School Health Textbooks Research Articles

(Un)affirming assimilation: depictions of dis/ability in health textbooks

PurposeIn light of the systemic and pervasive nature of ableism and how ableist ideology structures – or limits – educational opportunities, this paper aims to contribute to the ongoing conversation within the field of multicultural education regarding how to meaningfully include dis/ability in K-12 curricula.Design/methodology/approachThis paper explores how elementary and middle school health textbooks from two prominent publishers in the USA portray dis/ability through quantitative and qualitative content analysis methods of 1,468 images across texts.FindingsFindings indicate that the majority of the textbook portrayals of dis/ability tacitly forward assimilationist ideals. Specifically, the textbooks assume and speak to a normatively-abled reader, pointing out those with dis/abilities as different from the reader. Additionally, mainstream or normative markers are provided as evidence of success and those with dis/abilities who have been successful as such are positioned as overcoming their limitations.Practical implicationsSuch portrayals stifle the possibility of social transformation by reinforcing and privileging dominant, ableist views. Therefore, teachers are recommended to take steps that might counter such messages in curricular materials and teacher educators are called on to support these efforts.Originality/valueThis paper extends the tradition of curricular analysis as one of the first studies to examine the portrayals of dis/ability in US health textbooks and offer practical implications for educators.

Analysis of oral health contents in middle and high school health textbooks in Korea

Analysis of oral health contents in middle and high school health textbooks in Korea

Analysis of Sexually Transmitted Infection Education Content in Middle and High School Health Textbooks

Analysis of Sexually Transmitted Infection Education Content in Middle and High School Health Textbooks

Analysis of the oral health unit of elementary school health textbooks

Analysis of the oral health unit of elementary school health textbooks

Delaying Gratification: How High School Health Textbooks Portray Marriage and Sex

Abstinence-only-until-marriage ideology continues to be promoted in US high schools as part of sex education, despite its well-documented lack of success at delaying onset of sexual initiation and sexual risk avoidance. As schools are often the single source of formal sex education, it is important to investigate whether students are given proper tools with which to negotiate their sex lives. This study uses a content analysis of nine US high school health textbooks to examine how the textbooks address marriage, reasons for remaining abstinent until marriage, and adult life outside of marriage. Results indicate that the ways in which marriage and abstinence are described are inconsistent with modern realities of adult relationships (e.g., increased age of first marriage, cohabitation, etc.). These findings suggest that the textbooks constitute a failure of pedagogy and a lack of social-scientific accuracy.

국내외 중 · 고등학교 보건교과서에서의 환경보건 내용분석

The purpose of this study was to analyze environmental health related contents in the health textbooks of middle and high schools at domestic and foreign countries. Ten textbooks(foreign; 4, domestics; 6) adopted as middle and high school textbooks were analyzed for content on environmental health. The environmental health content frequency analysis shows that the highest rates in health textbooks foreign and domestic countries were ‘substance abuse and smoking’, and that the lowest frequency were ‘food safety’ and ‘residential life’ in korea textbooks. The level of contents connection between middle and high school health textbooks identified less than two gaps in the foreign nations (USA and Singapore), and one to five gaps in korea, respectively. There is a need for the domestic health textbooks should contain essential environmental contents connectively.

Numbers are Just Not Enough: A Critical Analysis of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Elementary and Middle School Health Textbooks

Textbooks are a multimillion dollar publishing business in the United States. Even as 21st-century classrooms become more multimodal, digital and hardcopy textbooks remain a key feature of American education. Consequently, classroom textbooks have been shown to control knowledge dissemination across the content areas. In particular, health texts have been uniquely shown to communicate values that validate or marginalize students and encourage healthy or harmful activity. Thus, what textbook makers choose to include as worthy of study, and how they portray various groups of people with regard to race, gender, and sexuality has societal implications. Employing quantitative and qualitative content analysis methods, we analyzed 1,468 images across elementary and middle school health textbooks to examine the portrayal of race, gender, and sexuality. We found that, although gender and racial diversity are well-represented in texts, women and people of color were frequently portrayed in stereotypical roles. For example, girls were depicted daydreaming about heterosexual marriage. Furthermore, this analysis revealed limited representations of sexuality. Findings suggest that focusing on the numerical representation of marginalized groups is not enough to address issues of equity and power in classroom curricula. Instead, we argue, educators must consider the ways in which people are positioned in curricular materials, and ask if portrayals perpetuate or challenge traditional stereotypes.

