that students are aware of their non-

suffi cient knowledge in the area of protection in emergency and especially the fact that they are not ready to provide fi rst aid. To illustrate this we present some of their statements: ”I don´t really know what I would do in such situation.“, ”There should be more practical education in this area, especially then courses of fi rst aid for both pupils of elementary schools and teachers.“, ”It is a good idea to teach about this issue at pedagogical faculties.“.

Implementation of protection in emergency into education of teachers

Through the research investigation it was confi rmed that the awareness of stu-dents of pedagogy in the area of prevention in emergency is utterly insuffi cient. That is why, concerning the fi rst stage of the resolving project, a proposal of conception of blanket integration of the observed issues into the presentational studies of pedagogy was created. Consequently verifi cation of the suggested contents is to be done.

There is a need to incorporate the required issues of protection in emergency into the education programs on three levels:

- In studies of pedagogy for fi rst level at elementary schools – as a part of the modulus of education towards health with the emphasis of providing fi rst aid.

- In preparing pedagogues for secondary schools and the second level at elemen-tary schools on the same ground – as a fundamental part of an offer for the sub-ject to student of bachelor´s and Master studies. The subject has to be composed in integral conception of healthy lifestyle, health literacy, and fi rst aid. Output of teaching – protection in emergency – as a part of the class teacher´s activity.

- In preparation of pedagogues – specialists in the area of education towards health – as a part of a composed study fi eld – education towards health. Here the stu-dents (by completing a chain of mutually corresponding subjects) gradually gain deep professional skills concerning protection in emergency and the whole pic-ture about the strategies of healthy lifestyle and the possibilities to protect their health and health of others even in the events of emergency, possibly in case of a mass thread.

The results of the research probe and other activities of the project that focused on the improvement of preparation of future teachers at Pedagogical Faculty of Charles

237

University were presented at the national expert seminar, which took part in Septem-ber 2008 under GŘ HZS. This meeting of specialists on the international level became a signifi cant crossroad for searching for effective approaches and forms in education of teachers in the area of human protection in emergency.

PŘIPRAVENOST BUDOUCÍCH UČITELŮ K PREVENCI A OCHRANĚ ZA MIMOŘÁDNÝCH UDÁLOSTÍ

Abstrakt: Příspěvek je věnován aktuálním problémům připravenosti učitelů implementovat tématický celek Ochrana člověka za mimořádných událostí do vzděláva-cích programů základních a středních škol. Předloženy jsou vybrané výsledky výzkum-né studie, která se uskutečnila na Univerzitě Karlově v Praze – Pedagogické fakultě ve spolupráci s Hasičským záchranným sborem České republiky. Cílem šetření bylo sledo-vat úroveň informovanosti studentů učitelství v problematice ochrany za mimořádných událostí, zjistit jejich vzdělávací potřeby v dané oblasti a jejich připravenost působit na žáky v souladu s platným kurikulem. Výsledky byly využity při koncipování nově akreditovaného studijního programu Učitelství výchovy ke zdraví.

Klíčová slova: ochrana člověka za mimořádných událostí, výchova ke zdraví, vzdělávání učitelů

239


CLINICAL USEFULNESS OF COGNITIVE-BEHAVIOURAL TREATMENTS FOR

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS CAUSED BY TERRORIST ATTACKS WITH HIGH VICTIM

RATES

María Paz GARCÍA-VERA1,2

Authors’ Note: This chapter is an amended version of the article “Tratamien-to psicológico de los trastornos por estrés derivados de los atentados del 11-M: de la psicología clínica basada en la evidencia a la práctica professional” (“Psychological treatment of stress disorders caused by the 3/11 terrorist attacks: From evidence-based clinical psychology to professional practice”), written by the author and Laura Romero Colino and published in Clínica y Salud (vol. 15, no. 3, pp 355–385, 2004).

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to assess the clinical usefulness of cog-nitive-behavioural therapies recommended for psychological disorders triggered by mass terrorist attacks and other catastrophes, and dealing specifi cally with acute stress and posttraumatic stress disorders. Forty patients including 39 adults (27 females and 12 males) ages 20–54, and an 11-year old boy, were individually treated at the Clinic between 15 March and 5 November 2004 after terrorist attack in Madrid on March 11, 2004. Our study proved, that multicomponent interventions based on therapeutic tech-niques which have been recommended by guidelines for treatment of stress disorders (anxiety control, exposure and cognitive restructuring techniques) are useful for clinical practice dealing with individuals with psychological problems and disorders triggered by mass terrorist attacks.

Keywords: Kognitive-behavioral therapy KBT, mass terrorist attack, multicom-ponent intervention, psychological disorder, acute stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, psychological treatment

Following a terrorist attack with a high victim rates such as, for example, the attacks of 19 April 1995 in Oklahoma, 11 September 2001 (9/11) in New York and 1 University Psychology Clinic2 Departament of Personality, Assessment and Clinical Psychology

240

Washington, or 11 March 2004 (3/11) in Madrid, research suggests the occurrence of light and moderate psychopathological reactions in a considerable number of individu-als including, not only direct victims, their relatives, professionals and volunteers who helped them, but also many people who live in a widespread area surrounding the place where tragedy struck. A smaller number, yet certainly signifi cant and relevant, of severe reactions were also detected (Galea, Nandi & Vlahov, 2005; García-Vera & Sanz, 2008). For instance, one or two weeks after the 3/11 attacks in Madrid, 15% of Madrid’s popu-lation suffered acute stress symptoms that affected their ability to cope in life (Muñoz et al., 2004). Only three months later, only 2% of the population displayed a posttraumatic stress disorder triggered by the 3/11 attacks (Miguel-Tobal et al., 2004; Vázquez, Pérez-Sales & Matt, 2004). This percentage, even though smaller, contrasts with the one-year prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder in Spain, which is estimated around 0.5% (Haro et al., 2006). Needless to say, the psychopathological consequences were much greater for the wounded, relatives and friends of the dead and wounded in the 3/11 at-tack. It is estimated that, three months after the strikes, the posttraumatic stress disorder could have affected approximately 41%–44% of the wounded and 28%–34% of rela-tives and friends of the dead and wounded (Fraguas et al., 2006; Gabriel et al., 2007; Iruarrizaga et al., 2004; Miguel-Tobal et al., 2004). On the other hand, psychopatho-logical reactions triggered by a mass terrorist attack are not limited to acute stress and posttraumatic stress disorders, as they also include other mental disorders such as, for example, major depressive disorder (MDD), agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), or the excessive consumption of alcohol, legal and illegal drugs (Gabriel et al., 2007; Iruarrizaga et al., 2004; Miguel-Tobal et al., 2004).

Psychological treatments for said disorders are currently available that are empiri-cally endorsed for their level of effi cacy. Thus, for example, both the narrative reviews of effi cacy studies (Creamer, 2000; Foa, Keane & Friedman, 2000; Lohr, Hooke, Gist & Tolin, 2003) and treatment/clinical practice guidelines prepared by different expert con-sensus panels – including guidelines issued by highly prestigious scientifi c societies such as UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), the American Psychiatric Asso-ciation, the American Psychological Association, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), or the group of experts on disaster-related mental health gathered together by the US National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) (American Psychiatric Association, 2004; Chambless et al., 1998; Foa, Davidson & Frances, 1999; NICE, 2005; NIMH, 2002), point out that the treatments for stress disorders enjoying stronger empiri-cal endorsement are the following: anxiety control training (or stress inoculation training), cognitive restructuring techniques (or cognitive therapy) and exposure techniques – all of which are cognitive-behavioural techniques. Furthermore, most of said treatment and clinical practice guidelines suggest that, on the basis of current scientifi c knowledge, said psychological techniques for stress disorders should be favoured (Foa et al., 1999; NICE, 2005; NIMH, 2002) over other somehow popular psychological techniques (e.g., psycho-logical debriefi ng) or psychopharmacological therapies.

A vast majority of studies included in the aforementioned reviews and guidelines are designed for the purpose of assessing the effi cacy of interventions, not their clinical usefulness. Those studies are characterized for giving priority to internal validity in order to infer the occurrence of a causal relationship between interventions and positive out-

241

comes observed on completion of said interventions. To this purpose, researchers enjoy the most ideal and controlled options available to enable the detection of any, even the smallest positive effect exclusively due to the treatment. At least, this implies that re-searchers must have a considerable control over the selection of participants in the sample (using, for example, strict inclusion and exclusion criteria), the administration of treat-ments (usually through random allocation of participants to treatment/control groups), and the method of application of said treatments (using, for example, therapists specifi cally trained with treatment manuals and rated according to their adherence to these manuals). The typical example of an effi cacy study is an experimental study (or randomized clinical trial) involving a control group (controlled study) over a homogeneous sample of patients in the structure environment of university laboratories. As internal validity is prioritized, said studies partly sacrifi ce external validity and, therefore, it is not clear whether the posi-tive effects found under the ideal and controlled conditions of the laboratory can be trans-ferred directly to the habitual clinical practice that deals with a much more heterogeneous population – in which the application of treatments is fl exible, self-corrective, and led by clinical professionals with varying clinical experience and skills.

Research studies that directly tackle clinical usefulness of interventions that have previously proved to be effi cacious are known as effectiveness studies or clinical useful-ness studies. Their main feature is that they prioritize external validity and, therefore, assess the effects of treatments in conditions that are as similar as possible to the condi-tions provided in habitual clinical practice. That is, natural therapeutic contexts are used (such as, for example, mental health centres, hospitals, private psychology practices), clinical professionals who operate in said contexts, and more heterogeneous samples of patients selected with no inclusion/exclusion criteria among individuals who normally use or are referred to said contexts.

The purpose of this study is to assess the clinical usefulness of cognitive-behav-ioural therapies recommended for psychological disorders triggered by mass terrorist attacks and other catastrophes, and dealing specifi cally with acute stress and posttrau-matic stress disorders. To this purpose, we will analyze the results from psychological interventions conducted with individuals affected by the 3/11 attacks at the Clínica Uni-versitaria de Psicología [University Psychology Clinic (known as Unidad de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud until February 2008)] of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, by its Spanish acronym). The Clinic is a registered health care centre that pro-vides outpatient psychological care to patients with mental health problems and other health issues from both the University and society at large. These patients are assisted by resident graduates in Psychology undergoing specialized clinical training under su-pervision. In other papers (García-Vera, 2004; García-Vera & Cruzado, 2003), I have extensively described other features of the Clinic, including its staff, welfare and edu-cational activities, types of patients, most frequent reasons for consultation, etc. Even though the Clinic displays distinct features that not found in other natural therapeutic contexts (e.g., clinicians are resident psychologists who are still undergoing training and receive tutoring by university professors and other specialists), therapeutic results ob-tained at this clinic enable us to assess the clinical usefulness of treatment programmes based on psychological techniques that have previously proved effi cacious in the treat-ment of stress disorders in controlled experimental studies. Thus, as in habitual clinical

242

practices, a heterogeneous sample of patients affected by the 3/11 attacks selected under no inclusion/exclusion criteria was treated at the Clinic. Furthermore, the clinicians in charge did not receive any specifi c or intensive treatment in manual-based treatment programmes for stress disorders, but undertook to adapt empirically endorsed treatment programmes based on cognitive-behavioural techniques to the characteristics of each patient. In addition, they modifi ed said programmes in accordance with the progress of each patient and circumstances of the therapy to ensure a fl exible and self-corrective treatment.

METHODParticipantsForty patients including 39 adults (27 females and 12 males) ages 20–54, and an

11-year old boy, were individually treated at the Clinic between 15 March and 5 No-vember 2004. Patients included 55% of relatives, partners or friends of persons killed in the attacks; 17.5% were students who participated as volunteers in victim and rela-tive support tasks; 12.5% were fi rst-hand witnesses who were travelling on the trains or standing at the stations struck by the attacks; 7.5% lived close to the places where tragedy struck or watched it on TV; and the remaining 7.5% were individuals wounded in the attacks (see Table 1).

Most patients (45%) displayed stress disorders including acute stress (22.5%) and posttraumatic stress (22.5%). All patients presenting anxiety symptomatology similar to that of acute or posttraumatic stress disorders – and even symptoms that belong to any of the other two symptomatic stress disorder groups (dissociative symptoms and replay of the tragedy), but who did not completely meet the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for said disorders – could also be included in this stress disorder category (for example: anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, fear of trains, avoiding terrorist attack-related information and locations, and hypervigilance). In such cases, which for many researchers represent the occurrence of partial posttraumatic or acute stress disorder (Schützwohl & Maercker, 1999; Zlotnick, Franklin & Zimmerman, 2002), the diagnosis was, according to the DSM-IV scheme, adjustment disorder with anxiety (25%) and adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood (10%). As a result, 80% of patients presented, as their main pathological response to the 3/11 attacks, a symptomatology characterised by replaying the tragedy, avoidance of tragedy-associated stimuli, the presence of dissocia-tive symptoms or very high activation and anxiety.

For the remaining patients (20%), the fundamental psychological issue focused on symptoms of depression (see Table 1): a patient displayed an adjustment disorder with depressed mood; six patients (15%) sought professional help to alleviate the de-pression symptoms of their reaction to the death of a loved one (grief); and the remain-ing patient displayed so many, intense and frequent depression symptoms caused by the loss of a relative (a son) that led to a long, sharp and gradual functional deterioration, that it was deemed that the most appropriate diagnosis for this person’s condition was not grief but major depressive disorder. In addition, this was the only patient presenting psychopathological comorbidity, to the point that the corresponding symptomatology also justifi ed the posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosis – yet the discomfort and degree

243

of interference associated with the depression symptoms were much greater and, there-fore, major depressive disorder was deemed as the main diagnosis.

The grief reactions of fi ve other patients caused by the death of a relative were also object of clinical consideration and were concomitant with posttraumatic stress disorder (four patients) or adjustment disorder with anxiety (one patient) diagnoses – even though in these fi ve cases the intensity, nature and degree of interference of the depressive symptomatology characteristic of grief did not justify the diagnosis of a clinical disorder such as, for example, a depressive disorder or adjustment disorder with depressed mood.

Main diagnosis as per DSM-IV Victim Familiar Witness Volunteer G e n e r a l Population Total

Adjustment disorder with anxiety 1 (33%) 7 (32%) 2 (29%) 10 (25%)Posttraumatic stress disorder 1 (33%) 5 (23%) 2 (40%) 1 (14%) 9 (22.5%)Acute stress disorder 1 (33%) 1 (4,5%) 2 (40%) 2 (29%) 3 (100%) 9 (22.5%)Grief 6 (27%) 6 (15%)Adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood 2 (9%) 1 (20%) 1 (14%) 4 (10%)

Adjustment disorder with depressed mood 1 (14%) 1 (2.5%)

Major depressive disorder 1 (4.5%) 1 (2.5%)

Total 3 (100%) 22 (100%) 5 (100%) 7 (100%) 3 (100%) 40 (100%)

Table 1. Main psychological diagnosis corresponding to victims of the 3/11 terrorist attacks according to their connection to said events.Note. Values represent the number of patients (percentages in brackets to be read by columns).

Measures and instrumentsAll patients were initially assessed by means of a semi-structured interview and

several questionnaires designed to measure stress, anxiety or depression symptoms, or how they cope in several areas of their daily life. The questionnaires specifi cally pro-vided to each patient varied according to the type of disorder they suffered, problems associated with their conditions and their own characteristics (e.g., age). Nevertheless, the most often used were, in decreasing order, the Scale of Acute Stress Symptoms (ESEA, by its Spanish acronym), the Maladjustment Scale (EI, by its Spanish acronym), the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).

The ESEA is a self-report questionnaire designed for assessing the occurrence of acute stress disorder symptoms included in the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. This scale was created ad hoc for the purpose of including it as a self-evaluation tool in the “Psy-chological Self-Help Guide Following the 3/11 Terrorist Attacks” prepared by the Clinic for the purpose of helping individuals affected by those attacks [Grupo de Trabajo de la Clínica Universitaria de Psicología (University Psychology Clinic’s Workgroup), 2008]. The ESEA includes 22 items, each refl ecting a specifi c acute stress symptom, whose intensity is assessed on completion with Likert-type scales with 4-point format (“none”, “slightly”, “very” and “extremely”). It is deemed that a symptom is present

244

when the individual values an item as “very” and “extremely”, thus the ESEA’s total score ranges between 0 and 22. A score of 5 points was set as the threshold for identifi ca-tion of clinically signifi cant stress levels.

The EI (Echeburúa, Corral & Fernández-Montalvo, 2000) is a self-assessment tool that includes six items rated with Likert-type 0-5-point scales for the purpose of measuring the degree of a traumatic event’s impact on the patient’s adjustment to life in general and, specifi cally, to every area of life: work, social life, leisure, marriage/couple relationship and family. The scale’s total scores range between 0 and 30. A score of 12 in the overall scale and 2 for each item indicate clinically signifi cant levels of maladjustment.

The BDI-II (Beck, Steer & Brown, 1996; adapted in Spain by Sanz, Navarro & Vázquez, 2003) is a self-report questionnaire designed for addressing all symptomatic diagnostic criteria corresponding to depressive disorders according to the DSM-IV. The BDI-II includes 21 items and four response options scored 0-3, thus scores can range between 0 and 63. A score of 13 indicates the occurrence of clinically signifi cant levels of depressive symptomatology.

The STAI (Spielberger, Gorsuch & Lushene, 1970; Spanish adaptation of TEA: Spielberger et al., 1997) is a self-assessment questionnaire that includes 20 items de-signed for the purpose of assessing the trait anxiety, plus a further 20 for measuring trait anxiety. The items are rated with Likert-type 0-3-point scales, thus the scores of each scale range between 0 and 60. The most common threshold for detection of clinically signifi cant anxiety levels is a percentile score of 75 (Echeburúa, 2004).

Except for discontinuance cases, all patients underwent a post-treatment assess-ment through an interview that focused on their own disorders and issues, as well as via a number of the questionnaires used during the pre-treatment evaluation and any other directly connected with their specifi c problems. This assessment was conducted during the fi nal treatment session, except for patients who were still undergoing treatment when this study was conducted. In these cases, the post-treatment assessment was conducted during the last week of October and fi rst week of November 2004.

ProcedureStandard multi-component intervention programmes were selected a priori for

disorders that were likely to affect the victims of the 3/11 attacks, specifi cally, acute stress and posttraumatic stress disorders, depressive disorders, and grief reactions. How-ever, the fi nal treatment session was conducted when both the therapist and the patient agreed that the latter’s condition had experienced an improvement and the patient was then able to resume normal life as it was prior to the attacks, and thus both agree to end the treatment. Therefore, many patients were released before completing all the parts of the intervention programmes set a priori. In any case, the release from therapy also implied that the therapist had expressly checked via interview conducted during the post-treatment assessment stage that the disorder’s diagnostic criteria initially suffered by patients had disappeared completely, and that the patient’s scores in the symptoma-tology questionnaires provided were below the thresholds – thus each tool showed that the patient had regained their normal behaviour. Thus, the release from therapy in this study is defi ned by the three following simultaneous conditions: (a) patient and thera-pist agree on the improvement of the disorder and return to normal life; (b) absence of

245

symptomatology that meets the diagnostic criteria of the initial disorder or problem; and (c) relevant symptomatology tool scores within the range of normality.

For patients with stress disorders (80% of all cases treated), the standard treat-ment programme followed included the following components:

1. PsychoeducationIt involved education on common reactions to traumatic events such as terrorist

attacks, and the nature of stress disorders, including information on other conditions that may be triggered by tragedy, such as fi nding it hard to control emotions and interper-sonal relationships. To this purpose, we used the information included in the “Psycho-logical Self-Help Guide Following the 3/11 Terrorist Attacks” and, in fact, all patients were provided a copy of this guide. This therapeutic component also involved providing the patient with a description of the proposed treatment explaining the rationale behind it and recovery expectations.

2. Anxiety control techniques Following the rationale of Meichenbaum’s stress inoculation training, we in-

cluded techniques that focused on teaching patients the skills required for facing any cognitive and/or physical anxiety symptoms that could affect them in the future. Of all physical anxiety symptom control techniques available, we opted for slow abdominal breathing training, which, being aware of its simplicity as well as its immediate posi-tive effects, was applied in some cases from the very fi rst session. Techniques applied for control of cognitive symptoms of anxiety included principally thought-stopping and distraction techniques designed for controlling the frequency and duration of negative thoughts (e.g., traumatic memories, ruminations about the attacks) and training on self-instructions for use of self-affi rmations for coping and positive self-dialogue to replace negative thoughts when patients either foresee or have to face terrorist attack-related situations.

3. Cognitive restructuring techniquesFollowing the rationale of Beck’s cognitive therapy, these techniques focused on

teaching patients how to identify negative thoughts (e.g., believing that a stranger wants to harm you, or that someone’s backpack contains an explosive) and dysfunctional be-liefs (e.g., the world is unsafe) via self-records, assessing the validity of these beliefs and thoughts and weighing up all data for and against them, and adopting alternative beliefs and better adjusted thoughts regarding the attacks, oneself, the world and the future.

4. Exposure techniquesThese techniques were used to help individuals to face internal and external

stimuli associated with the attacks that were causing them fear, anxiety and unease. Exposure could be imagined (repeated and prolonged emotional recollection, through vivid description, in fi rst person and present tense, of traumatic memories until uneasi-ness dissipates); or live (real, gradual and prolonged confrontation with the dreaded stimuli until anxiety levels decreased), even though the plan a priori was to use both

246

forms of exposure by working fi rst with imagined exposure followed by live exposure as soon as the therapeutic goals were achieved.

