The contribution of physical and sports education to health education of Moroccan middle school students: Representations and practices of teachers.

BACKGROUND: Physical education is undergoing a major transformation period that leads that school discipline to influence the lifestyles of young people to help them adopt behaviors conducive to their well health and well-being. Health education (HE) integrates with various intervention strategies in the field of health such as disease prevention and health promotion. In schools, the HE comes in many forms and in relation to several disciplines. Our study focuses on the current situation of HE in physical and sports education (PSE) in middle school. Specifically, the research question we developed is: "What is the contribution of the PSE to the HE of middle school students?" MATERIALS AND METHODS: This qualitative research was carried in Marrakech. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten PSE teachers after receiving their informed consent. Deductive content analysis was used in this study. RESULTS: Among the main results, there is a certain diversity of teachers' representations on HE and PSE. These teachers say mobilize PSE to contribute to the HE of students. However, it was noted that their teaching practices are at odds with the perspective of the inclusion of HE in the field of PSE. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of a clear vision concerning physical activity and sport in relation to "healthy" and "active" schools, it seems very unlikely to influence the thoughts and practices of HE teachers; strongly attached, as they often are, to their representations of their discipline.

Determinants of well-being of middle-school students in Moroccan urban and rural areas: A comparative study.

CONTEXT: Well-being in schools is often considered in relation to the educational and academic success of students. However, it is difficult, at present, not to consider the well-being of a student without an ecological and holistic perspective, in view of the interaction principles implemented in schools. This research aimed to identify the representations hold by Moroccan teenagers about well-being. It aimed, also, to do a comparison between two groups of teenagers: one belonging to urban and the other to rural areas. METHODS: This quantitative study concerns a sample of 1444 pupils (755 girls and 689 boys) enrolled in middle school. Research instrument for this study was questionnaire that includes 15 questions relating to well-being at school, relationships with the teacher, relationships between students, violence experienced, and coeducation. RESULTS: From the analysis of data, pupils in the rural areas seem to be most sensitive to the "emotional" aspects of the teacher-pupil relationship. The girls are more satisfied in middle school than boys. This fact seems to be a very important factor in their retention and in reducing their dropout rate. As expected, academic success is highlighted in the two groups of students as an indicator of well-being. However, the fact of not knowing which orientation to choose constitutes a factor of ill-being for pupils, especially for girls. The results show also that well-being is not taken care of in the two environments (urban and rural). This will explain the results of Moroccan students assessed by the Program for the Monitoring of Student Achievement. CONCLUSIONS: Training programs should focus on the development of teachers communication skills, ability to manage behavioral problems of their students and use teaching approaches to develop positive relationships between students.

[Impact of teachers' conceptions on sex education in four Mediterranean countries.]. / Description et déterminants des conceptions des enseignants de 4 pays méditerranéens sur l'éducation à la sexualité

Nowadays, sex education contributes to public health not only with regard to the prevention of HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections and sex abuse, but it is also concerned with addressing aspects such as interpersonal relationships and psychosocial implications. The school setting has emerged as a unique environment for access to information and scientific knowledge that contribute to better understanding of the various dimensions of sexuality. Teachers' and future teachers' conceptions about sex education are analysed in this paper. Data were obtained from a questionnaire designed by the European Biohead-Citizen research project. Responses were received from 2 537 teachers from four Mediterranean countries (Tunisia, Lebanon, Morocco and France) who completed the questionnaire. The methodology is based upon analyses of core components that support the discovery of teachers' conceptions. Following that exercise, standardised factorial scores were calculated. Results for in-service and pre-service teachers show high correlations between their conceptions and national culture, religious beliefs, and level of academic training. Detailed results are presented and discussed.

In search of a health education model: teachers' conceptions in four Mediterranean countries.

School programs are defined to promote the health of the pupils and to develop their competencies so that they can adopt behaviors favorable to their health. With the European project FP6 Biohead-Citizen (2004-2007), we analyzed the conceptions of teachers as regards health education, in France, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia, in reference to the biomedical model and the social health model. These four countries were selected because their school curricula represented different models of health education. Lebanon and Tunisia addressed health education with the biomedical model. In Morocco, the curriculum was also primarily based on the biomedical model and enclosed a few instructions issued from the social health model. In France, the health education curriculum declared an approach based on the health promotion model. Our study was based on multivariate statistical analyses of questionnaires filled out by 2537 in-service and pre-service teachers. Our analysis showed that the conceptions of the teachers concerning health education were not structured and related to a specific model. We also found that the dominating factors of influence on the choices expressed with regards to health education were, among different sociocultural variables, the religion, the home country, and, to a lesser extent, the level of training. Thus, the conceptions of the teachers were not integrated into comprehensive approaches but related to individual characteristics. Consequently health education implementation would require thorough training for pre-service and in-service teachers and should also explicitly take into account their conceptions and values.