Ninth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

The National Health Education Standards (NHES) were developed to establish, promote and support health-enhancing behaviors for students in all grade levels—from pre-Kindergarten through grade 12. The NHES standards address students’ abilities to comprehend health; analyze influences on health behaviors; access valid health information, products and services; use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health; use decision-making skills to enhance health; use goal-setting skills to enhance health; practice health-enhancing behaviors; advocate for personal, family, community health. Concurrent to the development of the NHES (1991-1995), Social Emotional Learning (SEL) was introduced as a framework that addresses the needs of young people in response to coordinate the inundation of youth development programs in schools. These SEL core competencies enhance students’ capacities to integrate skills and attitudes, which better equip them to deal effectively with everyday tasks and challenges. These competencies are Self-Awareness; Self-Management; Social Awareness; Relationship skills; and Responsible Decision-Making. This paper will crosswalk the NHES and SEL Core Competencies to advocate that schools promote both frameworks and provide opportunities for their students to learn and practice behaviors that enhance student health (physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual). This paper will also present how these frameworks are taught in teacher education course work to promote the use of NHES and SEL Core competencies among pre-service teachers in their field and clinical experiences.