For patients who essentially displayed a high level of depressive symptomatol-ogy that justifi ed the adjustment disorder with depressed mood or major depressive disorder diagnosis, the intervention programme used included psychoeducation com-ponents and anxiety control/cognitive restructuring techniques, with stronger empha-sis on the latter two for the purpose of overcoming thoughts and feelings of guilt (e.g., blaming oneself for having survived or not having been able to help other victims). In addition, pleasant activities and gradual allocation of daily activities were sched-uled in the programme for the purpose of fencing off anhedonia, preventing idleness and social isolation, and lifting the mood. These guidelines of intervention were also based on the most empirically supported cognitive-behavioural treatments for depres-sive disorders (see Pérez & García, 2003) – treatments that also provide the basis for the multi-component intervention programme applied to individuals with depressed symptoms of grief. In these cases, psychoeducation was geared to adjusting grief re-actions by providing information on how people react during the grief process and what can be expected from it (e.g., the process takes longer than people expect, yet it is an active process that involves work to achieve recovery). Anxiety control tech-niques were also included (breathing, coping with negative thoughts, positive self-instructions), activities allocated gradually for the purpose of normalizing daily life, and pleasant activities were scheduled to foster the support of relatives and friends. Finally, the therapy also involved cognitive restructuring techniques to fi ght negative thoughts and dysfunctional attitudes (e.g., “I should have dealt with this by myself, without help”, “I will never leave this behind”).

By all means, factors such as associated symptomatology (e.g., feelings of guilt were detected in most patients with stress disorders, while the occurrence of behaviours of avoidance of objects and situations that brought memories of the dead persons was also evident), comorbidity, the previous occurrence of psychosocial issues (e.g., family relationship problems) or psychosocial complications triggered by the terrorist attacks and their own disorders (e.g., problems at work caused by anxious-depressive symp-tomatology) led therapists to combine the components of treatments in several ways, or to add different therapeutic components (e.g., teaching communication skills to foster contact with social support networks).

RESULTSTaking into account the aforementioned defi nition of therapeutic discharge, Ta-

ble 2 includes the therapeutic results obtained as well as the number of evaluation-treatment sessions conducted. Two patients (5%), a victim and the relative of a victim, both suffering posttraumatic stress disorders, discontinued the treatment after the third and sixth session respectively. A further two patients (5%) were still undergoing treat-ment when this study was conducted, having undergone 13 and 15 evaluation-treatment sessions until that time respectively. Both patients were relatives of a person killed in the attacks and presented posttraumatic stress disorders, even though one also suffered a major depressive disorder, which was considered as the main problem

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The remaining 36 patients (90%) were discharged after undergoing an average of 4 sessions. Up to 60% of these patients required an average of seven and a half sessions to complete the treatment, while the remaining 40% required at least 4 sessions. As it can be noted on Table 2, the latter group included 6 patients whose sole condition for clinical treatment was grief and underwent an average of only two evaluation-treatment sessions. However, the same group also included patients with adjustment, posttraumat-ic or acute stress disorders. Visual analysis of Table 2 also suggests that the treatment of cases with grief, acute stress and adjustment disorders was more successful (100%) than cases with posttraumatic stress disorders (67%).

Main diagnosis as per DSM-IV Discharges Discon-tinuances

Under treatment

No. sessions

Average* Range

Adjustment disorder with anxiety 10 (100%) 5 2-12

Posttraumatic stress disorder 6 (67%) 2 (22%) 1 (11%) 6 2-16

Acute stress disorder 9 (100%) 4 3-7

Mourning 6 (100%) 2 2-3

Adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood 4 (100%) 4.5 2-6

Adjustment disorder with depressed mood 1 (100%) 3 3

Major depressive disorder 1 (100%) 15 15

Total 36 (90%) 2 (5%) 2 (5%) 5 2-16

Average number of sessions * 4 4.5 14

Table 2. Outcome of the psychological treatments conducted with the victims of the 3/11 attacks in this study according to main diagnosis and number of evaluation and treatment sessions received on the basis of the main diagnosis and therapeutic results.Note. Except otherwise specifi ed, values represent the number of patients (percentages in brackets to be read by columns). * Values rounded to the closest integer.

DISCUSSIONThe main purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness or clinical usefulness

of empirically supported cognitive-behavioural treatments for psychopathological conse-quences of mass terrorist attacks, specifi cally acute stress and posttraumatic stress disor-ders. To this purpose, a non-experimental pre-test/post-test study without control group was submitted including the therapeutic results obtained with victims of the 3/11 terrorist attacks who were provided assistance at the UCM’s University Psychology Clinic.

It is obvious that the number of patients that received assistance at the Clinic was small, which sets a limit to any generalizations that could be made regarding the results obtained. It is also clear that non-experimental research also displays major limitations when attempting to establish causal connections between the treatments applied and the therapeutic effects achieved. Furthermore, this study would have ben-efi ted greatly from more in-depth evaluation of therapeutic process and result vari-ables, as well as from a more quantitative, multiaxial, multimethod and multitemporal defi nition of therapeutic success. Yet, in spite of said limitations, it is still possible to extract from the results herein submitted some conclusions regarding the treatment

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of psychopathological effects caused by terrorist attacks – conclusions that must be analyzed by focusing more on the context of discovery than on the context of justifi -cation, but we do believe that can be of interest for both clinical practice and future research.

The fi rst conclusion corresponds to the main purpose of this study. The achieve-ment of 90% therapeutic success with all disorders and problems presented by 3/11 vic-tims, 100% with acute stress disorders, and 67% with posttraumatic stress disorders, enable us to conclude, with due caution, that multicomponent interventions based on therapeutic techniques enjoying higher empirical endorsement and which have been recommended by guidelines for treatment of stress disorders (anxiety control, exposure and cognitive restructuring techniques) are useful for clinical practice dealing with indi-viduals with psychological problems and disorders triggered by mass terrorist attacks.

This is doubtless a conclusion that also enables us to presume, in broad terms, that the treatments that have proved their effi cacy in strict and controlled studies are also quite likely to be effective in standard clinical practice. Furthermore, a study that failed to be effi cacious in ideal conditions would have little chance of being effec-tive in the less than ideal conditions of standard practice. Therefore, the criteria for selection of the most appropriate treatment for psychological disorders triggered by mass terrorist attacks must be, fi rst and foremost, that it has proven to be effi cacious. Not just any treatment is acceptable. It is best to start with what we already know that works, at least in ideal conditions, with what past research offers as the most valid procedures (more so if they had proved to be useful). Then, if the treatment eventually fails to be useful for clinical practice, it would be appropriate to raise other therapeutic strategies that, even if not empirically supported, could theoretically be useful for the specifi c matter at hand.

Nevertheless, before setting forward the application of these alternative thera-pies, which we are not sure will work at this stage, it would be advisable to check that the application of the most empirically supported techniques has been conducted appropriately. This means, among other things, that the techniques have been applied in compliance with a protocol already verifi ed by previous research, featuring a high level of individualization adjusted to the problems and characteristics of patients and their situation. Again, it is important to remember that the infl exible application of any technique can often be counterproductive, and that individualization and fl exibility in the application of said treatments do not mean that treatments can be conducted in any which way. Finding the balance between strict allegiance and individualization in rela-tion to the active ingredients of treatments represents one of the key clinical competen-cies that must be used to weigh up data and to compare scientifi c research with clinical experience.

Furthermore, the results obtained in this study enable us to answer, though only tentatively, some of the concerns voiced by clinicians at the time of conducting empiri-cally validated treatments for stress disorders including, above all, exposure treatments. One of these concerns relates to the possibility that exposure techniques could exacer-bate the negative effects of the traumatic event. In the light of the results of our study, it does not appear that said concern is justifi ed, as none of the disorders suffered by patients to whom said techniques were applied deteriorated in the least.

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A further concern voiced by clinicians regarding the application of exposure techniques is the patients’ lack of motivation and unwillingness to undergo any thera-peutic task involving either imagined or live exposure to the traumatic event or any other associated stimuli. Yet again, our results do not appear to justify this concern. In fact, patients in this study seemed to be especially motivated to carry out any task that could help them resume a normal life. This, perhaps, was to be expected from patients who had joined the volunteer units that helped the victims of the attacks and their rela-tives, yet it was also the case of several individuals with no connection whatsoever with any volunteering or psychological support services. Moreover, the two individu-als who discontinued the treatment did so while they were treated with anxiety control techniques, and had never been in contact with exposure techniques, for these were applied at a much later stage.

There is reason to speculate, though, whether the massive level of social sup-port that surrounded the victims of the 3/11 terrorist attacks and which extended to their processes of recovery (including events, rallies, resources offered by government agencies, news and broadcasts, etc.) did contribute to raise motivation to the high levels detected in our patients.

Following a tragedy that has taken the lives of so many people such as the 3/11 terrorist attacks, we can expect many negative psychological effects arising from the loss of loved ones – specifi cally grief processes that could be labelled as “normal” encour-age the individual to seek help, mainly because grief symptoms are likely to interfere in their habitual daily activities. Moreover, symptoms of a major depressive disorder may appear in some cases.

Even though the use of a multicomponent programme based on the most em-pirically supported techniques for depressive disorders had been initially considered for these cases, results indicate that most cases improved after very few sessions (an aver-age of two) and practically all of them with the mere application of psychoeducational techniques, that is, by offering information on how people react in a grief process in order to help them normalize their own reactions, and by providing a self-help manual featuring basic guidelines on relaxation techniques, control of negative thoughts, seek-ing social support and coping with daily life as normal.

In this sense, the results offered by this study show that 40% of patients, in-dependently of their disorders, improved after undergoing fewer than four treatment and evaluation sessions. It may be the case that the individual’s normal processes of recovery were mostly responsible for this improvement. However, it is also pos-sible that said sessions (mainly psychoeducation and learning of anxiety control tech-niques) were the catalysts of these recovery processes. The inevitable questions in this regard focus on one key issue: what would have happened if the intervention, even brief, had not taken place? Would symptoms have exacerbated or become chronic? Would individuals have been more vulnerable to the occurrence of further disorders? Unfortunately, we do not have any data available to enable us to answer irrefutably these questions, but certainly these issues are relevant enough to become the subject and purpose of future research.

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KLINICKÁ EFEKTIVITA KOGNITIVNĚ-BEHAVIORÁLNÍ LÉČBY PSYCHOLOGICKÝCH PORUCH ZPŮSOBENÝCH TERORISTICKÝMI ÚTOKY S VELKÝM POČTEM OBĚTÍ

Abstrakt: Hlavním účelem článku je posouzení účinnosti nebo klinické užiteč-nosti empiricky podpořené kognitivně-behaviorálních léčby u psychopatologických následků masových teroristických útoků, a to zejména akutního stresu a posttrauma-tické stresové poruchy. Za tímto účelem jsme analyzovali výsledky z psychologických zásahů prováděných u jednotlivců ovlivněných útoky z 3/11 na Clínica Universitaria de Psicología (Univerzitní psychologická klinika – s názvem Unidad de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud do února 2008) na Complutense University v Madridě (UCM, podle špa-nělského akronymu).

Klíčová slova: psychologické reakce, posttraumatická stresová porucha, depre-sivní poruchy, duševní zdraví, kognitivní terapie, psychoedukace, techniky zvládání úzkosti, kognitivně restrukturalizační techniky

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POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF USING CHAT IN PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

Jiří STRACH

Abstract: This article presents a research conducted at fi ve primary and three secondary schools. The research group fi lling out questionnaires consisted of 563 pupils, 103 teachers and 308 parents. Based on the research outcomes, positive and negative aspect of the usage of chat were to be evaluated. The author assesses positive possibilities arising from the usage of chat for project work and peer consultations among pupils themselves. The research shows that teachers are not interested in the usage of this technology. On the other hand, pupils are using chat solely for the purpose of their entertainment. Furthermore, students are not suffi ciently warned by the school against the risks connected to chat using. The research showed that more attention has to be given to teachers´ preparation in regard to IT technologies. The risks arising from internet communication have to be communicated to teachers as well as parents. Primarily further teachers have to be made aware of these up-to-date methods of teaching, e.g. project work, e-learning, group home preparation. These technologies have to be taken in account by school in their school education plans as well.

Keywords: chat, group work, project work

The term chat can be used to indicate any form of communication via internet. However, it is primarily used for direct text, voice or voice-video connection of a group established for the purpose of this communication, using the following means:

• AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) • Camfrog • Campfi re • Gadu-Gadu • Google Talk • GT-Chat • ICQ (OSCAR) • Internet Relay Chat (IRC) • Jabber (XMPP) • MUD • Windows Live Messenger

• MUSH • PalTalk• Pichat • PSYC • QQ • SILC • Skype • Talk • Talker • TeamSpeak (TS) • Yahoo! Messenger

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Chat programmes supporting more protocols:

The term on-line chat comes from the word chat meaning «informal conversation».

Research descriptionThe research was conducted at fi ve primary and secondary schools in Brno. The

data gathered are presented in graphs below. The on-line questionnaire was fi lled out by 563 pupils and 103 teachers. Parents fi lled out the total of 308 printed questionnaires.

Hypothesis1. When teachers are not suffi ciently aware of positive aspects of chat usage in

project work, they are not using the technology. 2. When pupils are not instructed how to use chat for educational purposes, they are

using it only for private communication and entertainment. 3. When parents do not have suffi cient information concerning interactive methods

of out-of-school education, they are not initiating their usage in school practice. 4. When teachers and parents are aware of the risks of chat usage, mainly from

television and printed medias, and have negative attitudes towards them, they are avoiding these technologies and do not attempt to use them for educational purposes.

5. If teachers and parents, despite their negative attitudes, do not pay suffi cient at-tention to the risks of this communication, they are undervaluing the risks.

Research results

Figure 1.

• Adium • Digsby • IMVU • Kopete

• Miranda IM • Pidgin • Trillian • Quiet Internet Pager

253

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

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Figure 4.

Figure 5.

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Figure 6.

Figure 7.

Evaluation of hypothesesAd1.The hypothesis was confi rmed. The majority of teachers (56%) is aware of some

of the means of chat communication, mostly ICQ and Google Talk. Only 8% of teach-ers considered the possibility of the usage of these technologies in education. All of them were under 30 years of age. These results were confi rmed during interviews with teachers. Teachers report that they are overloaded with preparation of the new curricula

256

for school education programmes, and thus have no time for devising new methods of teaching.

Ad2.The hypothesis confi rmed that only 11% of pupils use chat for communication

with classmates and the conversations mostly do not concern school matters. 53% of pupils communicate with other groups of people than their classmates. This communi-cation can lead to the risks showed in the graph 4.

Ad3.A part of parents, though 59% of younger parents, are aware of chat. However,

they have not thought about the usage of chat in education. Therefore, they do not re-quire teachers to use this technology in communication with pupils or parents.

Ad4.This hypothesis was not confi rmed. Even though the teachers are aware of the

risks arising from chatting, they do not refl ect it in their work, they are not interested in using this interactive method to improve the class climate or overall school preparation. The parents have rather little information about risks of chat.

Ad5. This hypothesis was confi rmed, mainly with regard to teachers. Teachers (85%),

even though, rather well informed (see picture 6), inform neither pupils (42%) nor par-ents (19%) suffi ciently about the risks. The situation is even more serious concerning parents as only 32% of parents having a computer at home, monitor the internet services their child is using. Only 9% of parents and 17% of teachers are aware of programmes for detecting unwanted communication.

ConclusionThe research proved that the ways teachers are trained in basic IT skills do not

prepare them for advantages of the modern communication ways usage in education at primary schools. It becomes obvious that, in many cases, primary school ICT educa-tion focuses on basic skills pupils are already aware of from home. Concerning the use of communication channels and chatting the pupils are more experienced than their teachers and parents. Undervaluation of risks arising from the communication can be attributed to insuffi cient social experience of pupils and their desire for adventure. The teachers should motivate pupils to search foreign language chats (German, French, Eng-lish) and thus improved their motivation in learning languages.

POZITIVNÍ A NEGATIVNÍ VLASTNOSTI POUŽÍVÁNÍ CHATU ŽÁKY ZÁKLADNÍ ŠKOLY

Abstrakt:Uvedený článek popisuje výzkum provedený na pěti základních a třech středních školách, celkem na dotazníky odpovídalo 563 žáků, 103 učitelů a 308 rodičů. Na základě výzkumu měly být zváženy pozitiva a negativa použí-vání chatu žáky 9 tříd ZŠ a nižších ročníků gymnázia. Autor článku zvažuje, jaké

257

pozitivní možnosti poskytuje chat na příklad pro projektovou skupinovou výuku a pro vzájemné konzultace žáků. Z výzkumu vychází, že učitelé nemají o tuto tech-nologii zájem. Naproti tomu žáci využívají chat pouze pro svoji zábavu a často nejsou školou upozorňováni na rizika, která chat přináší. Ukazuje se, že bude třeba věnovat mnohem větší pozornost přípravě učitelů na využití internetových techno-logií. A zároveň seznámit učitele i rodiče s riziky, která mohou použití některých internetových komunikací provázet. S použitím moderních metod výuky, jako je projektové vyučování, e-learning, skupinová domácí příprava, je nutno seznamovat zejména studenty učitelství. Školy by měly také uvažovat o těchto technologiích při přípravě školních vzdělávacích plánů.

Klíčová slova: chat, skupinová výuka, projektové vyučování

259


INTEGRATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES INTO MATHS LESSONS AT 1ST LEVEL OF PRIMARY SCHOOL – OUTCOME ANALYSIS

Drahomíra HOLUBOVÁ

Abstract: The article deals with issue of school educative programmes and gives guidance of how the multidisciplinary subject „Environmental studies“ can be inte-grated into maths lessons in a suitable way.

Keywords: outcome analysis, methods, problem assignments, projects in maths, cross-sectional topic, environmental studies (education)

IntroductionTo teach the pupils how to utilize theoretical knowledge in the practical life

is one of the core objectives of maths lessons. It means that the (model) situations, refl ecting truly our environment, environmental problems and indicating possible solutions through maths in the real situations, have to be created and a induced with the children in maths as early as in the kindergarten and then in the primary school.

Because the General Education Programme for Primary Schools (RVP ZV), valid in the primary schools since 2007, by which the current students and the future teachers will be governed, assumes that more time will be devoted in schools to environmental education, solution of topical issues of the current environmental world not only in separate environmental subjects, but also within the framework of individual subjects (i.e. even in maths).

Research AnalysisWe have addressed several schools in the whole Czech Republic. The questionnaire

was responded by 89 teachers in total, of which 8 men and 81 women from 4 schools. According to answers in the questionnaire the teachers teaching maths prefer

most frequently the verbal method – clarifi cation and explanation (80), the demonstra-tion method (70), method of work with text – textbook (67), with work sheets (58) and manipulative methods (53). From time to time they apply nearly all methods, in particular the methods of heuristic character – the problem assignments (61), projects

260

(46), methods of work with test (55) and verbal method – description (47). The verbal methods – narration, lecture and discussion/talk – are applied only very rarely or not at all. It follows from the questionnaires that preferences of individual methods do not differ anyhow in the teachers teaching in the country or municipal school, small or large school. Length of teachers’ experience is also not of decisive character. The Table No. 1 shows what methods are applied by the teachers in maths lessons very frequently, from time to time and what methods are applied only rarely or not at all. The Graph No. 1 refl ects what methods are applied most frequently by the teachers in maths lessons and the Graph No. 2 – what methods are applied occasionally.

methods very frequently occasionally rarely nevernarration conversation lecturedescription clarifi cation discussion, talk demonstrative work with textbook work with worksheets work with literature manipulative activities didactic game problem assignments experiment projects

1644926805706758753422125

35352847838141726552938614246

3492610

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213

11

35

Table No. 1

Graph No. 1: Most frequently used methods of maths teaching

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Graph No. 2: Occasionally used methods of maths teaching

Problem assignments (31), manipulative activities (26), projects (25), demon-strative methods (24) and didactic games (22) are considered the most contributive and benefi cial methods from the point of individual pupil development by the teachers. Sur-vey of the most contributive and benefi cial methods can be seen in the Graph No. 3.

Graph No. 3: Most contributive and benefi cial methods from the point of individual pupil development

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The project dealing with optional topic was realized in maths lessons by 57 teach-ers from 89, i.e. 64 % of all respondents. 29 teachers (33 %) have never tried any project in maths lessons, 3 teachers (3 %) failed to express their opinion (see Graph No. 4). The majority of teachers applying the project method in mathematics have the length of experience ranging from 21 to 30 years, the teachers with the length of service over 31 years apply the projects at least (see the Graph No. 5).

Graph No. 4: Realization of projects in mathematics

Graph No. 5: Length of service of the teachers realizing projects in mathematics

The Graph No. 6 presents what method of teaching of the cross-sectional topic “Environmental Studies” is preferred by the teachers. It follows from the research that there are explicit differences neither between small and large schools nor between mu-nicipal or country schools. The Graph No. 7 shows that the majority of teachers consider integration of environmental studies into maths lessons contributive and benefi cial for the following reasons: teaching is linked with the real life, it verifi es certain knowledge practically, the problem relating to the child directly tries to be resolved, the pupils integrate knowledge into context, environmental education offers interesting topics for

failed to realize the project

realized the project

failed to express their opinion

realized the project

failed to express their opinion

failed to realized the project

1 - 5 years

31 years and more

6 - 10 years

11 - 20 years

21 - 30 years

1 - 5 years

6 - 10 years

31 years and more

11 - 20 years

21 - 30 years

263

mathematic tasks and assignments, mathematics as well as environmental education are the integral parts of everyday life, verbal problems with environmental topic can persuade by precise calculations about importance of environment-friendly behaviour, the opinion that environmental issues cannot be resolved without mathematics has even appeared.

