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Teacher Education in Health Education and Promotion – The Irish Perspective. Patricia Mannix McNamara, University of Limerick, Ireland. Patricia.M.McNamara@ul.ie. Sub Heading And Date. Current School Health Promotion provision.
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Teacher Education in Health Education and Promotion – The Irish Perspective. Patricia Mannix McNamara, University of Limerick, Ireland. Patricia.M.McNamara@ul.ie Sub Heading And Date
Current School Health Promotion provision • Health Promotion in Ireland in schools is currently curriculum based: • Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) (primary and post primary). • Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) (primary and post primary). • Currently no formal qualification for teachers although initial dialogue is beginning… Teachers of SPHE are expected to complete 40 hours of in-service provision provided by the National SPHE Support Service. Patricia Mannix McNamara, patricia.m.mcnamara@ul.ie
SPHE Professional Development Provision • The National Support Service is a partnership between: • the Health Service Executive (a health promotion officer (HPO) in each region is asked to commit a third of their role to this and • b) the Department of Education and Science who appoints seconded teachers (full time) called regional development officers (RDOs) • Teachers volunteer or principals recommend to them to do in-service, they attend 4o hours professional development to become SPHE teachers. Patricia Mannix McNamara, patricia.m.mcnamara@ul.ie
University of Limerick Pilot Project • In the academic year 2007/08 the Department of Education and Professional Studies offered a full SPHE module as an elective to 2 post-graduate teacher education programmes • Graduate Diploma Education (Physical Education) • Graduate Diploma Education (Business) • All students opted for the elective module (40 hours) which required experiential learning, critical reflection, teaching SPHE while on practicum and assessment. • Our optimum = a specific qualification - post graduate diploma in SPHE and SPHE integrated across 4 years undergrad Patricia Mannix McNamara, patricia.m.mcnamara@ul.ie