2022年12月9日
We introduce 5 papers written in relation to the EDU-Port Japan Research Project.
1) Perspectives of sustainable global school health promotion in Asia and Africa.
2) Recommendations for the urgent need to vaccinate school-aged and adolescent children against COVID-19 in the Asia-Pacific region.
3) “Reverse innovation” and “child rights” in further school health promotion.
4) Teachers’ conflicts in implementing comprehensive sexuality education: a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis.
5) Content analysis of health-related subjects in the K12 school curricula of Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Guam, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau, and Fiji
| Project type | 2021 Research Project |
|---|---|
| Project name | Study on Healthy and Safe Schools for the Post-COVID-19 Era in the Asia-Pacific Islands |
| Country | Philippines, Indonesia, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau, Fiji, Tonga, and Guam (United States of America) |
| Paper | Perspectives of sustainable global school health promotion in Asia and Africa. Kobayashi J, Takahashi K. Pediatr Int. 2021 Sep;63(9):1009-1010. doi: 10.1111/ped.14867. |
| Published in September 2021 | |
| The special issue series, “School health promotion in Japan and its contribution to Asia and Africa” provided various lessons. We also learned about Japan’s historical school health footprint, which still has implications regarding field activities in the area of school health. In this editorial, we consider two articles and attempt to extract lessons for low- and middle-income countries in Asia, Africa, and beyond. | |
| Paper | Recommendations for the urgent need to vaccinate school-aged and adolescent children against COVID-19 in the Asia-Pacific region. Kobayashi J, Takeuchi R, Shibuya F, Murata Y, Takahashi K. Trop Med Health. 2021 Sep 16;49(1):74. doi: 10.1186/s41182-021-00365-5. |
| Published in September 2021 | |
| We recommend urgent expansion of a vaccination program for adolescents and school-age children against SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Western Pacific region. Since July 2021, SARS-CoV-2 infections in children have increased rapidly in this region. As infection rates rise due to the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, current preventive strategies such as mask wearing and social distancing have controlled its spread effectively. Prolonged school closure is currently being promoted to suppress virus spread among children. However, the negative impact of prolonged school closure is significant. Although vaccination of children under 12 is still controversial, preparations must be made now for their vaccination. | |
| Paper | “Reverse innovation” and “child rights” in further school health promotion. Jun Kobayashi, Kenzo Takahashi Pediatrics International, 2022 Jan;64(1):e15002. doi:10.1111/ped.15002. Epub 2021 Dec 21. |
| Published in January 2022 | |
| We agree that “reverse innovation” and “child rights” should be considered in school health promotion. We believe that “reverse innovation”—studying the experiences of low- and middle-income countries—will become even more important in the future, to solve the problems in Japan and other high-income countries such as increasing suicide rate among adolescent and child poverty due to income disparity. In this special issue, we discuss the research in Kenya and Indonesia as an example of “reverse innovation”. In addition to incorporating “reverse innovation” from developing countries, we recommend that the promotion of school health services be strengthened by re-consideration of the human rights of children. In the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), published in 1989, Article 28, the right to education, and Article 29, the purpose of education, have already become common knowledge worldwide in the education sector, and recognition is spreading in the community as well. In the Kenya study by Henzan et al., one of the factors promoting a return to school was that the community inhabitants understood the purpose of education and recognized their right to receive it. | |
| Paper | Teachers’ conflicts in implementing comprehensive sexuality education: a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis |
| Published in March 2023 | |
| Teachers experience conflicts in teaching Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) due to different cultural and religious backgrounds. This qualitative systematic review aimed to describe the conflicts experienced by teachers in the implementation of CSE in schools. Furthermore, this study aimed to identify the causes of conflict among teachers in implementing CSE. This qualitative systematic review and thematic meta-synthesis highlighted several conflicts among teachers in CSE implementation. Despite the teachers having a perception that sex education should be provided, traditional sex education has not yet transformed to CSE. The study findings also emphasize the need to identify the teacher’s role in CSE implementation. The thematic meta-synthesis also strongly reflected the context of Christianity in Europe and Africa; thus, further research on the religious context in other regions is needed. | |
| Paper | Content analysis of health-related subjects in the K12 school curricula of Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Guam, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau, and Fiji |
| Published in March 2023 | |
| As a component of health promoting school, a school curriculum for health education was considered a fundamental. This survey aimed to identify the components of health‑related topics and in which subjects were they taught. Methods Four topics were chosen: (i) hygiene, (ii) mental health, (iii) nutrition‑oral Health, and (iv) environmental education related to global warming in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Overall, two different approaches were identified: the cultural‑based approach, which promotes healthy behaviors as moral codes or community‑friendly behaviors and the science‑based approach, which promotes children’s health through scientific perspectives. Policymakers should initially consider the findings of this study while making decisions on which approach should be taken. |