Graph No. 6: Methods of teaching of environmental issues

Graph No. 7: Integration of environmental studies into maths lessons

23 teachers of all respondents have at least once tried to apply the projects fo-cused on environmental education in maths lessons. The projects are mostly realized in the 4th or 5th year and are focused on the following topics: Water, Ecosystems, Envi-ronmental Protection, Air Pollution, Rainforest Deforestation, Traffi c, Saving Electric Energy, Wastes, Waste Sorting, etc. Not a single project was realized during the 1st year of the primary school.

The majority of respondents show that though preparation of the projects is time consuming, the project method is attractive, interesting, contributive and benefi cial for

separate subjectintegration into subjectprojectintegration + project

separate subject

integration into subjectproject

integration + project

yes

no

do not know

failed to express their oppinion

yes

no

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failed to expresstheir oppinion

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the pupils. The pupils enjoy themselves by the projects, consider them the interest ac-tivity, have a more responsible approach to them, learn more quickly, remember more, have perfect experience and therefore the projects are worth preparing and realizing.

Projects with Environmental Topic The newly formulated educational assignments for the 21st century put the accent

on development of all aspects of personality so that the pupils may understand better the world where they live, so that they may gather the knowledge and skills necessary for life in the quickly changing world. They enable to introduce different new forms, in particular project teaching, into the maths lessons.

Interconnection of scattered knowledge and creation of integrated view of the said issue is an important requirement for environmental studies in the maths lessons. Mathematics should present simple and visual aids to the pupils for description of quan-titative aspects of the world, how they identify it in everyday life and in other subjects. It learns to study, observe and describe the environment, relation of the people to the environment, to gather and classify the information concerning the environmental is-sues, to consider the acquired knowledge critically in their context, to imagine possible consequences of different human activities (positive and negative), and by imaginative-ness and creativity motivates the interest in the methods of solution of the environmen-tal issues. Mathematics thus leads the pupils to active participation in environmental protection.

INTEGRACE ENVIRONMENTÁLNÍ VÝCHOVY DO VYUČOVÁNÍ MATEMATIKY NA 1. STUPNI ZŠ – VÝSLEDKY ANALÝZY

Abstrakt: Příspěvek pohlédne do problematiky školních vzdělávacích programů a vyhodnotí, jak lze průřezové téma „Environmentální výchova“ vhodným způsobem začlenit do vyučování matematiky.

Klíčová slova: analýza výsledků, metody, problémové úlohy, projekty v mate-matice, průřezové téma, environmentální výchova

265


COMPARISON OF SLOVENE AND CZECH STUDENTS’ IDEAS ABOUT HUMAN

EVOLUTION

Barbara BAJD, Jiří MATYÁŠEK

Abstract: Evolution, including human evolution, is an important component of secondary school biology curricula. Human evolution can be taught in an interdisci-plinary way to include not only biology but also history, geography, ecology, sociol-ogy and language. The topic is naturally interesting to many students for most like to know something about man’s origin, where and when the fi rst prehistoric humans ap-peared, how they migrated around the world and what the consequences will be if we do not conserve biological diversity and adopt a sustainable approach to planetary resources. Even young children in primary school are interested in prehistoric life, including dinosaurs, and it is important that primary school teachers have some basic knowledge about our evolutionary history and that of our animal relatives. In our survey we wanted to obtain information on what intending primary school teachers know about human evolution when they enter the Faculty of Education, and how much they learned about the subject in upper secondary school. We compared ideas about human evolution of Czech and Slovene students after fi nishing the upper secondary school. We wanted to know if there is any differences between these two groups and if they have suffi cient information about this topic to teach it in an informed way to their pupils.

Keywords: human evolution, students’ ideas, Slovene students, Czech students

IntroductionEach of us has a natural interest in our origins, and it is important to tap into

that curiosity, and to use it as a means of imparting information and ideas about human evolution that can be used to exemplify broader concepts in the life sciences, and to en-courage an appreciation of biological diversity. So primary and secondary schools could profi tably pay more attention to this subject.

Recent discoveries – many of them spectacular- have provided a much more detailed picture of human evolutionary history, signifi cantly modifying earlier ideas about our ancestry. The subject not only attracts much public interest but also has major educational benefi ts: human evolution exemplifi es many general evolutionary

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principles, illustrates the synergy of focussed multidisciplinary approaches in the life sciences, and reinforces teaching of environmental conservation, human relations and social responsibility. At the same time the study of human evolution responds to student’s natural interest and curiosity about their origins. It serves to illustrate many important principles and aspects of evolution generally, and has important additional benefi ts. One important theme in human success has been the crucial importance of social developments (group size and structure, personal relationships, co-operation, language, the development of technology) infl uencing biological evolution. Another is the increasing control by humans of their environment, so emphasising the inter-connections between ourselves and our surroundings. And a fi nal, important benefi t is that knowledge of our evolution underlines both the importance of the individu-al (each of us is unique) AND, since we all share a common origin and important attributes, emphasises the commonality of all human beings. This is important to counter ‘us versus them’ attitudes, racism, excessive nationalism, chauvinism and xenophobia, all of which contributed much to human misery throughout the twenti-eth century.

The purpose of this study was to obtain information about ideas of human evo-lution of students in the fi rst year of their university after fi nishing upper secondary school, as a follow up to an earlier survey of ideas about human evolution among nine -year-old children in Slovenia (Bajd, 2001).

With this study we wished to compare the answers of Slovene and Czech students in the fi rst year of University study. The Czech Republic has a long and well established tradition in palaeoanthropology and many important and spectacu-lar sites of human fossils and artefacts, although most of these date from the later phases of prehistory in central Europe (Neanderthals and early modern humans). Slovenia, by contrast, has far fewer sites and fossil discoveries although there is a possible Mousterian (Neanderthal) fl ute from Divje babe and the famous Neander-thal site of Krapina is close by in Croatia. We were concerned to investigate whether there are any differences in the responses to questions about human evolution from Slovene and Czech students, currently studying to become primary school teachers. We provisionally suggest that any such contrasts in national responses might refl ect differences in general public awareness about the subject in the two countries and/or differences in the amount of time spent and treatment of the subject in the differ-ing national curricula of upper secondary schooling. We are concerned to explore whether schools pay enough attention to this subject.

MethodsOur study is based on 82 Slovene and 79 Czech students in the fi rst year at the

Faculty of Education, from University of Ljubljana and Masaryk University, Brno and who will go on to become primary school teachers. None of them studied palaeoan-thropology specifi cally at university so that all their knowledge of human evolution has been obtained in upper secondary school and through other sources such as books, TV and the internet. We gave the students the same questionnaire in their respective languages which included 15 open-ended questions. The responses to each question

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were divided into two or more categories, and are represented by graphs. The ques-tions were the following:

1. How many years did you study biology in upper secondary school?2. Did you learn about human evolution in upper secondary school?3. If the answer is ‘yes’, about how many school hours were spent learning about

human evolution?4. Do you think that prehistoric animals and plants look like those of today?5. Did early humans live at the same time as dinosaurs?6. Did prehistoric humans develop and change over time?7. Does evolution work on living organisms today?8. Which organisms among the following (man, bird, reptiles, insect) appeared on Earth last?9. Where was prehistoric man living?10. When did prehistoric man fi rst appear?11. Where did early prehistoric man rest? (Tree, cave, sea shore, river bank, do not know)12. How big was the brain of early prehistoric man? (As big as we have, as big as a chimpan-

zee, a little bigger than we have, a little smaller than a chimpanzee has, do not know)13. What did prehistoric humans eat? (only different plants, plants and animals, only

animals, only fruit, do not know)14. When did prehistoric humans fi rst appear in Europe?15. Where did you learn all about this?

Results”How many years did you have biology in upper secondary school?”The majority of Slovene students (62%) had three years of biology, and 27% two

years. Only 4% had four years. The majority of Czech students (59%) had four years of bio-logy and 11 % of students had one, two (10%) or three (9%) years of biology (fi gure 1).

Figure 1. How many years did you study biology in upper secondary school?

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Did you learn about human evolution in upper secondary school?71 % Czech students and 62% of Slovene students studied human evolution in

upper secondary school, but they did not spend many hours on this topic. More than half the students indicated that they spent less than 5 hours, and one quarter of both groups of students no more than 10 hours.

With only a few exceptions (3%) all Slovene and Czech students recognised that prehistoric animals and plants did not look like those of today.

All the students knew that humans were evolving over a long period and the majority (95% to 99%) also knew that evolutionary forces are currently impacting on living organisms.

However, students’ ideas about the time scales involved were less accurate. Sur-prisingly, some (9% of Slovene and 3% of Czech students) believed that early humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs – a notion doubtless persisting from their early childhood. Even the question “which organism appeared last in the evolutionary scale (man, insects, reptiles or birds)” was not an easy one for some students: 12% of Slovene and 6% of Czech students did not answer that man appeared last. Other responses also revealed students’ uncertainties about the timescales involved in human evolution. We got very different replies to the question:”When do you think that the fi rst prehistoric man (hominids) appeared?” 12% of Slovene and 11% of Czech students think that this was 10 millions years ago, 37% and 33% respectively 7 millions years, and 29% and 37% 3 millions years. 15% Slovene and 19% Czech students think that this happened as recently as half a million years ago.

Although more than half students (61% Slovene and 64% Czech) answered that the fi rst hominids lived in Africa, SE Asia and Australia were also mentioned several times as places of origin (fi gure 2).

Figure 2. Where was prehistoric man living?

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In reply to the question: “Where was prehistoric man resting?” the majority of Slovene students (89%) answered that they were living in caves compared with less than half of the Czech students (45%). 48% Czech students but only 11% of Slovene students considered that prehistoric man was resting in trees.

The majority of both Slovene (77%) and Czech students (91%) think that the ear-liest hominids had a brain the size of the chimpanzee. The others thought that the brain was as large as that of modern humans or even a little larger (fi gure 3).

Figure 3. How big was the brain of early prehistoric man? (As big as we have, as big as a chimpanzee, a little bigger than we have, a little smaller than a chimpanzee has, do not know).

Notions about diet differed markedly: the results indicate that 82% of Slovene students and 49% of Czech students think that prehistoric man was eating plants and animals, whilst only 17% of Slovene but 46% of Czech students think that he was eating only plants (fi gure 4).

Figure 4. What did prehistoric humans eat? (only different plants, plants and animals, only animals, only fruit, do not know)

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More than half the students (53% Slovene and 56% Czech) thought that fi rst prehistoric man fi rst appeared in Europe 2 million years, whilst 16 % of students of both nationalities mentioned 1 million years. 12 % of Slovene and 18% of Czech students think that the initial colonisation of Europe happened half million years ago whilst 13% Slovene and 10% Czech dated it as recently as 50,000 years ago (fi gure 5).

Figure 5. When did prehistoric humans fi rst appear in Europe?

In reply to the question: “Where did you learn all about this?” 38% of Slovene and 69% of Czech students obtained their knowledge in school, while 25% of Slovene and 11% Czech students indicated that they learned about this from TV, with 16% Slov-ene and 9% Czech mentioning books and journals as their main sources of information on this topic (fi gure 6).

Figure 6. Where did you learn all about this?

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Discussion

The educational context to these results differs between the two countries, specifi cally in the time devoted to biology within the secondary curriculum. Slovene students have mostly either three (62%) or two years (25%) biology. Majority of Czech students enter university with four years of biology (59%) and some with only one year (11%) or two years (10%).

In spite of these differences in Slovene and Czech upper secondary schooling more than half the students were taught about human evolution for less than 5 hours. Only 25 % to 32 % mentioned more than 5 hours teaching, and in no case was there more than 10 hours spent on the subject. So both groups of students should have re-ceived about the same amount of teaching in human biology and evolution.

Despite this broad comparability of treatment, there were undoubted national differences in students’ responses to the questionnaire.

More Slovene students were confused about the time frame of human evolution, thinking that prehistoric man lived at the same time as dinosaurs. In addition 12 % of Slovene students have no clear ideas about which organism appeared last in the evo-lutionary time scale. In the answers on this question Czech students were better. The survey also reveals other problematic responses to questions dealing with the time of human evolution. So around one third of students think that the fi rst prehistoric man appeared 7 millions ago, one third 3 millions years ago, just over 10% as long ago as 10 millions year ago, and 15-20% as recently as 500.000 years ago. Students also have no clear idea when the fi rst prehistoric man appeared in Europe. More than half the students opted for 2 millions years ago, and only 16 % of students of both nationalities gave the correct fi gure of around 1 million years. It is true that this is a rapidly chang-ing area with new fi ndings nearly every year and periodically the re-dating of earlier discoveries through the development of new techniques. The latest fi nding of human fossils in Spain dated 1.1 millions years ago at Atapuerca, Spain (Carbonell, 2008) has signifi cantly extended the time frame for human occupancy of Europe from the previ-ous oldest fi nd, also form Atapuerca, of 780.000 years ago. Since this is a very recent development students may not be expected to know of such current discoveries, but the extent of students’ misconceptions about the larger time frame for human evolution, and their apparent notion of the contemporaneity of dinosaurs and humans is troubling. It may well be that the popularity of cartoons like The Flint Stones and movies such as the Jurassic Park series create major misconceptions about the past, but this does not ex-plain the differential responses of Czech and Slovene students to these questions. More detailed questioning and analysis will be helpful in exploring these issues.

The majority of Slovene students (89%) think that early prehistoric man was rest-ing in caves (89%) and rather fewer (11%) in trees. The Czech students were approxi-mately equally divided in their responses to this question: 45% indicated caves and 48% in trees. Those who mentioned caves were probably thinking of Neanderthal or early modern humans in Europe. It is interesting that Czech students were better in answering that ques-tion given that in the Czech Republic there are many caves with evidence of human oc-cupation, but students were aware we were asking about the earliest prehistoric humans.

A surprising proportion of students also have no clear idea where the fi rst homi-nids or prehistoric humans occurred. Although rather more than 60 % of students knew

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that Africa was the ‘cradle of humanity’ a surprising number mentioned Australia and even America as the place of origin. Recent discoveries indicate that early Homo fi rst migrated out of Africa about 1.7 millions years ago, moving into areas of Asia.

About 60 % of both groups of students had a realistic view of the size of the brain of earliest hominids. If we aggregate with these those who stated that early hominids had brains a little smaller than that of the chimpanzee we get a better result (Slovenian students 67% and Czech students 91%). Unfortunately, however, some students of both nationalities thought that the earliest hominids had brains similar in size to those of modern humans (21% of Slovene and 9% Czech students). Again, the differing national responses will repay further investigation.

In relation to the diet of prehistoric humans the results show that the great ma-jority (82%) of Slovene students but only about half (49%) Czech students think that they were eating both plants and animals. It was also evident that when mentioning animals students were thinking of bigger animals, and not insects or eggs for example. The response that early hominids were eating only plants were more numerous among Czech (46%) than Slovene students (17%), and so more correct. It seems that students who considered the diet to be primarily animals had in mind later prehistoric man like Neanderthals or archaic modern man rather than the earliest prehistoric man.

For both groups of students the main single source of their information about prehistoric humans was from school. However, while Czech students mentioned mostly school (69%) and less TV and books/journals (20%), for Slovene students TV and books/journals combined were a more important source of information (41%) compared with school (38%). It may be that these national contrasts in sourcing information may underlie the contrasting misconceptions about timescales and regions of origin noted above.

The investigation shows that while there are some differences in the responses of Slovene and Czech students to questions about their knowledge of human evolution, both groups show similar misconceptions. Czech students gave better answers on ques-tions about prehistoric humans’ diet, where they were resting and the size of the brain in earliest Homo. Both groups of students included in the investigation have some ideas about human evolution, but the responses of the Slovene students suggested that they were more familiar with later prehistoric humans such as the Neanderthals and not the earliest forms such as Australopitecus, still less Ardipithecus. The results of this ques-tionnaire survey also suggest that students’ knowledge of human evolution is more or less learned by heart and that they do not connect their knowledge of this topic with, for example, their understanding of geography or the geological time scale.

SROVNÁNÍ PŘEDSTAV SLOVINSKÝCH A ČESKÝCH STUDENTŮ O EVOLUCI ČLOVĚKA

Abstrakt: Evoluce, vč. evoluce člověka, je důležitou součástí středoškolské výu-ky biologie. Evoluce člověka může být vyučována interdisciplinárně, s prvky biologie, geologie i dějepisu, zeměpisu, ekologie, sociologie a cizích jazyků. Téma je přirozeně atraktivní pro mnoho studentů, neboť mnozí se rádi něco dovědí o původu lidského rodu, kde a kdy se objevil první pravěký člověk, jak migroval po světě a jaké by mohlo

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mít následky, kdybychom nezachovali biologickou diverzitu a dlouhodobě udržitelný rozvoj. Dokonce i malé děti na základní škole se zajímají o pravěký život, vč. dinosaurů a je důležité, aby učitelé za základní škole měli základní znalosti o naší evoluční historii a evoluční historii našich zvířecích příbuzných. V našem výzkumu jsme chtěli ověřit znalosti studentů – budoucích učitelů základních škol o evoluci člověka, v období, kdy vstupují na pedagogickou fakultu, kolik se toho naučili na střední škole. Porovnávali jsme znalosti o evoluci člověka u českých a slovinských studentů po skončení střední školy. Chtěli jsme zjistit, zda jsou nějaké rozdíly mezi těmito dvěma skupinami z obou zemí, zda mají dostatek znalostí o tomto tématu, aby ho pak mohli kvalifi kovaně učit své žáky.

Klíčová slova: evoluce člověka, nápady studentů, slovinští studenti, čeští stu-denti

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DETERMINANTS OF TRAFFICEDUCATION IN EDUCATIONAL

TECHNOLOGIES IN SECONDARY TECHNICAL SCHOOLS (SOŠ)

AND SECONDARY VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS (SOU)

Mojmír STOJAN, Pavel PECINA

Abstract: The level of traffi c education in secondary schools, being the integral part of strategic approach to prevention of road accidents, injuries and deaths of the road users and all subsequent health, social, economic and other damages and depriva-tion, is still far from the desirable level.

For the traffi c education sector contained in the curriculum of secondary schools of the monitored type we are speaking about the logical design of the content and ob-jectives of the traffi c education linked with the obligatory lessons, about qualifi ed and competent teachers able to manage this way defi ned concept and knowing rational, emotional and material technologies of their presentation perfectly and about the sys-tem of continuous evaluation of the purpose, effect and innovations.

Keywords: traffi c education in secondary technical schools and vocational schools, content, objectives, technological resources

The level of traffi c education in secondary schools, being the integral part of strate-gic approach to prevention of road accidents, injuries and deaths of the road users and all subsequent health, social, economic and other damages and deprivation, is still far from the desirable level. There are many reasons for this situation. One of the main reasons can be seen in a varied spectrum of the secondary technical schools and secondary vocational schools in the Czech Republic, because character and orientation of individual establish-ments limits or determines possible content and objectives of the traffi c education, should it become the integral part of their specifi c curriculum. Let us present a brief recapitula-tion: by their professional orientation we can break the schools into the trade-oriented group, service-oriented group, economy-oriented group and, last but not least, schools of different technical orientation and some other schools which cannot be included into any of the groups above unambiguously.

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From this rough (schematic) classifi cation it follows clearly that organic link-ing of the traffi c education in the secondary schools with miscellaneous profi le of their curriculum is a very diffi cult task. Therefore no universal traffi c education programme, implicable easily or linkable with the profi le or applied subjects for miscellaneous sec-ondary technical and vocational schools is available. And at this moment we are very close to one of the greatest system paradoxes, because we face the educational vacuum in this respect in the schools where the traffi c education should continue the foundations built by the preceding school grades and where the schools should comply with the gen-eral wishes of the students to obtain the driving licence by deepening and extending the knowledge and reached traffi c skills.

By the Act No. 561/2004 Sb. on General Educational Programmes individual schools have been given the chance to modify their programmes and curricula by their own and/or regionally profi led needs. This way even the schools without any natural ne-cessity (following from their orientation) to realize their own school of motoring and/or the traffi c education in a wider scope have been granted to the possibility to realize any specifi c-oriented education for coexistence of the human being with the traffi c.

From the words above it follows that the role and effi ciency of traffi c education teaching in the secondary technical and vocational schools brings the problems con-nected in particular with identifi cation and determination of the relevant topics, forms and methods adequate for the addressee. A number of sources of theoretical character shows that systematic traffi c education is a linked chain of more algorithmic phases:

• phase of theoretical instructions how to understand individual traffi c elements, information and more complex situations as well,

• phase of education of the skills to respond adequately intellectually to the traffi c situations,

• phase of practical training of the correct behaviour and skills in real traffi c situa-tions (Stojan, 2007)Traffi c education can be realized in the secondary technical schools by its imple-

menting into individual general subjects (in particular mathematics, physics and others) as well as into specialized subjects by their orientation. Character of many secondary technical schools enables to apply this subject as the compulsory-optional subject or at least as the pure optional subject. We are speaking mainly about the technical schools with the subjects focused on transport, traffi c and repairs of vehicles.

For the traffi c education sector contained in the curriculum of secondary schools of the monitored type we are speaking about the logical design of the content and objectives of the traffi c education linked with the obligatory lessons, about qualifi ed and competent teachers able to manage this way defi ned concept and knowing rational, emotional and material technologies of their presentation perfectly and about the system of continuous evaluation of the purpose, effect and innovations. Everything can be resolved!