Visual Representation of Fatness and Health in High School Health Texts

This project examines visual portrayals of fatness in a sample of five high school health textbooks. Findings include gross underrepresentation of fat people, universally negative portrayals of fatness, assumptions about the incompatibility of fatness with health, and numerous instances of confusing, contradictory, or dangerous advice to teens. These texts are likely to contribute to further stigmatization and marginalization of fat people and to negatively affect the psychological well-being of teenagers exposed to them.

An Evaluation of the Environmental Health Chapters in High School Health Textbooks

High school textbooks have been criticized in recent years for numerous problems in coverage of environmental issues. Coverage of environmental issues in health textbooks has not been a major focus of previous reviews. Thus an evaluation study was conducted in which six textbook chapters on environmental health from five currently marketed high school health textbooks were reviewed by seven advisors to the American Council on Science and Health who have expertise in environmental health. For each chapter, each reviewer completed a questionnaire with Likert-type items related to accuracy, completeness, adherence to scientific method, and balance, and which elicited an overall chapter grade on a scale of A to F (4 to 0) and written comments. Overall, for most questionnaire items, at least 50 percent of responses were unfavorable. Mean overall grades for the chapters ranged from 1.3 to 2.1 out of a possible 4.0. More weaknesses than strengths were identified for five out of six chapters. To improve environmental health chapters in future textbooks, associations concerned with school health education are encouraged to work with a range of professional associations concerned with environmental health issues. The omission of environmental health experts from the prepublication review process of high school health textbooks needs to be remedied.

How Useful Are Elementary School Health Textbooks for Teaching about Hearing Health and Protection?

A content analysis of eight elementary school health textbook series (total 48 books) was performed in order to identify and describe hearing health information and to assess the usefulness of this...

Hospital pharmacy in high school health textbooks

Hospital pharmacy in high school health textbooks

Methods of Nutrition Presentation in High School Health Textbooks

Methods of Nutrition Presentation in High School Health Textbooks

STD content in school health textbooks: an evaluation using the worth assessment procedure.

Classroom education is a key strategy to controlling sexually transmitted diseases in young persons. Textbooks are the major or sole source of STD information for many students. Thirteen secondary level health science textbooks and five sex education textbooks were reviewed to assess their potential contribution to STD control objectives. Worth assessment, a decision analysis tool for helping decision makers choose among complex or maltiattributed alternatives, was used to evaluate the STD content. The review indicated that sex education textbooks are more likely to contribute to STD control objectives than are health science textbooks. Health science textbooks failed to incorporate information on preventive health behaviors. Both types of textbooks present biomedical information primarily, which is generally free of significant errors. The worth assessment method proved to be a useful tool for evaluating the quality of textbook treatment in a specific content area.

Community mental health ideology presented in high school health textbooks: a content analysis.

The present study examined the community mental health ideology presented in high school health textbooks. A content analysis of texts in national use revealed that a hygiene model of mental health predominated. Further, substantial attention was devoted to drugs and alcohol as central issues for high school students, with particular emphasis on prevention through "consumer" education. Community mental health approaches were largely ignored, with brief mention made of the community mental health center as place where one can go to receive individual treatment. Mental illness was consistently presented as an individual's internal problem, unrelated to the social or ecological context of the individual. The findings were discussed in terms of implications for the exposure to mental health received by high school students and in terms of the need for public education about community mental health issues.