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The Discourse on Hygiene in Relation to the Role of Public Teachers in the ’Néptanítók Lap’ between 1922–1924
7-17Views:40The Covid epidemic has highlighted that the health care system alone is not enough to tackle a pandemic affecting a large population. In addition to medical and public health activities, there is also a need for educational activities in the education subsystem, involving the professionals involved. This is why it is important to look at the issue of health education in schools from a historical perspective, given the epidemics of our time. In the turbulent social and political environment following the First World War, public health was a less favoured area for policy-makers, while the physical and psychological trauma of soldiers returning from the war and the health of those left behind was a serious problem. The virulent Spanish flu, which affected millions of families across Europe, the devastating tuberculosis in our country, but especially the diphtheria and influenza, which were dangerous for children, posed a serious challenge to the scientific and educational scene in Hungary. The spread of a healthy lifestyle and education was not helped by the environment of schools (attitude of the maintenance staff, quality of the built environment, sociocultural tradition of the rural population, rapid spread of urban life). The alternative health approach and the life reform movement, although sporadically emerging in the period, did not appear in the mainstream of pedagogy, and health education progressed slowly, while, for example, child mortality, which is also linked to the health-conscious behaviour of parents, was blatantly high. The appointment of Kuno Klebelsberg as minister (1922) can be seen as a paradigm shift, as he is not only exposed as a minister with considerable experience in state administration, but also as a conceptual cultural politician who understood the challenges of education and popular education at the micro and macro levels. In our research, we analysed the relevant issues of the People's Teachers' Journal - a standard-setting publication of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, which serves as a guide for teachers in practice - using qualitative thematic content analysis. The selected period: 1922–1924. Our questions are: how is the situation of school health reflected in the journal? What roles and tasks do and would policy-makers delegate to the folk teachers? What extracurricular tasks do they assign to teachers in the field of health education? Are there any patterns in the discourse in relation to school leaders? How have the teachers' organisations received it and what suggestions have they made to policy-makers and practitioners?
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THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE LET’S TEACH FOR HUNGARY MENTORING PROGRAM
87-101Views:287The disadvantaged situation has been a problem in the field of education for decades, and several disadvantage-compensation programs have been set up to reduce it. This includes the mentoring process, the primary purpose of which is to provide support and assistance to a younger individual. The subjects of the research are the students participating in the Let’s teach for Hungary mentoring program. The questionnaire survey was conducted in the autumn of 2019 (n=585), during which we focused on the children's expectations of the mentoring program, their learning difficulties, learning motivation, and their plans for further learning. Students can be classified into clusters based on their motivations, which highlights that the range of participants is not homogeneous from this aspect either. The coronavirus epidemic has posed a significant challenge to traditional education, and the opportunities offered by personal mentoring have been pushed into the background over the past year and a half. Educators and students have faced numerous challenges in the transition to digital education (Kristóf, 2020). Attendance mentoring could continue in the form of distance mentoring. In our current research, we examine the existence of distance mentoring, the exploration of experiences, and the preparedness of the participants in the Teach for Hungary program. Data collection began in December 2021, and the query process is still ongoing. We carry out the survey using a mixed method. We collect quantitative data among students with the help of questionnaires, which focus on the experiences, opinions, and readiness of the children. In addition, we use a qualitative, interview-based research method that provides an understanding of more comprehensive experiences. We conduct interviews with educators, mentors, and mentored students. The subjects of the research are primary school students, mentors, and teachers of a small settlement in Hajdú-Bihar county and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county (n=60 people).