Core of the subject scope should and could comprise in particular the topics con-tinuing the elementary knowledge gathered in the primary school; in the adolescent age with relevantly developed psychic and motor quality they are devoted to cultivation of personality features, character, human relations, incl. knowledge and acquisition of educa-tional tools. Another wide sector of useful traffi c educational development of the personal-ity can comprise the topics concerning attitudes to the environment, respect to the norms

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and valid legislation, to healthy lifestyle, prevention of accidents and injuries. Training of the skills necessary for simple fi rst aid interventions, etc. would be useful generally. The topics, devoted e.g. to the issue of traffi c sustainability, logistics, development of transport equipment and vehicles, navigation, robotics in vehicles and electronic systems in general, can appear among more explicitly profi led spheres of topics for certain transport and traf-fi c-oriented schools. Offer of the topics concerning sociological aspects of positive and negative traffi c impacts, traffi c and transport psychology, styles of traffi c safe behaviour or principles of forensic engineering is also worth mentioning.

There are many possibilities, but only a few practical realization, Why? The survey research, carried out in cooperation with the students of the combined

bachelor’s programme “Teacher Education – Vocational Training and Practice” at the Faculty of Education of Masaryk University in the period 2007–2008, i.e. with those working in the secondary schools for a long time as teachers of vocational training and practice (former masters), should assist to answer this question. The realized research was based on elaboration of the following written semester assignment – Create the project of possibilities of implementation of the traffi c education into the system of educational or out-of-school work in your school.

Let us show in the evaluation below what opinions the respondents are inclined to believe:

In total 103 semester assignments were subject to analysis, of which 20% of assignments were elaborated by the students, graduates of the technical colleges and 80% of assignments works – by the students, graduates of trade- and service-oriented secondary schools.

Attitudes of the students to incorporation of the traffi c education into the programme

The highest stare of respondents (86.5 %) considers introduction of the compul-sory- optional or optional subject focused on this issue the most suitable approach. The minor part considers implementation of this issue into other subjects most advisable, namely into the general subjects (13.5 %). The following general subjects are consid-ered the most suitable for implementation of the traffi c education: civics, mathematics, Czech language, foreign language, physical training and informatics. Surprisingly only 2% of students propose physics as a suitable subject. 1% of students proposes psychol-ogy, economy and ecology as suitable subjects.

Abstract: It is evident that the prevailing majority of respondents considers in-troduction of a separate subject focused on the traffi c education issue the most suitable approach, which fact is heartwarming. It is also evident that those respondents who prefer implementation of the traffi c education into other subjects, propose mainly lan-guages, civics and psychology and also mathematics as suitable subjects. A surprisingly low percentage of students proposes physics as a suitable subject. Physics is proposed by respondents of technical orientation, which fact is logical.

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Attitudes of the students to determination of traffi c education objectives in secondary technical schools

The evident effort to formulate objectives of the traffi c education in secondary technical and vocational schools follows from the handed over assignments of the sur-vey research respondents. It is heartwarming that the formulations are really based on the new documents – the General Educational Programmes for Specialized Education. Specifi c traffi c education objectives of the students pervade in the following:

• To understand role of the traffi c as the system determined by the law.• To form moral consciousness and actions, when walking and in the role of the

cyclist.• To teach the youth to behave safely in the traffi c environment and to reduce the

number of accidents materially.• To consider moral and legal liability of behaviour and actions of each road user.• To master the technique of walking, driving bicycle and small motorcycle.• To manage maintenance of the bicycle and small motorcycle practically.• To master/control tactics of walking and driving in the road traffi c.• To acquire knowledge of technical conditions of road traffi c.• To acquire knowledge of actions in case of a road accident, to provide fi rst aid

and to call emergency in case of a road accident.• To understand importance and role of the traffi c police.• To understand the road traffi c as the controlled system with legal regulations and

mandatory provisions and to apply them correctly.• To apply principles of effective and safe behaviour and actions purposefully, to

contribute to traffi c safety actively.• To know dangerous consequences of drinking spirits, (mis)using certain drugs

and habit forming substances. To know negative impacts of the traffi c on the environment and to know methods of its protection.

• To know general principles of road accident prevention.• To learn safe controlling of the small motorcycle.• To bear liability for motor vehicle driving/riding.

Abstract: From the defi ned traffi c education outputs (objectives) presented by individual respondents it follows that they cover a wider spectrum and are not focused on a certain sector only. The objectives are formulated relatively complexly and include the theory, practice as well as wider aspects of the said fi eld.

Attitudes of the students to formulation of traffi c education content in secondary technical schools

Specifi c content of the subject Traffi c Education is proposed by 13% of students. They show a specifi c thematic plan for subject teaching. Other students present exam-ples of utilization of the general objectives and content of other subjects for the needs of traffi c education (87 %). From the assignments, proposing a specifi c curriculum of

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the subject, it follows clearly that content of the traffi c education is focused on the fol-lowing main topics:

• Introduction into the subject (familiarization with objectives and scope of the subject, motivation)

• History of automotive industry• Structural parts and assemblies of the vehicle (motor, fuel system, transmission,

axles, brake system, wiring, alternative automotive drives)• Regulation for road movement• First aid in case of road accidents• Traffi c and transport psychology• Environment and traffi c• Utilization of ICT in the traffi c sector (maps, routes, etc.) – navigation• Registration of drives (runs) – driver’s report book fi lling-in, etc• Fire protection• Training on simulator in the driving school• Tests for obtaining the driving licence• Driving lessons• Car maintenance• Conclusion

The students show the following subjects as the most suitable ones for incorpo-ration of traffi c education elements into other subjects: mathematics, physics, Czech language, foreign language, civics, information technologies, introduction into social sciences, physical training, specialized subjects (electronics, repair work) as well as economy, environment (ecology) and psychology.

The following topics are shown as suitable in the Czech language:- Spoken forms (description, story, telephone call, oral application) - Written forms (description, story, report, letter; e.g. description of the accident,

story how the road accident took place, report of the road accident in newspapers, report created for the needs of the police or another authority)

- Dictations and language analyses (possibility to utilize the texts focused on the traffi c issue)

- Professional description (e.g. description of a car) - Description of a working procedure (e.g. replacement of a damaged bicycle

tyre)- Stylistic essay (topic of the essay can be traffi c issue oriented)- Basic forms of the journalist style (news, commentary, report, column,

sketch) (visit of the driving school or excursion into another traffi c/transport ori-ented authority could be organized and the students would write report, column or sketch from the visit)

- Process of communication (mastering theoretical and practical skills connected with verbal and non-verbal communication; principles of spoken speech – open, private, assertiveness, literary and non-literary speech)

- Control essay (report, column, paper)

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- Dictations and language analyses (possibility of incorporation of the texts de-voted to traffi c, transport and traffi c education).

- Administrative style and its forms (offi cial letter, application, form, report) (e.g. lessons devoted to the chosen traffi c education topic – application for issue of the driving licence, accident report for the insurance company, etc.).

In foreign language the following topics are proposed for incorporation of traffi c educa-tion elements:

- Grammar (traffi c education oriented language tutorials).- Vocabulary (car and its assemblies, car models, car driver on the road, car acci-

dent, car maintenance, car service, defects, petrol station, local transport, vehicle types, stop, going by tram, bus, purchase of tickets, bicycle and its parts/assemblies, road net-work, air traffi c – orientation at the airport).

- Life and customs (basic information about the transport/traffi c system in a certain country, pointing out possible differences (e.g. Great Britain – driving on the left, differing max. permitted speed in our country and abroad, rescue system telephone numbers).

- Conversation themes: Meeting people (greetings, how to establish a contact, how to start and end a talk/chat, introduction). Time off (leisure time activities – cy-cling, motorcycling, skating). Let´s go away (travelling by car, plane, train). Work, rest and play (leisure time activities – cycling, roller-skating). You need a holiday (travel-ling, kinds of vehicles, city public transport, settlement of car accident or defect of the vehicle, solution of other problematic situations connected with driving or going by vehicles). Different cultures (life and customs, different transport and traffi c habits in our country and abroad). The tourist trade (tourism, travelling, transport, airport, train station, city public transport). Writing (writing the accident report, form fi lling-in in foreign language). Technology (modern vehicles, description of a vehicle in a foreign language, description of a defect, failure.). Travelling abroad (travelling, transport, play-ing roles – solution of different situations).

To train the communication skills, individual activities can be extended as follows: Writing – Writing the accident report; fi lling-in the form in a foreign language.Reading – Understanding the traffi c oriented text; work with text; newspapers

articles and columns devoted to traffi c. Speaking – Discussion on a certain topic; express your statement to the claims;

playing roles – solution of arisen situation, e.g. defect of your vehicle, what will you do; you has an accident – resolve the situation with the other driver.

Listening – for instance dialogue of a driver with a policeman during a standard road check.

The following topics are shown as suitable for incorporation of the traffi c education elements into the civics:

- Man in the society and human community (assertiveness when driving, consid-erateness to pedestrians and other road users).

- Protection of population – Integrated rescue system.

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- Social communication (family, human relations).- Civil society.- Man and law.- Criminal law (criminal liability, punishments, Rules of Criminal Procedure).- Private law, civil law (duty do give testimony, administrative liability).- Civil law proceedings.- Protection of population (fi rst aid).- Civil defence (crisis states and emergencies) (behaviour during accidents, mor-

al and legal duty to provide fi rst aid in case of an accident, when and how to call the rescue

service).- First aid.- Bodies of the integrated rescue system, signals and calling.

The following topics are shown as suitable for incorporation of the traffi c education ele-ments into physical training:

- Cycling focused on the following topics: the High-way Code (pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist). Traffi c signs and their importance (pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist). Use of bicycle on the way to school – mandatory equipment, lighting, maintenance, personal protec-tive aids. First aid (maybe only partially with respect to the subject Introduction to Ecology). Impact of alcohol and drugs on driving (nervous system, musculature, blood circulation).

- Motor games and development of senses. - Hearing games.

Mathematics can be utilized, as claimed by the students, for traffi c education objectives in the following sectors:

- Solution of logic problems.- Traffi c oriented arithmetical problems. - Experiments with visibility, stopping distance.- Statistics, probability. - Creation of time schedules.

Physics opens large opportunities for incorporation of traffi c education. The stu-dents offer the following suitable topics:

- Kinematics (kinds of movement of the vehicles, bicycles, roller skaters, clari-fi cation of the reason of necessary inclination during the turns when cycling, motorcy-cling, skating).

- Dynamics (infl uence of the hill on cycling, impact of road surface on cycling - cycling on the road, on a path, on the fi eld).

- Electric current (environment-friendly feature of electric motors, practical uti-lization of electric motors).

- Light and radiation (importance of bicycle lights, refl ectors, refl ex stripes on the clothes, dazzling by oncoming vehicles).

- Change of substance states (water freezing, creation of slippery ice, bridge freezing).

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The students also indicate possibility of incorporation of the traffi c education elements into the subject Information and Communication Technologies. They offer the following topics:

- Essentials of web work (familiarization of students with internet browsers, fa-miliarization with websites devoted to traffi c prevention).

- Table calculators – Excel (calculation of road accident statistics/accident rate).

Abstract: It is evident that the respondents have paid a great attention to iden-tifi cation of a suitable content and scope of teaching. 13% of respondents propose spe-cifi c scope for a separate subject, 87% show specifi c fi elds in individual subjects utiliz-able for traffi c education needs. The highest number of fi elds and topics were presented for the Czech language and foreign language (English). When classifying the subjects by the number of topics, we would continue by civics, mathematics, physics, physical training and informatics.

Attitudes of the students to choice of the methods and forms of teaching for traffi c education lessons

Overview of the methods and forms of teaching proposed by the respondents for traffi c education needs is shown below:

- Classical methods of teaching: verbal, illustrative-demonstrative, practical skills.- Mass (frontal) form of work.- Group form of work (groups, teams), circle training (tutorials on stations).- Separate, individual form of partners work (cooperation of students in two-

member teams).- Teaching by practical life situations.- Activity teaching – solution of practical tasks and assignments.- Socially communicative aspects of teaching – discussion, dialogue.- Lectures of specialists from among the following authorities and bodies: Police,

Czech Red Cross, Rescue Service, doctors.- Active methods at school (dramatization, simulation, group work, instructive

and educational games).- Campaigns with engaged teachers.- Media for youth.- Talks, discussions, excursions.- Actions organized by the school with assistance of the pupils who have passed

the traffi c education course; the pupils can present their work there.- Organization of actions on the traffi c playground (competitions, drives, cycling

through the traffi c playground, cycling skills, awards for the winners).- Organization of Traffi c Olympics (knowledge competition focused on traffi c

education for school pupils, awards for the winners).- Traffi c topic oriented projects.- Establishment of a classroom for the pupils from out of the town who arrive

long before start of the lessons (instructional fi lms and spots devoted to transport/traffi c

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could be shown here and the pupils who have passed the traffi c education course could present their work and transfer the acquired information).

Abstract: Analysis of term assignments of the students supports that they rec-ommend a wide range of methods of teaching and organizational forms for the needs of traffi c education. A high degree of agreement can be found here. In conformity with postulates of the new educational programmes they stress importance of pupils’ activity and mobilising methods of teaching. It is also evident that besides the theoretical lessons in the classroom the prefer in particular practical training on the traffi c playground and elsewhere. They also pay a great attention to attraction of other authorities and bodies to the process of teaching (rescue service, police, medical staff and other authorities).

DETERMINANTY DOPRAVNÍ VÝCHOVYV DIDAKTICKÝCH TECHNOLOGIÍCH NA SOŠ A SOU

Abstrakt: Úroveň dopravní výchovy na středních školách jako součást strate-gického přístupu k prevenci dopravních nehod, zranění a usmrcení účastníků silničního provozu a všech následných zdravotních, sociálních, ekonomických a dalších škoda strádání nedosahuje dosud ani zdaleka žádoucí úrovně.

Pro oblast dopravní výchovy obsažené v kurikulu sledovaných typů středních škol jde o logickou konstrukci obsahu a cílů dopravní výchovy skloubených s obliga-torním učivem, disponování kvalifi kovanými a kompetentními pedagogy, kteří si s takto vymezeným pojetím vědí rady, kteří ovládají racionální, emotivní i materiální technolo-gie jejich prezentace, a o systém její soustavné evaluace účelu, efektu a inovace.

Klíčová slova: Dopravní výchova na středních odborných školách a učilištích, obsah, cíle, technologické prostředky

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THE LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS OF FIRST AID PROVISION AMONG PUPILS

OF THE 8TH GRADE OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Marie HAVELKOVÁ, Petr KACHLÍK, Milana HURNÍKOVÁ

Abstract: The research survey was focused on fi nding the level of knowledge and skills of fi rst aid provision among pupils of the 8th grade of selected primary schools and also on the project dealing with fi rst aid teaching for 8th grade pupils. A serious lack of information was established among the pupils who failed to pass the fi rst aid lessons. However, the pupils who fi nished the fi rst aid lessons were far from showing the perfect knowledge. The experience acquired through the research will be applied for creation of the First Aid school subject for future teachers at the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University.

Keywords: fi rst aid, theoretical knowledge, “First Aid to Schools” project, 8th grade pupil of the primary school, Faculty of Education, Branch of study Education for Health, schooling of future teachers.

Introduction into the issueThe medical staff of the rescue service meet different cases of endangerment of

the human life and health. The fact that everybody should do the best for the affected person in such situation is considered as granted. It is absolutely shocking for them revealing very frequently that willingness of the bystanders to provide help to another person is nearly negligible.

Category of the school age children is one of the most risky age groups where in-juries occur relatively frequently. Correct fi rst aid and treatment, though unprofessional, provided in due time can be cardinal for the child and its future.

The practice reveals that an individual, having the decisive impact on further destiny of the affected child thanks to his/her knowledge, skills and willingness to help, is usually the fi rst link of the medical rescue chain, not the doctor or a trained specialist.

First aid knowledge shall become the integral part of everybody’s educationEach citizen is obliged to provide fi rst aid by the law, namely by art. 207 of the

Criminal Code No.140/1961 Sb. (as amended) which reads:

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1) ”He who fails to provide the necessary aid to the person in danger of death or with symptoms of serious health disorder, though he can do so without any danger for him-self or for another person, will be punished by imprisonment for up to one year“.

2) “He who fails to provide the necessary aid to the person in danger of death or with symptoms of serious health disorder, though he is obliged to provide such help by the character of his employment, will be punished by imprisonment for up to two years or by prohibition of activities.“

“First Aid to Schools” project

In 2004 the Regional Offi ce Vysočina – Department of Social Affairs and Health Care – prepared in cooperation with the Department of Education, Youth and Sports the pilot project “First Aid to Schools“. Teaching focused in particular on practical training with the minimum theory is the main objective of the project. Pupils of the 8th grades of the primary schools and relevant grades of the high schools represent the target group. Project of the Vysočina region is the single project within the Czech Republic teaching young people the laic fi rst aid systematically and within a larger scope. During the last 4 years over 22,000 young people fi nished this project.

In case of the fourteen years old young people, i.e. pupils of 8th grades of the pri-mary schools and relevant grades of the high schools, the teaching comprising 10 lessons is focused consistently on gathering practical skills. The introductory lesson is devoted to importance of the fi rst aid schooling, to most frequent injuries, examination of the injured person, notifi cation of injury, crisis tel. lines, communication with the operation centre staff and equipment of the fi rst aid kit. The other lessons are broken down into possible types of provided fi rst aid – cardiopulmonary resuscitation, bleeding, fractures, head and spinal injuries, thermic injuries. Last but not least, the time is devoted to the model situations and exhibition of intervention by the rescue service vehicle. The fi rst aid course is completed by the test which shall reveal effi ciency of the passed lessons.

This test will establish the degree of knowledge immediately after completion of the lessons and our own research is connected closely with this fact.

Objectives of the researchWe have tried to establish by our research the degree of knowledge of the pupils

of the 8th grades of the primary schools who have not yet passed the teaching within the scope of the project and the degree of knowledge of the pupils who have already passed the fi rst aid lessons some time ago. We have compared this way acquired information. The comparison has answered the question whether the fi rst aid lessons passed within the scope of the project did had the awaited effect.

Methodology of examinationThe information concerning knowledge of fi rst aid provision by the pupils of

the 8th grades of the primary schools has been acquired in the primary schools of the Vysočina region. The schools were chosen randomly. The research was carried out in

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the period from January 2008 till March 2008. The anonymous questionnaire contained 16 questions concerning theoretical knowledge and three general questions concerning the respondents. The chosen questions corresponded to the scope of fi rst aid teaching within the framework of the “First Aid to Schools” project. 160 respondents were ad-dressed (76 boys, 94 girls). 80 respondents have already passed the fi rst aid lessons within the scope of the “First Aid to Schools” project and the remaining 80 respondents have not yet passed these lessons.

The data have been acquired in the period January–March 2008. The statistic evaluation was carried out, using the X2 test and its modifi cation by Fisher and Yates.

The following fi elds of knowledge and skills concerning the fi rst aid have been compared:

1) assessment of the urgent situation, activation of the rescue chain2) commencement and realization of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (hereinafter re-

ferred to as CPR)3) bleeding and its treatment (dressing)4) provision of stabilization of the state of health the affected person

as to 1) Assessment of urgent situation, activation of the rescue chain Knowledge of the emergency call numbers (%):

No signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 0.22, p = 0.639). Both groups were able to call professional help (over 90 %).

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Information about urgent situation notifi ed to the traffi c control centre (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 17.32; p < 0.001). Over 80% of graduates of the fi rst aid course would be able to release the complete necessary information to the traffi c control centre.

Assessment of urgency of arisen situation (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 39.41; p < 0.001). 65 % of graduates of the fi rst aid course would be able to assess the situation correctly and to chose a suitable procedure of treatment of the affected person.

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Procedure of urgent situation resolving (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 22.86; p < 0.001). One fourth of graduates of the fi rst aid course would be able to apply the correct procedure for urgent situation resolving – nobody in the group without the fi rst aid course.

Procedure in case of electric shock (%):

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Realization of triple manoeuvre (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 22.56; p < 0.001). Knowledge and realization of the triple manoeuvre are by one third higher (from 30 to 66%) in graduates of the fi rst aid course.

Removal of aspirated foreign body (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 10.23; p < 0.01). The correct procedure would be applied by 70% of fi rst aid course graduates, but only 45% of the pupils that have not passed the course.

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as to 2) Commencement and realization of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (herein-after referred to as CPR)

Rescue breathing and chest compression ratio during CPR (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 56.32; p < 0.001). Nearly 60% of the fi rst aid course graduates know the correct rescue breath-ing and chest compression ratio, but only 4% of pupils that have not passed the course.

Air volume breathed into lungs of the affected person in case of apneusis (%)

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 40.27; p < 0.001). The optimum air volume would be applied during CPR by over 90% of the fi rst aid course graduates, but only 46% of pupils that have not passed the course.

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Procedure during commencement of CPR (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 32.46; p < 0.001). 60 % of the fi rst aid course graduates would apply correct CPR procedure, only 16% of the group without the fi rst aid course 16 %.

Diagnostics of apneusis and heart failure (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 80.20; p < 0.001). Over 90 % of the fi rst aid course graduates would diagnose apneusis and circulation disorder correctly, only 22% of pupils without the fi rst aid course would manage it.

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as to 3) Bleeding and its treatment Approach in case of arterial bleeding

No signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 2.85; p = 0.0945). Despite in case of resolving the arterial bleeding, rate of success of the fi rst aid course graduates would go up to 82.5% compared with the group without the course (s 71 %).

