Upper secondary school as an innovative health laboratory

TY - ABST

T1 - Upper secondary school as an innovative health laboratory

AU - Nielsen, Stine Frydendal

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - In recent years several studies has been done on health promotion in primary schools - both nationally and internationally (Jensen & Jensen, 2005; Jensen & Lund, 2007; Kalnins et al, 1994;. Clift & Jensen, 2005). These show that it has an impact if a school plays an active role in health promotion work. Particularly the importance of involvement of the students and student-based decision-making is stated. The main focus of this study is participation and involvement as key methods in health promotion projects. It is a sociological study (Christensen et al, 2004; Danelund, 2006; Elting and Hammer, 2009; Heldbjerg et al., 2009) on cultural and organizational aspects of physical activity in the upper secondary school in a latemodern era. The project aims to provide knowledge about the application of a participatory approach when working with health promotion and thus be conducive to a sustainable and long-term implementation strategy. The empirical base of this study is Rysensteen Gymnasium – a Danish upper secondary school. The study focuses on students, teachers, management and parents and therefore has a holistic approach to cultural change in relation to health. The study is mainly a methodological study seeking to develop methods in creating organizational change regarding health policies with participation, democracy and innovation as the main focus-areas (Dahl og Juhl: 2009). This method demands involvement from Rysensteen Gymnasium and the design is structured so that ideas, discussions and decision-making about physical activity and health take place among the teachers and especially the students. Central to this study is the democratic approach with keywords like: Involvement, participation, creativity, innovation and laboratory thinking.

AB - In recent years several studies has been done on health promotion in primary schools - both nationally and internationally (Jensen & Jensen, 2005; Jensen & Lund, 2007; Kalnins et al, 1994;. Clift & Jensen, 2005). These show that it has an impact if a school plays an active role in health promotion work. Particularly the importance of involvement of the students and student-based decision-making is stated. The main focus of this study is participation and involvement as key methods in health promotion projects. It is a sociological study (Christensen et al, 2004; Danelund, 2006; Elting and Hammer, 2009; Heldbjerg et al., 2009) on cultural and organizational aspects of physical activity in the upper secondary school in a latemodern era. The project aims to provide knowledge about the application of a participatory approach when working with health promotion and thus be conducive to a sustainable and long-term implementation strategy. The empirical base of this study is Rysensteen Gymnasium – a Danish upper secondary school. The study focuses on students, teachers, management and parents and therefore has a holistic approach to cultural change in relation to health. The study is mainly a methodological study seeking to develop methods in creating organizational change regarding health policies with participation, democracy and innovation as the main focus-areas (Dahl og Juhl: 2009). This method demands involvement from Rysensteen Gymnasium and the design is structured so that ideas, discussions and decision-making about physical activity and health take place among the teachers and especially the students. Central to this study is the democratic approach with keywords like: Involvement, participation, creativity, innovation and laboratory thinking.

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

T2 - Australian Association for Research in Education

Y2 - 27 November 2011 through 30 November 2011

ER -