Application of the tourniquet (pressure bandage) (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 16.55; p < 0.001). Nearly one fi fth of the pupils that have not passed the fi rst aid course would not apply the pressure bandage correctly; nobody of the course graduates would make a mistake.

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as to 4/ – Stabilization of the affected personPosition of the affected person under the suspicion of spinal cord injury (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 65.12; p< 0.001). 80 % of the fi rst aid course graduates would choose a suitable position of the affected person in case of this injury compared with low 16% of the pupils without the fi rst aid course.

Application of the simplest actions to stabilize fractures (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 6.64; p < 0.01). One fi fth of the pupils without the fi rst aid course would manage to treat fractures suit-ably compared with two fi fths on the side of the fi rst aid course graduates.

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Realization of anti-shock measures (%):

Signifi cant differences have been found between the groups (X2 = 5.94; p < 0.05). Over 30% of the fi rst aid course graduates would apply the anti-shock meas-ures correctly compared with 15% in the group of pupils without the fi rst aid course.

Summarization of Results of the Study Knowledge of fi rst aid provision are absolutely inadequate in the respondents

who have not passed the schooling under the project. The group of respondents that has passed the fi rst aid course within the scope of

the “First Aid to Schools” project demonstrated much more better knowledge, though not always with full success. The highest number of mistakes was revealed in resolving the urgent situation

and applying anti-shock measures, where only ca one fourth of respondents gave correct answers. The average success rate reached 80% in other fi elds. The group of respondents addressed by the “First Aid to Schools” project dem-

onstrated much more better knowledge in nearly all important fi elds concerning fi rst aid provision. The “First Aid to Schools” project has undisputable contribution for the fi rst aid

teaching. However even this group is far from showing the perfect knowledge in many

issues of fi rst aid provision. It is necessary to comprehend that the majority of knowledge concerning fi rst

aid provision is acquired in the primary schools and therefore the fi rst aid teaching has to be prepared and realized adequately in our primary schools. The fact that the teachers of the fi rst aid lessons must have a solid knowledge in

this fi eld goes without saying.

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The researches examining knowledge of the teachers in this fi eld and organized by certain faculties (colleges) of education have revealed that many teachers would not be able to provide adequate fi rst aid to the affected person, i.e. they are unable to transfer good knowledge to their pupils.

Recommendations for practice: Adequate awareness of the teachers should be the basic step. It follows clearly

from our preceding researches focused on knowledge of the teachers that they do not know very much about the fi rst aid fi eld. It is therefore necessary to introduce the fi rst aid classes for the primary school

teachers who transfer the knowledge concerning rescue of the human life to the pupils in their subjects. Incorporation of the fi rst aid lessons into the subject Education for Health would

be advisable. It is necessary to familiarize both the practice teachers and the future teachers,

i.e. students of the faculties of education, with this issue and to grant them ad-equate overview of existing progressive methods and tools of teaching both for the theoretical part and for the practical fi rst aid training. The latest offer of these aids and tools, either the instruction fi lms or directly

models for practical training of resuscitation, stop of bleeding, etc., is adequate and satisfactory. The “First Aid to Schools” project should not be the single means for fi rst aid

teaching, we are speaking about a single instruction action. The pupils must be given the opportunity to train and strengthen their knowledge

and skills continuously in the devoted lessons (lessons of the subject “Education for Health” are ideal for such training). Training of model situations strengthening the knowledge acquired during theo-

retical lessons is considered inevitable.

Tasks for the Faculty of Education of Masaryk University following from the established situation

Department of Family Education and Education for Health of the Faculty of Edu-cation of Masaryk University shall prepare lessons of the optional subject “First Aid” for the future teachers, for the students of both the lower and the higher primary school grades. from the academic year 2008/09 the websites of the Department will contain

quotations of the publications suitable for fi rst aid lessons, textbooks, informa-tion about instruction fi lms or about new models intended for practical training of resuscitation, stop of bleeding, etc.

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ÚROVEŇ ZNALOSTÍ A DOVEDNOSTÍ V POSKYTOVÁNÍ PRVNÍ POMOCI U ŽÁKŮ 8. TŘÍD ZÁKLADNÍCH ŠKOL

Abstrakt. Výzkumné šetření bylo zaměřeno na zjištění úrovně znalostí a doved-ností v poskytování první pomoci u žáků 8. tříd vybraných základních škol a dále na projekt, který se zabývá výukou první pomoci pro žáky 8. tříd. Ve znalostech žáků, kteří výukou navrženou projektem neprošli, byly zjištěny závažné nedostatky. Ukázalo se však, že ani ti žáci, kteří výukou prošli, zdaleka neprokázali bezchybné znalosti. Zkušenosti získané výzkumem budou zúročeny pro vytvoření předmětu První pomoc do výuky budoucích učitelů na Pedagogické fakultě MU.

Klíčová slova: první pomoc, teoretické znalosti, projekt „První pomoc do škol“, žák 8. třídy ZŠ, Pedagogická fakulta, obor Výchova ke zdraví, výuka budoucích učitelů.

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ENFORCING COMPETENCIES IN CHILDREN WITH THE RISK OF BEHAVIORAL DISORDER IN CONDITIONS OF CHILDREN’S HOME AND

PRACTICAL PRIMARY BOARDING SCHOOL

Věra VOJTOVÁ, Marie PAVLOVSKÁ

Abstract: Drama education within the process of prevention and intervention of behavioral disorder risk in conditions of children’s home and practical primary board-ing school. Research presentation.

Keywords: Prevention, intervention, behavioural disorder risk, development risk factor, institutional care, social competencies, social stability, social relationship, spe-cial education diagnostics assessment, structured evaluation, intervention principles, intervention triangle, drama in education, refl ection.

The concept of healthy school refl ects the health quality at school from the pu-pils’ and educators’ viewpoint. Pupils’approach and their experience with school envi-ronment and chance to gain education is the alpha and omega of education effi ciency from the individual viewpoint in relation to fulfi llment of potential for every pupil (comp. Wearmouth, Glynn, Berryman, 2005, Helus, 2004). The education is perceived as a process which integrates the individual expectations of pupils in relation to their further chances (perspectives); the individual experience following learning in rela-tion to motivation; satisfactory social integration in relation to identity forming; the chance of success in connection with attaining certain social status in a group (comp. Řehulka, 2007, Vojtová, 2008). Identifi cation of these risks and reduction of their impact on pupils’ education is the fi rst condition for the creation of a responsive environment for all children (comp. UNESCO, 2005).

In our contribution, we would like to introduce the concept of research focused on creation and trial of intervention programs in group of children endangered in their development. The survey is undertaken by the Faculty of Education team consisting of Pavlovská M., Širůček, J., Vojtová, V. The survey is undertaken within research design of the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University, id.n. MSM0021622443 “Special needs of children in context of The Common Education Program for Primary Education” (CEP PE) lead by Prof. PhDr. Marie Vítková, CSc.

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Selected bachelor students of special education cooperate on the intervention program and verify it. The aim of the longitudinal research is to create the methodology of coordinated prevention and early intervention with the help of drama education as a working method in order to attain the desirable academic results and social competen-cies in the children at risk. It is this group of children which is at risk of developing an-tisocial behavior that we consider the most endangered by the pathological phenomena of the social environment.

Research basisLongitudinal studies evaluating the results of interventions show their effec-

tiveness and prove that the sooner and the more complexly we take the intervention, the better results we will get (Rutherford Jr., Quinn, Mathur, 2004, Běhounková, 2007). The real prevention of behavioral disorder risk doesn’t solve the problems at the moment of their becoming visible and hard to solve (e.g. termination of stud-ies, law violation, alcohol and drug abuse etc.), but the prevention programs that are to be successful focus on the problems before the child’s behavior exceeds the tolerance limit of the school and community and before there is a criminal sanction (Vojtová, 2008). The surveys (Lane, Gresham, 2002, Walker, Severson, 2002) prove that prevention of academic failure in children at risk is the most effi cient interven-tion in problem development and behavioral disorder. This fact is underestimated in the Czech school environment. It was proved by the survey undertaken in 2007 by Czech Ministry of the Interior ordered by the Czech Government as a basis for The Evaluation of the Care of Children at Risk (2007): From the group of 221 children that were taken away from the normal educational environment and placed into a reform school due to the behavioral disorder risk a whole third of them didn’t go through any intervention previous to the action. Only 35% of them had an ex-amination by the educational-psychological service (Ministry of the Interior, Czech Republic, 2007). It follows from this fact that the responsible institutions (school, the social and legal protection authority for children) didn’t even come up with the idea of intervention and placed the child into the intuitional care right away (comp. Vojtová, 2008). Such a signifi cant intervention into the life situation of a child in-fl uences its social bonds, its perception and its further future in adult life (comp. Störmer, Vojtová, 2006).

The UNESCO concept „School for all“ emphasizes the responsibility of every school for a healthy environment for all children, for the emotional and creativity development of all children. The development of all these factors is set equal to the cognitive aspect of child’s personality. Similarly, the Common Educational Program as the primary curricular document in Czech school environment emphasizes the sig-nifi cance of support of the pupils from socially disadvantaged environment and pupils with behavioral disorders in order to maintain their difference and involve them in educational activities. It encourages the schools to create the opportunity for such children to attain education according to their potentials (comp. CEP PE, 2005, Helus, 2004) despite the barriers caused by their disadvantages or differences (comp. Vojtová, 2008a).

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The drama education is one of the ways of arranging these opportunities and of enforcing the healthy school environment for all pupils. In a play, the drama education enables the child to cope with analogical life situations by the means of own experience, to support the development of a child in all socially signifi cant areas. It is important to stress that it happens within the play and only as if. The children are protected by the fi ction, it is only “as if”, within the game they try to live through something that could happen to them in reality, but they mustn’t fear the consequences of their behavior or decisions, and there is no danger of punishment (Pavlovská, 2004; Machková, 2006). The drama education is one of the ways to understand one another and themselves, one of the ways to gain positions and roles which make them question their ethical principles and personal values. They learn to accept order, respect variable ideas, respect others, support justice, and develop the sense of what is right and what is wrong. The drama ed-ucation makes the children listen and hear, watch and see and feel. It is a very important way, where the individual realizes what it means to be a human. The drama education uses above all the social play which is a natural activity for the children.

The research target group The target group is the children in risky development; they already have dis-

turbed development in social and sometimes also personal aspect. They are placed into not closely specifi ed children’s home1 by the court, or by the child care authority into the practical primary boarding school. They are a) children in institutional care, b) children staying in practical primary boarding school for social reasons (often it is a reaction to a proposal of social workers of the social judicial protection authority as the last degree of a life situation solution before handing in the proposal for an institutional educa-tion). These are not disabled children; they come from a dysfunctional environment. The WHO emphasizes that in the people without disability with lower ability to work it is mostly the dysfunctional environment that directly causes the behavioral problems. The WHO sees the cause of these problems in insuffi cient support, discrimination or stigmatization (ICF, 2001).

The fi rst group consists of children from children’s home – in institutional care. The children and young people get into the institutional care (act n.109, 2002) for social and educational reasons (comp. act n. 359, 1999, act n. 218, 2003). The cause of dysfunction (ICF, 2001) lies in each of these subgroups of placed children on a different level. In children placed into the school institutions for institutional and protective care for social reasons it is the outer level, the level of social environ-ment. In children placed in institutional and protective care for educational reasons it is mostly for inner reasons: due to the child’s personality. But in most cases it is both these aspects that disrupt the equilibrium of proper functioning of these children in their natural social environment, even though the problems on one level can be move intensive or more frequent. The second analyzed group of children is children who spend the weekdays in a boarding school. The reasons for their placement there are similar, but their gravity doesn’t request taking the child away from the family. It

1 We cannot give the name of the institution due to the protection of data of the target group children. We archive the exact identifi cation data.

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is mostly children from socially unsuitable environment. The research will therefore concern two groups, which both have its specifi c features. By the placement in the institutional care, these children lose their reliance which is normally granted to most of the children. Their contact with the immediate family isn’t continuous, their life experience and current life situation disrupt their social stability and create unfavo-rable predestination of social relationships quality (comp. Širůček, Širůčková, 2006, Vojtová, 2008). These risks can be the direct cause of their behavioral problems. They come into the children’s home or boarding school with their own experience of risk behavior (truancy, running away from home…), with the experience of stigmatization. The little stimulating environment of the family of their origin limits the performance capacity of a child and represents a risk of problem behavior. The social environment of these children is unstable and offers them negative social experience and wrong patterns for their own model behavior (comp. Kaufman, 2001, Vojtová, 2004, Wear-mouth, Glynn, Berryman, 2005. The most frequent reasons for placing the child into a children’s home are following situations:

1. the parents fail their parental duties: they do not use or they misuse the rights ensuing from the parental responsibilities;

2. when the children were placed into the care of another natural person than their own parents and this person fails to perform the duties ensuing from the place-ment of the child;

3. when the child became a victim of a criminal act putting its life, health, human dignity, moral development or possessions in danger, or there is a suspicion of such an act;

4. when the children are frequently placed into a continuous care institution on the request of the parents or other people responsible for the upbringing or the child’s stay there lasts more than 6 moths;

5. when the children are endangered by violence between the parents or other peo-ple responsible for the upbringing, or violence between other natural persons;

6. when they as asylum seekers are separated from their parents or other people responsible for their upbringing (act n.359, 1999);

These situations must last long enough or be intensive enough to infl uence the child unfavorably or must possibly be a direct cause of its unfavorable development. To place the child into the boarding school care the reasons n. 1 and 2 must be fulfi lled, while the family isn’t so neglected and dysfunctional not to be able to cooperate. The most fre-quent reason for placing the children in to the boarding school are truancy and inability or unwillingness of the parents to ensure the school attendance. The depositional coping strategies (Vodáčková, 20002) enable children to – more or less – cope with the situation when they are taken away from the family and transferred into the institutional care. The loss of contact with the key person and transfer from the family disrupts their “set of cog-nitive representations” (Širůček, Širůčková, 2006) and opens the room for risks in their development (Heath, Sheen, 2005). We speak of the concept of “At-risk Youth” (comp. Barr, Parret, 2001, Jahnukainen, 2001) of the children in risk of behavioral disorder de-velopment.

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The risks are potential barriers for successful socialization processes and educa-tion of a child. Therefore, we focused the prevention in our program on forestalling the formation of these barriers. We try to stop the undesired trends in children’s behavior by intervention and set new models of their reactions and behavior (comp. Vojtová, 2008).

Drama education as a communication bridgeThe prevention and intervention program will be made up of a methodological

set based on drama education. Drama education (DE) is a young fi eld of study; it entered our school at mid 1990’s with the educational program Primary School. Since then it’s been part and parcel of school curriculum. It became very popular with many teachers, because it uses natural, easy way of teaching; it teaches by means of one’s own experi-ence. Special education teachers use the term dramics, which, in their view, captures the focus on special educational needs children better, we will therefore use this term further in the paper. The methodology series for prevention and intervention in children by means of dramics methods and techniques will be focused on eliminating undesirable manifestation of behavior and creating desirable behavioral attitudes. First, we want to fi nd out the current state of personal, social and ethic competencies by means of dramics methods, then we want to develop the individual abilities of the children by intervention techniques, which correspond with the basic competencies worded in the CEP PE. It is the following competencies: communicative competencies, social and personal compe-tencies, competencies to learn and work, problem solving competencies, competencies of a citizen. The dramics develops all the above competencies and some more that are connected to the theatre as a specifi c way of perceiving the world (understanding the basics of interpersonal communication, by role play taking and analyzing attitudes to life events, active participation in joint creative effort, perceiving the dramatic art as a sovereign kind of art, being able to differentiate the individual genres).

Dramics and its contribution in development of key competenciesCommunicative competences – the child in role and outside the role learns to

formulate its views, defend them, argues, communicates with the audience, and learns to respect the views of the others, listen to them, and appreciate their contribution.

Social and personal competencies – the child takes up different roles, i.e. the characters of other people, acts as them, expresses their thoughts and views, even though it could be quite different personalities than his/her own. He/she is protected by the fi c-tion; he/she doesn’t need to fear the future, the sanctions in reality.

Learning competence – the child learns to search the information, sort them, analyze various situation from different points of view, learns to decide. We observe the development of specifi c abilities (psychosomatic, game abilities), he/she learns to refl ect and evaluate.

Problem solving competence – the child learns to analyze problem situations and consequences of human behavior ensuing from them, analyze the problem solutions, learns to realize the relationship of the fi ctive situations and the real life situations, he/she learns to recognize and understand a problem, think about the discrepancies and

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their causes. The children understand that there could be different views of a confl ict, which leads to the realization of signifi cance of the responsibility for their decision and the realization of the need to refl ect on their decision and evaluate them.

Competencies of a citizen – while working with different topics regarding the functional society, children learn to take their attitudes as a citizen, learn skills, abide by the rules, they develop their creativity, relationship to the cultural heritage as a whole, to ethic values. They learn to participate in the school or community life by different performances and theatre projects.

Working competencies – the child participates in creating theatre scenes, posters, theatre production etc. (CEP PE, 2005). In working with children, we can use the dram-ics as a subject, as a method of work or as an educational principle. In the context of prevention and intervention, the main contribution lies in the following attributes:

1) it helps to create experience,2) gives the opportunity to think independently (group work, every individual is im-

portant, he/she has the chance to express his/her ideas, contribute to the whole),3) grants freedom to the group (under the sensitive leadership of a teacher the group

learns to accept, appreciate and encourage one another),4) gives the opportunity to cooperation (joint effort, including so called outsiders),5) gives the opportunity to build social consciousness (entering the role, becoming

someone, understanding this person, decide in role and for oneself),6) it helps to release the emotions (in confl ict solving, various problems, relax, get

rid of the tension),7) helps the communication development, sentence vocabulary, working with

voice.

The strategy of intervention processes While planning the methodic set, we concentrate on self-perception, coopera-

tion, communication, problem solving, ethics and emotionality (Matějček, 1994). The activities and topics will be deliberately chosen to reinforce the resistance of children to negative social infl uences, to reinforce the patterns of desirable behavior. We proceed from the bibliography of a child, from his competencies and potentials. The special education diagnostics of behavior and competencies of individual children gave rise to the practical implementation of the research. Only a good familiarity with individual children can help us react properly to their educational needs, use their skills and fulfi ll their potential (comp. Helus, 2004).

Getting to know their needs was divided into two steps. The fi rst step was to evaluate the problem of every child and create the structured evaluation record of the problem. We proceeded from a) the analysis of children’s documentation, d) observation in their natural social group. For the record, we used self-made tools: ad a) the outline for structured evaluation, b) behavioral disorder reference list. The second step was the behavioral diagnostics in relationship with the peers. The measurements a) were carried out before the intervention; b) will be carried out three months after the application of the intervention. This measurement will be carried out by students – experiment organ-

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izers, teachers of the pupils, external observers – research team members. The third step is the intervention itself.

Problem evaluation of an individual child and structured evaluation record

The evaluation of problems in school environment is to some degree problem-atic. Subjective aspect in the records is a great danger, also the focus of the assessor on the areas that really relate to the behavioral problems of a child (comp. Störmer, Vojtová, 2006). We can avoid these risks by combination of forms and tools of observation. We set two basic processes in our research: direct observation of a child in class and struc-tured evaluation for behavioral evaluation. We used these observations in the beginning of our work with children, before the intervention. And we will use them again after the intervention; the differences will show the effectiveness of the intervention processes in individual children. We attach the record sheet in the end of the contribution; the behav-ioral monitoring was carried out in intervals set beforehand (attachment 1 and 2).

Behavior diagnostics in relation to the peersAnother form of the observation of behavior was the observation of social com-

petencies of the children. The observation a) was carried out in the beginning of the in-tervention; b) will be carried out 3 months after the implementation of the intervention. The observation will be carried out by students – experiment organizers, the teachers of the pupils, external observers – research team members. In the attachment n. 3, we list a scale of social competences of children, purpose of which is to create a basic algorithm for the diagnostics of problem behavior. Using this scale ensures intentional records and teachers focus on behavior diagnostics and the diagnostics of signs of behavioral prob-lems. There is a possibility to specify another variant in every dimension (attachment 3). We use the scale before and after the intervention again.

The interventionThree basic starting points form the framework for creation of the intervention

processes: social skills of individual problems, social standards of skills, and the op-portunity to learn. These starting points of the intervention process are illustrated by the intervention triangle. They are connected to each other and defi ne the intervention activities. We compare the standards with the current competencies of a child and use this comparison when constructing the learning situations. We see the intervention as a process that takes into account the past, current and future competencies development of a child; a process that respects the individual skills of a child. Besides the standards and the current state of social competencies, we also have to work with future opportu-nities of a child (with his or her potential). We work with the zones of future develop-ment of an individual child and the quality of the relationships in the given group, with experience and possible opportunities in particular life and educational situations and in

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child’s social network (comp. Strömer, Vojtová, 2006). There are social skills of a child one side of the triangle; it is its state and competencies in the current time, when he or she enters the intervention process. There are social standards of skills on the triangle peak, which should be reached by the child; they are the usual competencies of a child of his or her age. The third side of the triangle is constituted by activities and stimuli which help to create the opportunity to learn and develop social skills of a child. This development leads to the peak of the triangle, to the standard social skills (intervention goals).

Three main components (processes) of intervention The skill (competence) intervention training is aimed at 1) social skills (we

mustn’t forget the defi ciency in other fi elds; learning and activities connected with the school work represent a way to reinforce the feeling of competence – leads also to re-inforcing the social interaction…); skills and techniques for small group work; group activities coordination. Ad 1) The skill (competence) intervention training aimed at social skills.

Interactive relationship between peers – perception of the position of the other – the empathy is rozvíjena by the following activities. The examples above defi ne the basic structure to support the child at risk. The teacher creates other models of concrete activities within this framework.

Intervention principles – implementation and feedbackWhen planning the intervention activities the teacher should keep in mind:

▪ the child him-or herself has to be active, all opportunities would be vain without own active approach;

▪ the activity of a child is initiated, enforced and kept by an opportunity (stimu-li) and the signifi cance of the opportunity for his or her own perception (feed-back);

▪ the child carries own experience from a social interaction in a different environ-ment;

▪ the child and his or her behavior are infl uenced by interaction from the teachers and peers (comp. Helus, 2004, Říčan, 2004, Vojtová, Bloemers, Johnson, 2006).

Before the intervention implementation, the teacher should answer the fol-lowing questions:

▪ if the teaching goal of the educational activity in question is clear;▪ if he or she has enough technical knowledge to teach the given topic;▪ if he or she has the necessary material and tools ready;▪ if the chosen activity corresponds with the goal of the work;▪ if the chosen methods and tasks are adequate to the age of the children, their

interests and their needs, if they connect to their previous experience;▪ if the chosen motivation is strong enough to motivate the children;

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▪ how he or she will carry out the refl ection and evaluation;▪ if there is enough time to do the fi nal refl ection with the children;▪ if he or she takes the individuality of a child into account.

During the intervention implementation the following should be monitored:

▪ interest of the children;▪ busyness of children and their activity in the individual activities;▪ the cooperation of the children;▪ children’s reaction to teacher’s questions;▪ if the activity respects children, their wishes and proposals;▪ if the chosen teaching methods aim the purpose;▪ way of using prepared materials and tools;▪ if the teacher offers enough feedback and stimulates them to further steps;▪ the fl ow of time in order to have enough time for the closing refl ection

After the intervention implantation, the teacher should carry out self-refl ection and sincerely answer following questions:

▪ if he or she achieved in the process of prevention and intervention his or her set goals;

▪ if the activity and teaching methods were well chosen;▪ if the materials and tools used supported children’s work;▪ if the class atmosphere is calm and relaxed and the relationship between the

teacher and the pupils is based on mutual respect and trust;▪ if all the pupils participated (comp. Svozilová, 2001; Pavlovská 2004,Vojtová,

2008)

We focus the feedback on success, activities and experience that turned out well and fulfi lled the expectations. We also monitor the shortcomings! Their iden-tifi cation helps to reassess the present intervention strategy and create new opportuni-ties. In the dramics, we use the refl ection after almost every activity, we evaluate the work and see that the child itself refl ects its actions, success and failures, then we let the group to do the talking and then comes the teacher’s feedback. The educator acts as a facilitator who guides the child on its way to knowledge. She or he doesn’t offer, doesn’t force, just opens the imaginary door to knowledge. Information intended for the child should be a part of the refl ection: how the child worked, what progress he/she made, the group should evaluate the mutual cooperation. The refl ections following individual activities are usually oral, but sometimes the teacher chooses a gesture, colored expression or sound refl ection. The closing refl ection is usually carried out in a circle and everybody has a chance to express their opinion. Sometimes a written refl ection is incorporated, it is mostly in cases when the child is to think about the problem (comp. Pavlovská, 2004; Macková, 2007. The teacher should also monitor shortcomings in order to help him during the activities; they represent a challenge for amendments of the current intervention strategy (Vojtová, 2008).

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The current state of research

At the time of writing this contribution, we are in the beginning of our research. The fi rst diagnostic stage of the research was completed, we created the methodology of structured behavior evaluation, scale of behavioral disorders and we are in the process of their verifi cation now. We develop the intervention series based on the diagnostics and we will start working with the program in the beginning of the next school year. We see the children regularly once a week and work with them in course of the interven-tion activities. In the second half of 2008, we plan to fi nish the methodology series of intervention, carry out the repeated special diagnostics and analyze the development and effectiveness of the intervention. We will inform the expert public of our results.

Summary The contribution introduces the research carried out together with the students of

the special education department. The intervention program in question is aim at chil-dren at risk of behavioral disorder development in the environment of children’s home and practical primary boarding school.

Attachment n. 1Record sheets Record sheets for behavoir monitoring 1

In-class monitoringIt is suitable for short-term monitoring as data for teacher’s decision about the interven-tion processes. Includes following domains:

1. Attentionconsciousattention span

2. Interaction with the teacher with the schoolmate in a pairwith schoolmates within the group

2.1. Communication: verbal, non-verbalwith the teacher with the schoolmate in a pairwith schoolmates within the group in front of the audience

3. Ability to work4. Ability to respond to teacher’s instructions5. Ability to stick to the rules

independentin a groupin workplace organization, while working on given task

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6. Reaction to evaluation – praise, reprove, good and bad 7. Signifi cant aspects infl uencing behavior

Attachment n. 2Record sheet for behavior monitoring n. 2Structured problem evaluation (by Elliott, Place, 2002)It is used for long-term problem evaluation, it doesn’t take only the pupil within the school environment into account, but also his or her environment, the relationships with peers, life histories of a pupil.

Structured evaluation1. Basic topics

What are the basic problems? Whom do they concern? Who is involved in them and why? Find out the details about the problems – when they started, how long they have lasted, circumstances, intensity, consequences.Attitudes of people in question – pupil him/herself, his/her parents, teachers, schoolmates.

2. Development historyDid anything in the pupil‘s life happen that could infl uence his/her current problem?

3. School performanceDoes it correspond to his/her education?Relationship to the teachersRelationship to the pupils – watch out for bullying

4. Hobbies and free time activitiesDoes he/she have any hobbies?Is he/she interested in anything at all?How does he/she spend her/his free time?

5. Traumatizing eventsDid anything happen in the near past that could be the cause of current problems?

6. Family relationshipsThe best is the observation at the interviewWho does the most talkingWho is the most relevant speakerWho is the authority in the family, for the pupil

7. Child’s behaviorMoodsBalanceIn class, in free-time activities, in pauses, on the way to and from school

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Attachment n. 3Realtionship to peers (Vojtová, Širůček)

In following situations What is the most suitable answer?

1. Cooperating behavior with peers or similar situation.

A. Demands his own way of playing games.B. Conforms to the instructions of the others who push forward their way of playing.C. Gives up things he likes and plays with to the friend whenever he is asked to.D. Other reaction.

2. Connecting with peers or similar situation

A. Relaxed and confi dent in contact with children s/he doesn’t know.B. Avoids social contact with peers even when he is given the chance. C. Open and friendly with the peers but is inexperienced in leading the conversation or the play. D. Other reaction.

3. Relationship hierarchy with other children.

A. Expresses concerns what others think of him/her.B. Thinks himself/herself superior to his/her peers.C. S/he cannot step up against unreasonable opinion of a peer.D. Other reaction.

4. Friendship with peers known to the child and similar situations.

A. S/he often competes with peers, challenges them to competitive games (cards, board games etc.) B. Helps his/her friends with their tasks and duties.C. He is hostile to the peers who try to make friends with him/her or his/her friends.D. Other reaction.

5. Reaction maturity to other children.

A. Frequent quarrel and rage fi ts with peers. B. Makes hostile remarks about his/her peers.C. Comes often in contact with his/her peers, addresses them with their fi rst names. D. Other reaction.

6. Leadership A. Orders his/her peers around.B. Demands obedience.C. Can conform to the views of the majority. D. Other reaction.

7. Conforming to the norms of the peer group.

A. Ignores the rules of the peer group. B. Takes part in group activities, but only passively. C. Frequent imitation of peer behavior. D. Other reaction.

8. Provocation of others A. Frequent verbal provocative behavior towards the peers.B. Frequent physical provocation of the peers. C. Frequent destruction of the property of others. D. Other reaction.

9. Helping others A. Perceives the ill luck (uncertainty) of a friend, tries to help without hesitation. B. Perceives friend’s diffi culties, but hesitates with help.C. Ignores the effort of his/her peers who seek his support and consola-tion. D. Other reaction.

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10. Aggression against peers A. Uses reasonable arguments to convince the peers.B. Exerts pressure to push his/her opinion through. C. Uses physical threats to force others. C. Other reaction.

11. Respect from the others A. Children respect him/her.B. Children mock him/her. C. Children ignore him/her. D. Children isolate him/her deliberately.E. Otherwise

POSILOVÁNÍ KOMPETENCÍ U DĚTÍ V RIZIKU VÝVOJE PORUCHY CHOVÁNÍ V PODMÍNKÁCH DĚTSKÉHO DOMOVA A INTERNÁTU ZÁKLADNÍ ŠKOLY PRAKTICKÉ

Abstrakt: Dramatická výchova v procesu prevence a intervence rizik poruch chování v podmínkách základní školy praktické a dětského domova. Prezentace výzku-mu.

Klíčová slova: Prevence, intervence, riziko poruchy chování, riziko vývoje, ústavní výchova, ochranná výchova, sociální kompetence, sociální stabilita, sociální vztahy, speciálně pedagogická diagnostika, strukturované hodnocení, zásady interven-ce, intervenční triangl, dramatická výchova, refl exe.

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THE LEVEL OF SCHOOL MATURITY AND INTELLECTUAL LEVEL OF CHILDREN FROM

SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED SETTINGS IN THE CONTEXT OF (NON-) PARTICIPATION

IN THE SCHOOL PREPARATION

Dagmar KOPČANOVÁ

Abstract: The author brings experience of school psychologist working with children from socially disadvantaged settings, whereby comparing the results of two diagnostic methods: the non-verbal test of intellectual abilities (SON-R 2 1/2 -7) and the school maturity test (Göppingen) among three groups of children: a) those who at-tended kindergarten, b) those who did not attend any kindergarten and c) children who absolved fi rst half-year of the preparatory (zero) grade.

Keywords: intellectual abilities, school maturity, school psychologist, children from socially disadvantaged setting.

The school maturity or school preparedness is a complex indicator of maturity of a child and his capacity to adjust oneself to the education process. It means a child should be able to reach such a level of his/ her development that enables him/her to ac-quire the school knowledge in a successful way. To master the school, a child should be prepared not only from physical and motor point of view, but also from mental, social, emotional and language skills.

So far as mental maturity is concerned, we have to take into consideration es-pecially the level of perception, graphomotor skills, intellectual recognition, language development, psychomotor pace and attention. Emotional and social maturity is charac-terised by emotional stability, frustration tolerance and capacity for accepting potential failure, the capacity to be separated from mother, respect authority and adjust to peers collective.

Several studies (Farkašová, E., 2007, Hennelová, K., 2007, Dočkal, V.; Kopčanová, D. Farkašová, E., 2007) but also the results in OECD-PISA (2006) show that children who did not have enough social-cultural stimuli before they entered the school have later some problems with mastering school and vice versa.

In the Central and Eastern Europe the problem of insuffi cient stimulation and prep-aration of children to school is related namely to Roma children, who, compared to major-

314

ity population, usually do not attend the kindergarten. Also the relationship between the school success and socio-economic status cannot be ignored, although success or failure of children at school is affected also by their talent, learning potential and willingness to learn. The standardisation research on SON-R 2 1/2-7 test in Slovakia, recently done in the Research Institute for Child Psychology and Pathopsychology confi rmed, that differ-ences between Roma and non-Roma children were more bound to the stimulation effects in the socio-cultural settings than ethnic origin (Dočkal, V.; Kopčanová, D.; Farkašová, E, 2007).

The truth is, that children participating the research were attending the preschool facility.

However, those children who did not absolve any preparation for school be-fore being enrolled to school can make use of so called „zero“ grade of a mainstream school.

Its task is to accelerate the child development in a way that he/she would be able to master the enrolment to school and manage the requirements of the fi rst grade.

It is a good opportunity especially for the children from socially disadvantaged settings, or had a one -year delay in school attendance from any reasons.

The research goals: To discover if and to what extent the results in the school maturity test of children from socially disadvantaged settings who attended the kin-dergarten (or attended at least one semester of zero class) might differ from those who did not attend any pre-school facility. Compare results with the intellectual level of children from socially disadvantaged settings reached in a non-verbal test SON-R 2 1/2-7.

Basic hypotheses:We assume that in the school maturity test (Göppingen) some signifi cant dif-ferences might occur among those children who did not attend any pre-school facility and those who attended the kindergartenWe assume that children who attended the kindergarten will achieve better in the school maturity test than those, who attended only one semester of zero classWe assume that there can be statistically signifi cant difference among children from all groups also in achievements of non-verbal test SON-R 2 1/2-7.We assume that there can be statistically signifi cant difference among right-handed and left-handed children

Tests used:a) Göppingen – one of the well-known screening technique for evaluation of school maturity, used by specialists in the centres for pedagogic-psychological counselling and prevention throughout the last 40 years.Consists of 10 subtests: 1. Shape perception and ability to distinguish the patterns 2. Soft motor skills 3. Perception of the size, amount and order 4. Attention capacity

1.

2.

3.

4.

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5. Critical observation 6. Concentration 7. Visual memory 8. Comprehension of visual objects and situations 9. Language and content comprehension 10. Overall development indication.b) SON-R 2 1/2-7. Non-verbal individual test consists of 6 subtests: Mosaics, Cat-egories, Puzzles, Analogies, Situations and Patterns. Subtests have two levels of dif-fi culties. This method is used particularly with the young children and children of preschool age and particularly useful for the assessment of cognitive skills level of this age.

Research group: 27 children of preschool age attended the evaluation, one third (9 chil-dren) absolved the preschool preparation in kindergarten, next third absolved one se-mester in the zero class and the last third did not attend any preschool facility nor went through any school preparation .

Statistical methods:Analysis of variance (ANOVA), Welch and Brown-Forsythe test, Tukey HSD,

Tamhane test and also tests for two independent variables for testing the differences of group means according to laterality were used .

Results: As the robust tests Welch test as well as Brown_Forsythe- test measured

a different signifi cance among groups for IQ but also GHS, we refused the null hypothesis about parity means and searched more the factors I and J levels that had statistically signifi cant difference of the group means as seen from the following table:

Table No. 1Dependent Variable: Gop – hrube skoreTukey HSD

(I) Skupina (J)Skupina

Mean Difference

(I-J) Std. Error Sig.

95% Confi dence Interval

Lower Bound Upper bound

did not attend kindergarten attended kindergarten -16,667* 5,137 ,009 -29,50 -3,84

zero grade -11,889 5,137 ,073 -24,72 ,94

attended kindergarten did not attend kindergarten 16,667* 5,137 ,009 3,84 29,50

zero grade 4,778 5,137 ,627 -8,05 17,61

zero grade did not attend kindergarten 11,889 5,137 ,073 -,94 24,72

attended kindergarten -4,778 5,137 ,627 -17,61 8,05* The mean difference is signifi cant at the .05 level

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According to this table it is clear that with regards to the raw scores of the Göppingen test:

the difference between group means of those who did not attend the kindergarten compared to those who attended and vice versa are statistically signifi cant – p signifi cance (Sig) is 0,009there is no signifi cant difference between the group means of the zero grade compared to those who did not attend the pre-school facility (kindergarten) – p signifi cance (Sig) is 0,073 also the difference between the mean groups of those who absolved the zero grade and those who absolved the kindergarten is statistically not signiffi cant – p signifi cance (Sig) is 0,627.

For IQ SON we used Tamhane test, applied usually in cases of different diffusion factor level as seen from the table below:

Table No.2Dependent Variable: iqTamhane

(I) Skupina (J)Skupina

Mean Difference

(I-J) Std. Error Sig.

95% Confi dence Interval

Lower Bound Upper bound

did not attend kindergarten attended kindergarten -18,333* 5,641 ,022 -34,04 -2,63

zero grade -9,889 4,118 ,087 -20,96 1,18

attended kindergarten did not attend kindergarten 18,333* 5,641 ,022 2,63 34,04

zero grade 8,444 6,039 ,457 -7,96 24,85

zero grade did not attend kindergarten 9,889 4,118 ,087 -1,18 20,96

attended kindergarten -8,444 6,039 ,457 -24,85 7,96* The mean difference is signifi cant at the .05 level

From this follows that with regards to the IQ SON:the group means of those who did not attend the kindergarten to those who did and vice versa statistically differ signifi cantly, p signifi cance (Sig) is 0,022there is no statistical signifi cance in between two group means of zero grade compared to those who did not attend any pre-school facility, p signifi cance (Sig) is 0,087 also there is no statistical signifi cance between the goup means of the zero grade and those who attended the kindergarten, p signifi cance (Sig) is 0,457.

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For better illustration here are the graphs of the different levels of the factor (group means):

Graph No.1. Group means (mean IQ scores in SON-R 2 1/2-7)

Graph. No. 2 Group means (mean raw scores in GOP)

did not attend kindergarten attended kindergarten zero grade

Group

did not attend kindergarten attended kindergarten zero grade

Group

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Descriptive statistics ¬of IQ SON according to group 1

Graph No. 3 Statistical results – IQ SON-R 2 1/2-7 and group comparison

Descriptive statistics of GOP test according to group 1

Graph No. 4 Statistical results of GOP test and group comparison

57,11

75,44

67,00

7,44

15,20

9,86

2,485,07

3,29

0,00

10,00

20,00

30,00

40,00

50,00

60,00

70,00

80,00

AM SD Std. Error Mean

neabsolvoval skolku

absolvoval skolku

nulty rocnik

36,11

52,78

48,00

11,419,82

11,39

3,80 3,27 3,80

0,00

10,00

20,00

30,00

40,00

50,00

60,00


neabsolvoval skolku

absolvoval skolku

nulty rocnik

did not attend kindergartenattended kindergartenzero grade

did not attend kindergarten

attended kindergarten

zero grade

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Comparison of right-handed and left-handed children results

On behalf of applying the parametric tests (see table no. 3) we found out there was no signifi cant statistical difference, among the group means.

For illustration see the graphs No. 5 and 6 .

Table. No. 3 Comparison of mean scores of IQ SON and GOP according to laterality

Descriptive statistics of IQ SON according to laterality

Graph No. 5 Descriptive statistics of IQ SON according to laterality

Lateralita2 N AM SD t-hodnota Sig.testu U-hodnota Exact Sig.IQ SON pravák 20 67,00 12,81

ľavák 7 65,14 15,53 0,313 0,757 57,500 0,498GHS pravak 20 47,30 12,96

ľavák 7 40,86 11,33 1,246 0,237 46,500 0,198

Porovnanie priemerných skór IQ SON a GOP podľa lateralityPremenné Opisné štatistiky Parametrický t-test Mann-WhitneyVariables

right-handed

right-handedleft-handed

left-handed

20

7

67,0065,14

12,8115,53

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


pravákľavákright-handedleft-handed

Descriptive statistics Parametrics t-testComparison of mean scores of IQ SON and GOP according to laterality

t-value Sig. of testLaterality 2

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Descriptive statistics of GOP according to laterality

Graph No. 6 Descriptive statistics of GOP according to laterality

Summary and results:Hypothesis No. 1 has been verifi ed: the difference between those children who did not complete the pre-school preparation and those who completed it was statistically signifi cant Hypothesis No. 2 has been also verifi ed: those children who attended the kin-dergarten had better results in the school maturity test (GOP) than those who completed just half year in the zero class, as those were children with one year delay, suffering from other diffi culties before enrolling the fi rst grade. Among children of all three groups there were statistically signifi cant differ-ences also in the achievements of the non-verbal test SON -R 2 1/2-7.The differences between left-handed and right-handed children were not signifi -cant, because the difference was random and the results could not be assigned to any concrete factor. It is quite obvious that these results cannot be generalised because of the small

size of the sample, however they can serve as a concrete example of children coming from socially disadvantaged settings. Results will have an important contribution in the practice, because they enter the school in September 2008 and this information can be of help to teachers who can set up the concrete education goals in particular curriculum for particular pupil. Then also the school psychologist can help in elaborating the curricula used in the education process in a way that would be tailored to each pupil separately,

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with regards to his/her cognitive skills level. In this case we can see that a big number of children need to be integrated as children with special needs. Only in this way we can reach the equal access and quality education for children from socially disadvantaged settings.

ÚROVEŇ ŠKOLSKEJ ZRELOSTI A INTELEKTOVÁ ÚROVEŇ DETÍ ZO SOCIÁLNE ZNEVÝHODNENÉHO PROSTREDIA V KONTEXTE (NE)ABSOLVOVANIA PREDŠKOLSKEJ PRÍPRAVY

Abstrakt: Autorka vo svojom príspevku prináša skúsenosti z práce školského psychológa s deťmi zo sociálne znevýhodneného prostredia, pričom porovnáva výsledky dvoch použitých diagnostických metód: testu intelektových schopností a testu školskej pripravenosti (Göppingen) medzi tromi skupinami detí: a) deti ktoré navštevovali predškolské zariadenie, b) tie ktoré neprešli žiadnou predškolskou prípravou, c) deti ktoré absolvovali prvý polrok prípravného (nultého) ročníka.

Kľúčové slová: duševné schopnosti, školská zrelosť, školský psychológ, deti zo sociálne znevýhodnených skupín

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STRAINING OF THE ENVIRONMENTBY POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS

IN EAST SLOVAKIA

Tatiana KIMÁKOVÁ

Abstract: This article focuses on the quality of the environment and effects that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) have on it. PCBs are characterized in the historical point of view; they make their way through atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. Another part of the article focuses on the situation concerning PCB in Slovakia and the effects it has on animals and human being, and also on the current trend in research of these substances.

Keywords: PCB, environment, atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, health, quality, pollutants, harmfulness, research

IntroductionEcology is a science about mutual relations and effects of human being onto the

environment in global system of Earth that happen in signifi cant competitive interac-tions of life forms. In a similar way as anthropoecology it observes natural and social (psychosocial, economic and others) relations and society progression. In the age of the beginning of the third millennium human ecology is a philosophy of survival for the human race too (Klein and Bencko, 1997).

The environment is mutually connected complex in which no part affects the other in isolation. It is also refl ected in the effects it has on human organism. Many of the environmental agents are fundamental for our life and health, others can vary in its effects in a positive or negative way, without others we cannot live and we have to avoid others and remove them from our environment. Human being has been forming the en-vironment in which he has lived in order to create suitable conditions for his existence (Ághová and team, 1993). The formation of a suitable environment for human society has brought, apart from many positive impulses and effects, many negative interven-tions too.

In the recent years there has been a global growth of industrial activities and that is closely connected with a signifi cant pollution of the environment by toxic substances. Toxic pollutants are persistent substances that stay in the environment for a long period.

324

They can accumulate and enter into the food chain having all the unwanted effects on animal and human organisms.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) belong among the exceptionally toxic chemical substances. For its very good physical and chemical qualities PCBs have been used in various industrial areas (Podhradská and Šak, 1987). Their harmful effects have come, as it was in the past, into the centre of attention of many prominent scientist homelands and in the world.

Characteristics of PCBPlychlorinated byphenyls (PCB) are industrially produced chemical substances.

They cannot be found naturally in the environment. Environmental transport of PCB is a complex and global process. They get into atmosphere, water or even into the soil sediments (Chariašteľ and team, 2004).

Polychlorinated byphenyls are chlorinated derivatives of a simple aromatic com-pound – biphenyl. Biphenyl is an aromatic hydrocarbon, in which there are two simply compound benzene rings. The group of PCB includes 209 compounds, concerning tech-nical mixtures there is a smaller number – only a couple of dozens. PCBs were prepared for the fi rst time in 1881. Industries started producing them in USA in 1929 and it was soon followed by other developed countries in the world (Safe, 1992). The whole amount that has been produced since 1929 is estimated at 1.2 to 1.5 million tonnes. PCBs belong to the group of carcinogens. Their production and usage is presently prohibited.

In the period 1959–1983 former Czechoslovakia produced PCB in chemist man-ufactory Chemko Strážske. In those years, the company also used to be an important ex-porter (products Delor, Hydelor, Delofet, Delorit and Delotherm) (Chriašteľ and team, 2004). During that period 21 500 tonnes of products were produced. The most vigorous production was carried out from 1974 to 1983, when the annual production reached 1200-2000 tonnes. Due to this aspect East-Slovakian region was classifi ed as one of the risk localities, which was confi rmed by the fi ndings of positive samples during regular monitoring of animals and fi sh in Slovak Republic (Košutzký, Šalgovičová, 2003).

Development of modern analytical methods enables to gain superior and more complete information about the concentration of PCB in soil, water, air, food or in in-dividual tissues of animals and people, in milk, hair and others. PCBs are presently determined through the method of gas or liquid chromatography.

PCB in the environmentPBCs are organic pollutants, which have been identifi ed in almost all elements

of global ecosystem. Low water solubility and high hydrophobicity of these compounds are a cause of their accumulation in the environment and in the links of food chain (Ve-ber and Kredl, 1991).

How much of PCBs gets into the environment depends especially on the way they are used. This can be divided into usage of PCBs in open or close systems.

The open systems are those where PCB cannot be detected and their usage conse-quently leads to contamination of the environment. In the past, in most areas, measures

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were taken to reduce or respectively to cancel such applications. It considered application of PCBs in lubricants, solid impregnating materials, paints, adhesives, waxes, additives of plasters, sealing liquids, extinguishing agents, immersion oils, pesticides, impact paper and many other materials (Internet source 1, Murín and team, 2007).

AtmosphereDespite of the low volatility in the lifetime of products that contain PCB still

some amounts get into the air. PCBs are present in atmosphere especially in vapour phase. The proportion of PBC in solid phase in the form of particles depends on air temperature and volatility pressure of the specifi c congener. Higher concentration of PCBs in particle phase happens in low temperatures and volatility pressures. The total amount of atmospheric PCBs is estimated at 10,000 to 100,000 kg (Internet source 2).

Other contaminations come from industrial, communal and hospital combustion processes and from evaporation of PBC coming from soil (especially waste dumps) and water. They are produced, for instance, during waste combustion, when chlorine in the burning plastics (PVC) reacts with phenols, coming from paper and wood (Veber and Kredl, 1991).

A signifi cant sources of contaminations are outfl ows of PCBs from industries, that is infi ltrations and leakages from electrical equipments (condensers and transform-ers), from industrial accidents (explosions of transformers).

Table no. 1 – Industrial usage of PCB (Hegyi and Mistrík, 2001)Open systems

(such systems where PCB outfl ows cannot be stopped and therefore their usage leads to contamination of the environments)

Close systems

• Plasticizers on the basis of PCB• Carbon-free copy paper• Lubrifi cates• Elements of compression-moulding

materials• Impregnating materials• Glue components• Wax components• Additives into cements and plasters• Material for deletion of casting moulds

• Cooling liquids in transformers• Dielectric liquids in small and large

condensers• Fire-proof and heat-transforming

anticorrosive hydraulic liquids in vacuum pumps

• Heat-transforming medias

It is estimated that up to 20 % of the PCB amount gets into the environment. Out of that 5 % goes to air and 10–15 % into water, either directly or through soil (Chriašteľ and team, 2003). It is stated that there can be higher concentration of PBC in urban areas and also when the air temperatures is higher. The concentration is higher in

326

interiors than in exteriors (Internet source 2). In Slovakia, in the areas of contamination of Michaloviec, the registered values in air were up to 1,700 ng/m3 (Kočan and team, 2001).

Hydrosphere and lithospherePCBs are water-soluble at the minimum, that is why, in water environment, they

are absorbed in sediments and other organic components. Most PCBs get into water ecosystems through industrial waste that is run into rivers, lakes and seaside areas and through outfl ows from open systems (Hegyi and Mistrík, 2001).

According to the accessible literal sources up to 90 % of PCB is present in soil; these are constantly being released into atmosphere through circulation. The amount of PCBs that are washed out from soil is insignifi cant (heavy rains are an exception). The process of biodegradation is very slow in soil. PCBs are transferred from soil into plants and they consequently get into bodies of animals through food chain (Trnovec and Palúchová, 2006).

PCB in SlovakiaCzechoslovakia produced PCB in a chemical company Chemko Strážske in the

period 1959–1984. At the same time the company was an important exporter of various products that included PCB (products Delor, Hydelor and Delothem) (Chriašteľ and team, 2004). In these years 21 482 tonnes of products on the basis of PCB were of-fi cially made and during that 1 000 tonnes of waste were produced. It is estimated that during the production a few tens of tonnes escaped into waste canal and contaminated the river Laborec together with Zmplínská Šírava. Due to this aspect the East-Slovakian region was classifi ed as risk locality, which was confi rmed by the fi ndings of positive samples during the regular monitoring of water animals and fi sh in SR (Košutzký and Šalgovičová, 2003).

Matters concerning PCB have been an issue in Zemplín for several decades. Concentrations of PCB in soil in this area are one of the most signifi cant in the world.

First data concerning harmfulness of PCBIn 1966 Jensen pointed out the potential danger of PCB in external environment.

He connected the reproduction changes of birds in Sweden with the content of PCB in cells.

Kurutsune (1969) was one of the fi rst ones, who referred to the signifi cant prob-lems concerning damage of human body by PCB in connection with illness “Yusho”. In 1968 there was a mass intoxication of 1200 people (22 died) after an ingestion of rice oil that had been contaminated with PCB (2-3 g.kg-1) due to the leakage of heating pipes in a food factory in Japan. The illness was named “Yusho” (illness from rice oil).

Not only in the past, but even presently the focal point of potential health harm-fulness is an excessive amount of PCBs in food. Many experiments and researches have confi rmed harmfulness of PCBs and the negative effects they have on human health.

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Effects of PCBs in human body

PCBs get into organism through skin, respiratory and digestive systems. They harm skin and damage functioning of inner organs. They bring about enzymatic disor-ders, biochemical changes with consequent morphologic changes and in case of higher and long-term there is a danger of intoxication of human and animal organisms, they can cause death (Šak, 1978, Bilčík and team, 1978, Teleha and team, 1983).

PBCs are bioaccumulated in fat tissues of animals and people. High concentra-tions go hand in hand with serious skin disorders (for instance acne, chlorine), pigment change of skin, nails, eye irritation, functional disorders of liver (fat degeneration of liver). PCBs cause irritation of respiratory system, headaches, dizziness, depressions, memory lost, nervousness, fatigue, impotence and other problems. The presence of PBCs in organism causes disorders in immunity system, reduced concentration of dopamine in middle brain, a drop in the level of hormones T3 and T4. Negative effects during endouterine process appear as low weight of young ones, there have been changes in postnatal development observed. Concerning people also higher risk of breast tumour, endocrinal and reproductive disorders are expected (Trnovec and Palúchová, 2006, Murín and team, 2007, Internet source 3).

Negative effects of PCB on animal and human organismsPCBs get into organism through skin, respiratory and digestive systems. They

harm skin and damage functioning of inner organs. They bring about enzymatic disor-ders, biochemical changes with consequent morphologic changes and in case of higher and long-term intoxication in human and animal organisms, they can cause death (Šak, 1978, Bilčík and team, 1978, Teleha and team, 1983).

Research of PCBs in Slovakia in the time of their production in Chemko Strážské

In the former ČSSR the fi rst scientist that got engaged into the problems concern-ing PCB was Doc. MUDr. Michal Šak, CSc., dermatovenerolog from Medical Faculty of University of Pavol Jozef Šafarik in Košice. Other scientifi c researchers of Medical and Natural-scientifi c Faculty UPJŠ in Košice have come along gradually, for example prof. Ing. Juraj Guzy, CSc., prof. MUDr. Konštantín Barna, DrSc., Doc. MUDr. František Longauer, CSc., Doc. MUDr. Bilčík, CSc., Doc. MUDr. Jozef Andrašina, CSc., prof. MUDr. Ivan Ahlers DrSc., Ing. Viera Rozdobuďková, MUDr. Marieta Podracká, CSc., and others. In this way there have been various works carried out, such as “PCB and oxidative phospohorylation of liver mitochondria of rats”, “Effect of Delore 103 on metabolic parameters of glycidic metabolism of liver”, “Polychlorinated biphenyls and metabolism of liver of rats” and many others.

Current research of PCB in SlovakiaDuring the resent years the research of PCBs has been addressed by several

pedagogic and scientifi c fi gures from various educational, scientifi c and other work-

328

places. We might mention, for instance, professor MUDr. Tomáš Trnovec, DrSc., MUDr. Ľudmila Palkovičová, Ing. Anton Kočan, CSc. from SZU Bratislava, MUDr. Mária Tajtáková CSC. from LF UPJŠ in Košice, MVDr. Jozef Hajduk from Regional vet conduct in Michalovce and Ing. Natálie Rozdubuďková, Ing. Marta Fratričová, Doc. Ing. Katarína Dercová, PhD., Peadr. Martin Murín and many others.

In May 2007 a conference issuing PCB reports took place in Michalovce, it con-cerned the newest researches. The fact that the present scientists carry out these re-searches in time long after the production of PCBs stopped (1984) must be stressed here. Presently there can be changes in human body observed, however we cannot see skin damage, which was relevant in the time of PCB production, nowadays.

ConclusionEven in these days PCBs present a serious health problem. This issue concerns

especially areas in the region Košice, around Michaalovece and the area of Zemplín. For such reason there is a need to observe the level of PCBs in the environment, the outfl ow concerning the food chain and watch health conditions of people living in such environment.

ZAŤAŽENIE ŽIVOTNÉHO PROSTREDIAPOLYCHLÓROVANÝMI BIFENYLMINA VÝCHODE SLOVENSKA

Abstrakt: Príspevok je venovaný kvalite životného prostredia a vplyvu poly-chlórovaných bifenylov (PCB) na jeho kvalitu. PCB sú charakterizované z historického hľadiska, sú opísané ich cesty v atmosfére, hydrosfére a litosfére. Ďalšia časť článku je venovaná situácii s PCB na Slovensku a pôsobeniu na organizmus zvierat i človeka, ako aj súčasným trendom výskumu týchto látok.

Kľúčové slová: PCB, životné prostredie, atmosféra, hydrosféra, litosféra, zdra-vie, kvalita, polutant, škodlivosť, výskum

329

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LIST OF AUTHORS

Prof. dr. Barbara BajdUniversity of LjubljanaFaculty of EducationKardeljeva pl. 16, 1000 Ljubljana, SIPhone: 00386 1 589 23 12E-mail: [email protected]

Doc. PaedDr. Marie Blahutková, Ph.D.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of Sports StudiesDepartment of Social Sciences in SportPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 498 633E-mail: [email protected]

MUDr. Marcela BudíkováMasaryk University Faculty of MedicineDepartment of Preventive MedicineTomešova 571/12, 602 00 Brno, CZE-mail: [email protected]

PhDr. Ladislav Csémy Charles University in PragueThird faculty of Medicine Prague Psychiatric CenterRuská 87, 100 00 Praha, CZPhone: 00420 266 00 3272E-mail: [email protected]

PhDr. Tomáš Čech, Ph.D.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment od Social EducationPoříčí 31, 639 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 493 645E-mail: [email protected]

RNDr. Eva Čermáková Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Hradec KrálovéŠimkova 870, 500 38 Hradec Králové, CZE-mail: [email protected]

MgA. Jana Frostová, Ph.D.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of PsychologyPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 49 5329E-mail: [email protected]

PhDr. Ilona Gillernová, CSc.Charles University in PragueFaculty of Artsnám. Jana Palacha 2, 116 38 Praha, CZPhone: 00420 221 61 9669E-mail: [email protected]

Mgr. Jaroslava HanušováCharles University in PragueFaculty of EducationM. D. Rettigové 4, 116 39 Praha, CZE-mail: [email protected]

Doc. MUDr. Marie Havelková, CSc.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of family education and education to health Poříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 494 257E-mail: [email protected]

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Mgr. Eva HlaváčkováUniversity of PardubiceFaculty of Health StudiesPrůmyslová 395, 532 10 Pardubice, CZE-mail: [email protected]

MUDr. Lenka Hodačová, Ph.D.Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Hradec KrálovéDepartment of Social Medicine Šimkova 870, 500 38 Hradec Králové, CZE-mail: [email protected]

RNDr. Mgr. Drahomíra HolubováMasaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDeparment of MathematicsPoříčí 31, Brno, 603 00, CZPhone: 00420 549 491 670E-mail: [email protected]

Doc. PaedDr. Hana Horká, CSc.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of EducationPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 49 4496E-mail: [email protected]

Mgr. Zdeněk HromádkaMasaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of Education Poříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZE-mail: [email protected]

Prof. MUDr. Drahoslava Hrubá, CSc.Masaryk universityFaculty of MedicineDepartment of Preventive Medicine Tomešova 12, 602 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 49 4068E-mail: [email protected]

Bc. Milana HurníkováMasaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationE-mail: [email protected]

Doc. PhDr. Michal Charvát, CSc.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of Sports StudiesDepartment of Social Sciences in SportPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 498 610E-mail: [email protected]

PhDr. Božena Jiřincová University of West Bohemia Faculty of Education Deparment of PsychologyPhone: 00420 377 63 6384Sedláčkova 38, 306 14 Plzeň, CZE-mail: [email protected]

Mgr. Jana Juříková, Ph. D. Masaryk UniversityFaculty of Sports StudiesDepartment of KineziologySladkého 13, 617 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 498 669E-mail: [email protected]

MUDr. Petr Kachlík, Ph.D.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of special pedagogy Poříčí 9/11, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 494 886E-mail: [email protected]

MVDr. Tatiana KimákováUniversity of P. J. ŠafarikFaculty of Medicine Institute of Public HealthŠrobárova 2, 041 80 Košice, SRE-mail: [email protected]

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Doc. Olena Konovalová V. N. Karazin Kharkov National University School of PhilosophyThe Department of valeologySvobody sq., 4, Kharkov, 610 77, UAPhone: 700 38 36 707 56 33E-mail: [email protected]

PhDr. Dagmar Kopčanová Research Institute for Child Psychology and PathopsychologyTrnavská cesta 112, 821 02 Bratislava, SKPhone: 00421 24 829 2227E-mail: [email protected]

Mgr. Jana Krátká, Ph.D. Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of EducationPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 494 197E-mail: [email protected]

PhDr. Lenka KrejčováCharles University in PragueFaculty of ArtsDepartment of PsychologyPhone: 00420 22 1619 669E-mail: [email protected]

Mgr. Vladimíra LovasováUniversity of West Bohemia Faculty of Education Department of PsychologySedláčkova 38, 306 14 Plzeň, CZPhone: 00420 37 7636 377E-mail: [email protected]

PaedDr. Eva Marádová, CSc.Charles University in PraguePedagogic FacultyM. D. Rettigové 4, 116 39 Praha, CZPhone: 00420 22 1900 186E-mail: [email protected]

Doc. RNDr. Jiří Matyášek, CSc.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of BiologyPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 54 949 5532E-mail: [email protected]

Doc. PhDr. Jana Miňhová, CSc.University of West Bohemia Faculty of Education Sedláčkova 38, 306 14 Plzeň, CZPhone: 00420 377 63 6009E-mail: [email protected]

Doc. PaedDr. Vladislav Mužík, CSc. Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of Physical Education Poříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, ČRPhone: 00420 549 49 1601E-mail: [email protected]

PhDr. Leona Mužíková, Ph.D.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of Family and Health EducationPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 49 5737E-mail: [email protected]

PaedDr. Marie Pavlovská, Ph.D. Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of EducationPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 49 6178E-mail: [email protected]

354

Mgr. Pavel Pecina, Ph.D.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 49 5488E-mail: [email protected]

Doc. Oleksiy PoluboiarovV. N. Karazin Kharkov National University School of PhilosophyThe Department of valeologySvobody sq., 4, Kharkov, 610 77, UAPhone: 700 38 36 707 56 33E-mail: [email protected]

Doc. PhDr. Evžen Řehulka, CSc.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of PsychologyPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 0042 549 49 6671E-mail: [email protected]

Mgr. Jana ŘehulkováMasaryk UniversityFaculty of Social StudiesInstitute for Research of Children, Youth and FamilyJoštova 10, 602 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 49 7051E-mail: [email protected]

Prof. Nataliia Samoilová, MA, PhDV. N. Karazin Kharkov National University School of PhilosophyThe Department of valeologySvobody sq., 4, Kharkov, 610 77, UAPhone: 700 38 36 707 56 33E-mail: [email protected]

Doc. RNDr. PhDr. Mojmír Stojan, CSc.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of Didactic Technology

Poříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 54 949 6943e-mail: [email protected]

Doc. Ing. Jiří Strach, CSc.Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDepartment of Didactic TechnologyPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 49 6960E-mail: [email protected]

Doc. PhDr. Stanislav Střelec, CSc. Masaryk UniversityFaculty of EducationDeparment of EducationPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 549 49 7028E-mail: [email protected]

Mgr. Zora SyslováKindergarten „Radost“Michalova 2, 628 00 Brno, CZE-mail: [email protected]

Doc. MUDr. Jan Šimůnek, CSc.Masaryk University Faculty of MedicineDepartment of Preventive MedicineE-mail: [email protected]

Doc. MUDr. Jindra Šmejkalová, CSc. Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Hradec KrálovéInstitute of Hygiene and Preventive MedicineŠimkova 870, 500 38 Hradec Králové, CZPhone: 00420 49 581 6290E-mail: [email protected]

Mgr. Sylva ŠtajnochrováMasaryk UniversityFaculty of Medicine Institute of Preventive MedicineE-mail: [email protected]

355

Ing. Renata Švestková, Ph.D.South Bohemian UniversityHealth-social facultyInstitute of special and social pedagogyEmy Destinové 46, 370 12 České Budějovice, CZE-mail: [email protected]

PhDr. Magda TaliánováPardubice UniversityFaculty of Healthcare StudiesDepartment of NursingPrůmyslová 395, 532 10 Pardubice, CZE-mail: [email protected]

Doc. Igor TsymbalovV. N. Karazin Kharkov National University School of PhilosophyThe Department of valeologySvobody sq., 4, Kharkov, 610 77, UAPhone: 700 38 36 707 56 33E-mail: [email protected]

PhDr. Eva UrbanovskáPalacký University Olomouc Faculty of EducationDepartment of Psychology and PathopsychologyŽižkovo nám. 951/5, 779 00 Olomouc, CZPhone: 00420 58 563 5212E-mail: [email protected]

Prof. María Paz García-VeraComplutense University of MadridFaculty of PsychologyDepartment of PersonalityAssessment and Clinical PsychologyCampus de Somosaguas28223 Madrid, ESPhone: 0034 91 394 2614Fax: 0034 91 394 3189E-mail: [email protected]

PhDr. Věra Vojtová, Ph.D.Masaryk UniversityFakulty of EducationDepartment of Special EducationPoříčí 9/11, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 54 312 9511E-mail: [email protected]

PhDr. Mgr. Iva Žaloudková, Ph.D.Masaryk UniversityFakulty of EducationDepartment of PsychologyPoříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, CZPhone: 00420 549 49 6688E-mail: [email protected]

357

NAME INDEX A

Adamková, S. 77, 330 Adams, K. 176, 329 Агаджанян, Н. А. 329 Ághová, Ľ. 323, 329 Agostinelli, G. 205,329 Alonso, J. 334 Amigo Vázquez, I. 344 André, I. 331 Arango, C. 332 Auffman, J, M. 337 B Babich, K. 336 Баевский, Р. М. 329 Bajan, A. 329 Bajd, B. 5,265,266,329 Bajužíková, A. 329 Balcar, K. 75, 330 Bardshaw, E. 330 Barkóczi, I. 337 Barrett, P. 330 Barrow, G. 330 Baum, A. 331 Baumgartner, F. 77,330,333 Běhounková, L. 300,33 Běličková, E. 11, 330 Bencko, V. 323,337 Beňo, P. 220,33 Beránková, M. 330 Bernal, M. 334 Berryman, M. 299, 302, 349 Берсенева, А. П. 329 Bilčík, P. 327, 330

Бирюкова, В. С. 338 Blahutková, M. 3,69,70,330 Blanksby, B. 162,330,334 Blatný, M. 330,332,333 Bloemers, W. 306,349 Bloomfield, J. 330 Booth, M. 162,33 Boys, A. 339 Brázdová, Z. 164,165,330,337 Brinkman, S. 334 Brown, J. M. 229,244,315,329 Bubeliniová, M. 34,355 Budíková, M. 4,161 Bulik, C. 330 Бусловская, Л. К. 330 C Canfield, J. 330 Cano-Vindel, A. 336 Carbonell, E. 271,331 Carne, C. 340 Carver, Ch. S. 77,331 Chad, K. E. 348 Chambless, D. L. 240,336 Charvát, M. 3,69 Chey, T. 330 Chriašteľ, R. 324,325,326,336 Clarke, D. 331 Codony, M. 334 Cohen, S. 70,331 Cole, T. 331 Conejo-Galindo, J. 332 Corral, P. 244,332 Creamer, M. 240,331 Crits-Christoph, P. 336

358

Crossan,s. 344 Cruzado, J. A. 241,333 Csémy, L. 3,57,58,62,63,

171,196,203, 204,210,331, 339,342,343, 346

Currie, C. 58,331 Čáp, J. 58,75,76,331 Čaplová, T. 331 Čech, T. 5,219,337 Čermáková , E. 3,57 Červenka, Z. 330 D Daniels, H. 331 Davidson, J. R. T. 240,332 Davis, E. 340 De Vries, H. 331 Dean, A.G. 197,331 Dercová, K. 328,331 Dočkal,V. 313,314,331,

348 Dohnal, V. 347 Dollman, J. 330 Dolz, M. 334 Domianová, V. 332 Doulík, P. 11,334 Dubský, V. 196,332 Dvořáček, I. 332 Dvořák, D. 196,332 Ďuricová, L. 196,332 E Eco, U. 332 Echeburúa, E. 244,332 Ellenberg, D. 344 Elliott, J. 309,332

Emmerová, I. 332 Endler, N. S. 77,332,338 Erdmannová, G. 76-79,81,82,85,

336,347 Ertlová, F. 332 F Farkašová, E. 313,314,331,

332,339,348 Fernández Hermida, J. R. 344 Fernández Liria, A. 333 Fernández Rodríguez, C. 344 Fernández-Montalvo, J. 244,332 Ferrando, L. 332,333 Fiala, J. 165,33 Fialová, L. 174,332 Foa, E. B. 240,332 Folkman, S. 75,76,339 Foster, D. 330 Fraguas, D. 240,332 Frances, A. 240,332 Frank, E. 336 Franklin, C. L. 242,35 Frankovský, M. 76,77,81,82,332,

333 Freedman, L. 330 Friedman, M. J. 240,332 Frostová, J. 4,135,137,145 G Gabriel, R. 240,332,333 Galea, S. 240,333,341 García, J. M. 246,344 García-Camba, E. 333 García-Vera, M. P. 5,239,240,241,

333,334 Gavora, J. 336 Gavora, P. 333

359

Gentry, W. D. 339 Gillernová, I. 4,95,96,97 Gilson, M. 336 Gist, R. 240,34 Glasson, C. 334 Glynn, T. 299,302,349 Гончаренко, А. В. 333 Гончаренко, Л. І. 338 Гончаренко, М. С. 333,34 González Ordi, H. 341 González, H. 336,341 Goodstadt, M. S. 205,334 Gorsuch, R. L. 244,346 Grant, M. 340 Greenglass, E. R. 77,334,347 Gresham, F. M. 300,339,346,

349 Grogan, S. 170,334 H Hainer, V. 163,334 Hájek, B. 89,90,343 Hands, B. 162,334 Hanušová, J. 5,227,334,

340 Haro, J. M. 240,334 Havelková, M. 4,5,195,196,

209,285,337 Havlínová, M. 51,53,54,106,

220,334,335 Haynes, A. 340 Heath, M. A. 302,330,335 Hegyi, L. 325,326,335 Heller, J. 335,339 Helus, Z. 58,299,300,

304,306,335 Hennelová, K. 313,335 Hesketh, K. 330

Hlaváčková, E. 3,57 Hloucalová, H. 11,335 Hodačová, L. 3,57 Hofbauer, B. 89,343 Holčík, J. 106,335 Holubová, D. 5,259,335 Hooke, W. 240,34 Horká, H. 3,33,34,36,37,

39,335 Hrachovinová, T. 331 Hrdličková, V. 343 Hromádka, Z. 3,33,34,39,335 Hrubá, D. 4,181,196,204,

335,336,350 Hubačová, L. 329 Hundt, R. 336 Hurníková, M. 5,285 I Iruarrizaga, I. 240,336,341 J Jahnukainen, M. 302,336 Jandourek, J. 38,336 Janík, T. 10,20,335,336,

340,341,344 Janíková, M. 20,336 Janke, W. 76-79,81-83,

85,336,347 Jay, J. 350 Jedlička, R. 210,336 Jensen, S. 326,336 Jerová-Müllerová, L. 11,334 Jiřincová, B. 4,119 Johnstone, D. 349 Jones, T. 340 Jurkovičová, J. 329

360

Jursa, S. 337 Juříková, J. 4,161,164,336 K Kačmár, P. 348 Kachlík, P. 4,5,195,196,

203,204,209, 285,335,337, 348

Kajaba, I. 329 Kakas, G. B. 337 Kandell, D. 196,337 Kantor, D. 219,220,337 Karafová, E. 75,82,337 Kardos, L. 337 Kauffman, J, M. 337 Keane, T. M. 240,332 Kebza, V. 84,337 Keller, J. 46,47,211,337 Kelnarová, J. 337 Kimáková, T. 6,323 Klein, O. Kleinwachterová, H. 164,337 Kluckhohn, F 36,337 Knecht, P. 341 Кобзар, Н. В. 338 Kocan, A. 326,328,337 Kohák, E. 35,42,337 Kohn, P. M. 76,338 Kohoutek, R. 338 Kolibáš, E. 196,205,343 Kołoło, H. 350 Kolouch, V. 338,17 Komár, A. 336 Komenský, J. A. 36,204,332,

338,343 Konovalová, O. 4,147 Коновалова, Е. 333,338,340, Kopčanová, D. 313,314,331,

339

Kopecký, M. 344 Koščo, J. 196,344 Košutzký, J. 324,326,339 Koťa, J. 165,210,336 Kotulán, J. 347 Koubeková, E. 76,82,339 Kovář, R. 165,341 Krátká, J. 4,105,107,

112,113 Kratz, H. J. 339 Кравченко, Р. М. 338 Kredl, F. 324,325,348 Krejčí, M. 71,341 Krejčová, L. 4,95 Kreuziger, J. 336 Krch, D. F. 171,176,177,

331,339 Křivohlavý, J. 58,69,70,74,339 Kühl, R. 76,345 Kundera, V. 20,336 Kuratsune, M. 339 Kuric, J. 162,339 Kyasová, M. 336 L Labrador, F. J. 333,334 Lacinová, L. 347 Lane, L. K. 300,339,346,349 Larkin, D. 334 Laros, J. 348 Larroy, C. 333,334 Lazaurus, R. S. 69,70,339 Lenton, S. 196,339 Liba, J. 9,34 Lilienfeld S. O. 340 Lisá, L. 163,34 Lišhák, P. 330,348 Litomerický, Š. 329

361

Lohr, J. M. 240,34 Lovasová, V. 4,119 Lovaš, L. 333 Lukavský, J. 347 Luque, I. 334 Lushene, R. E. 244,346 Lynn S. J. 340 M Macek, P. 63,89,340,347 Máček, M. 125,126,128 Maercker, A. 242,346 Magulová, K. 336 Machková, E. 301,34 Machová, J. 161,34 Majláthová, L. 329 Málek I. 340 Małkowska, A. 350 Maňák, J. 2,10,335,340,

341,344 Marádová. E. 5,11,227,340 Mareš, J. 57,75,76,242,

331 Marsh, H. W. 340 Martínez, M. 334 Мартыненко, И. Г. 333,34 Matějček, Z. 98,304,340 Matějová, H. 335,336 Mathur, S. 300,345 Matt, G. 240,348 Matyášek, J. 5,265 Mazur, J. 350 Mccarty, D 205,34 Mcmahon, S. 162,34 Medina, O. 332 Medveďová, Ľ. 76,82,340,341 Měkota, K. 165,341 Miguel-Tobal, J. J. 240,336,341

Miller, W. R. 329 Mills, K. C. 205,340,341 Mingote, C 333 Miňhová, J. 4,119,121 Mistrík, M. 325,326,335 Mlčák, Z. 75,341 Montgomery, R. 336 Moravcová, L. 341 Morkusová, K. 341 Mucha, J. 332 Murín, M. 341,325,327,

328,336 Mužík, V. 3,19,20,71,336,

341,342, Mužíková, L. 3,9,11,12,20,16,

17,341,342 N Nakonečný, M. 38,342 Nandi, A. 240,333 Navarro, M. E. 244,345 Neil, A. 350 Nešpor, K. 196,203,210,

211,342,343 Newton, T. 330 Norcross, K. 339 Norton, K. 330 Носов, К. В. 340 Novotný, V. 196,205,343 Nožina, M. 211,343 O O´Shaugnessy, T. E. 339,346,349 Orosová, O. 204,343 Овдієнко, Л. К. 338

362

P

Pacovská, M. 343 Palacín, C. 334 Palmer, J. A. 36,343 Palúchová, K. 326,327,348 Parker, H. E. 77,334 Parker, J. D. 77,332 Pasch, M. 343 Paulík, K. 70,343 Pávková, J. 89,162,343 Pavlíková, A. 343 Pavlovská, M 5,299,301,

307,343 Pavúk, A. 196,344 Paxton, S. J. 348 Pecina, P. 5,275,347 Pecinovská, O. 211,335 Pelikán, J. 47,344 Pentz, M. A. 344 Pérez Álvarez, M. 344 Pérez, M. 246,344 Pérez-Sales, P. 240,348 Pernicová, H. 342,343 Peterson, M. 344 Petrik, J. 337 Pfligersdorffer, G. 344 Place, M. 332 Pleh, C. 337 Pleško, I. 329 Plevová, I. 76,344 Podhradská, M. 324,344 Pokorný, J. 344 Poluboiarov, O. 4,147 Poon, W. T. 77,344 Poore, M. 340 Прокаш, Р. 333 Provazníková, H. 331,339 Průcha, J. 10,20,344

Pust, S. 187,191,192,344 Q Quesnell, M. 345 Quinn, R. 300,345 R Ratnam, N. 340 Rážová, J. 331,339,345 Read, H. 334 Remsová, L. 343 Riečanský, I. 329 Rich, R. 336 Robertson, I. 330 Robertson, J. 350 Roche, L. A. 340 Rosival, L. 329 Rösler, F. 76,345 Rouse, B. A. 196,345,348 Ruisel, I. 330,332 Rustemier, S. 345 Rutherford J. R. 300,345 Рыжкова, Ю. П. 330 Řehulka, E. 2,3,8,125,126,

129,299,335,337, 341,345

Řehulková, J. 4,89 S Safe, S. 324,345 Sainz Cortón, E. 332,333 Samoilová, N. V. 4,147 Самойлова, Н. В. 333,345 Sanz, J. Sargent, R. G. 329 Sarmány-Schuler, I. 340 Scott, C. 330

363

Selye, H. 69,70,75,76, 346

Severson, H. 300,346,349 Sharon, H. 329 Sheen, D. 302,335 Sheppard, A. 205,334 Scheinarová, A. 346 Schleicher, A. 346 Schnitzerová, E. 204,343 Schott, H. 346 Schreier, M. F. 331 Schütz, A. 346 Schützwohl, M. 242,346 Schwarzer, R. 77,334 Slavík, J. 346 Somošová, J. 331 Sothertn, S. 346 Sovinová, H. 331,339,346 Spielberger, C. D. 244,346 Spilková, V. 220,346 Steinberg, J. 336 Stewart, A. 330 Stojan, M 5,275,276,

347 Störmer, N. 300,305,347 Strach, J. 5,251,347 Страшна, Л. С. 338 Strecha, M. 329 Strodtbeck, F. L. 36,337 Střelec, S. 4,105,107,

112,113 Suchý, J. 161,347 Світлакова, Н. М. 338 Svoboda, M. 126,330,

332,333 Syslová, Z. 3,51 Šak, M. 324,327,330,

344,347,348 Šalgovičová, D. 324,326,339

Šimůnek, J. 4,161,196,337 Širůček, J. 299,302,310,347 Širůčková, M. 302,347 Škoda, J. 11,334 Šlesárová, L. 348 Šmejkalová, J. 3,57 Šmiřák, J. 347 Šolcová, I. 76,347 Štajnochrová, S. 4,169 Štefániková, Z. 329 Štefanovič, J. 329 Štětina, J. 347 Šulcová, A. 162,347 Švancara, J. 78,347 Švec, V. 10,34 Švestková, R. 3,65 T Taliánová, M. 4,355 Tanner, J. M. 162,347 Taubert, S. 77,334 Teleha, M. 327,348 Tellegen, P. J. 348 Terán, S. 332 Theunissen, G. 348 Thompson, A. M. 170,176,348 Tolin, D. F. 240,34 Trávníček, M. 20,341 Trnovec, T. 326,327,328,348 Truby, H. 176,348 Tsymbalov, I. 4,147 Turnbull, J. 330 U Urbanovská E. 3,75,76,344,348

364

V

Vágnerová, M. 58,97,98,348 Valentová, M. 348 Vašutová, J. 37,348 Vavroušek, J. 36,348 Vázquez, C. 240,244,344,

345,348 Veber, K. 324,325,348 Vencálková, E. 334,335 Vera, M. P. G. 5,239,240,241,

333,334 Vilagut, G. 334 Visser, J. 336 Vít, M. 349 Vlahov, D. 240,333 Vodáčková, D. 302,349 Vojtová, V. 299,300,302,

303,305-307, 310,330,347, 349,350

Voleková, J. 329 Vosniadou, S. 349 Výrost, J. 330,332,333 W Wake, M. 330 Walker, H. M. 300,346,349 Wearmouth, J. 299,302,349 Wechsler, H. 205,349 Weinberger, J. 336 Weintraub, J. F. 77,331 Wells, H. Wiegerová, A. 340,349 Wills, T. A. 350 Woynarowska, B. 162,163,350

Z Zachovalová, L. 336 Заугольникова, Н. В. 338 Zeidner, M. 338 Zejdová, I. 350 Ziebland, S. 350 Zikmund, V. 329 Zimmerman, M. 242,35 Zlotnick, C. 242,35 Žaloudíková, I. 4,11,181,336,350

365

SUBJECT INDEX 8th grade pupil of the primary school 285

A

acute stress 239,240,241,242,243,244,247, 248,329

addiction 27,181,187,188,195-204,206, 207,210,211,213,214,331,332, 335,337,339,342,343,344

adolescence 4,58,81,82,89,90,93,95,97,98,99, 104,155,160,170,191,192,340,347

adolescents 4,75,77,78,80,81,87,89,90,92,95, 97-103,155,157-160,162,170, 176,178,179,193,195,196, 203,209,211-213,329,331, 332,336,338,339,342,344

anorexia nervosa 169 Anti-drug Consulting Centre in MU 195 anti-smoking education 181 assessment 25,37,51-53,58,116,120,122,

131,169,170,173,174,176,205, 239,244,287-299,315,332

atmosphere 57,101-103,121,210,225, 307,323-326

attitudes 33,34,36-38,71,96,97,102,106-108, 120,181-184,191-193,204-206, 246,252,266,276-278,282, 303,304,309

B

behavioural disorder risk 299 bigorexia 169,17 BMI (body mass index) 166 body image 3,169-171,175,176,180,332,334,

339,344,348,350,

366

Body Mass Index (BMI) 155,156,160,161,163,164, 166,167,330,334

body weight 155,156,159,161,163-165, 169-171,173,174,176-179,329

bossing 219-226,337 Branch of study Education for Health 285 bulimia 169,17

C

community 34,35,106,195,196,209,213,216, 280,300,304,348

comparison of opinions 4,105 consideration 82,121,164,201,220,243,313 criteria 13,21,35,51,53,55,59,126,169,

241-245,248,346 cross-sectional topic 106,259,262 Czech children 3,57,58,62 Czech students 5,265-272 chat 5,199,200,202,206,207,214,215,

251,252,255-257,280 children and youth 89,159,337,349 children from socially disadvantaged setting 6,313,314,321

D

development risk factor 299 diagnostics 75-78,292,299,304,305,308 diet 9,35,44,45,154,169,171,

176-180,182,183,186,192,272, 330,337,341

drama in education 299 drug prevention 4,181,195,204,209 Dysphonia Severity Index 135,143,145

E

eating disorders 169 ecological/environmental education 33,34,36,37,48,259,262,263,343 education towards health 3,65,227,229,233,236 educational-preventive programme 181

367

environmental studies (education) 5,259,262,263,264

F

family education 9,11,12,16,216,231,296 fatigue 4,58,125-133,147,327 first aid 5,279,281,285-287,295,296 First Aid to Schools project 285-287,295 form teacher 4,105-113,115-117

G

group work 251,282,304,306

H

harmfulness 323,326 health care 33,35,90,209,241,286 health education 3,7,9-12,14-22,33,37,71,182,

331,341 health of students 147,150,151 health state 155,157,169 height 71-73,119,138,156,161-165,

171,172 high school students 75,196,203-206,337,343 human evolution 265-267,271,272,329 human protection in emergency 227-230,237,340,343 hydrosphere 227-230,237,340,343 hypo-mobility 155

I

indicators 34,45,51-53,55,150,151,153, 197,213,221

institutional care 299,301,302 intellectual abilities 313 interpersonal relationships 4,10,33,34,95-98,100,101,119,

219,220,245 intervention principles 299,306 intervention triangle 299,305

368

K

kognitive-behavioral therapy/KBT 239

L

leisure activities 69,71,72,89,90 leisure time 24,27,43,89-101,155,158,280 life satisfaction 119-122,211 life style 211,212 lithosphere 323,326 longitudinal research 119,3

M

mass terrorist attack 239-241,247,248 minimal preventive programme 5,209,348 mobbing 219-226,337,339 multicomponent intervention 239,248

N

neurotic state 4,119-121 non-awareness 219 non-profitable organization 3,65 nourishment 4,147

O

objective and subjective evaluation of body 169 objectives 52,100,106,259,275,276,278,

279,281,286 outcome analysis 5,259

P

pathological addictions 195,196,206,207 PCB 323-328,330.331,341,348 peer group 10,95,97-101,310 physical activity 4,9,20,24,26,27,30,155-160,334 physical education 3,9,10,11,19-30,71,73,74,

228,231 pollutants 323,324 posttraumatic stress disorder 239-248,329,331,332,346,350

369

primary prevention in schools 181 problem assignments 259-261 project work 251,252 projects in maths 259 protection of the environment 33,34,48 psychohygiene of teachers 33,34,48 psychological disorder 5,239,241,248 psychological treatment 239,240,247,344

Q

quality of life 7,35,36,57,58,63,69,71,74, 176,339

S

self-esteem 169,170,330,340

school educational programme 10,12,18,51 school maturity 6,313,314,320 school psychologist 103,117,313,320 school self-evaluation 51 school social climate 219 school stress situations 75 schooling of future teachers 285 silhouette matching task 169 skinfold over biceps brachii 161 skinfold thickness 161 Slovene students 265,267-269,271,272 social competencies 299,300,305 social health aspects 4,105,106 social relationship 96,128,299,302 social skills training 95,99,100,102,103 social stability 299,302 special education diagnostics assessment 299 structured evaluation 299,304,305,309 students’ ideas 5,265,268 study group 119,122,156,159,176-179 subscapular skinfold 161,165

370

supraspinal skinfold 161,165 sustainable development 33,36,48 SVF-78 questionnaire 75,78

T

teaching profession 4,125,132,135,136 technological resources 275 theoretical knowledge 259,285,287 traffic education 5,275 training of teachers 227 types of fatigue 125,126,129-133

V

valeology 147,148 voice evaluation 135,142 Voice Handicap Index 135,137,145 voice hygiene 135,137-139,144,145 volume of fatty tissue 164 voping strategy 75

SCHOOL AND HEALTH 21, 2009Topical Issues in Health EducationEvžen Řehulka et al.

Published by Masaryk Universitywith collaboration by MSD.

Printing: MSD, Brno1st Edition, 2009400 Copies

Pd-18/09-02/58

ISBN 978-80-210-4930-7 (Masarykova univerzita. Brno)ISBN 978-80-7392-097-5 (MSD. Brno)

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