A Study On Training Needs Of Junior Middle School Teachers’ Adolescent Health And Development Competency

Objective:Analyze AHD competency to be needed by junior middle school teachers based on teachers’and students’perspectives, and improve AHD integration into school guided by nurses and led by teachers, to meet the health and development needs of adolescents, their family and school.Subjects and MethodsSubjects:Convenience sampling was adopted to select one urban middle school, one urban-rural middle school and one rural middle school, and a special education school was selected from investigation schools of another research student. Teachers included headteachers, moral teachers, psychological consulation teachers and school medical staffs, and junior students were stratified randomly selected from Grade one and Grade two classess.Methods:Quantitative research combined with open consultation was applied. AHD competency training needs evaluation tool for junior middle school teachers and puberty-related Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors questionnaire for adolescents (puberty-KAB questionnaire) were used. Quantitative data were analyzed by SPSS15.0For Windows through descriptive analysis, content analysis was used to analyze open-ended questions, and mapping method was utilized between puberty-KAB items and AHD competencies. Steps include:1. Preparation. According to Chinese Version AHD competency evaluation tool for nurse staff, prepared expert consultation questionnaire and conducted consultation periodically to develop AHD competency training needs evaluation tool for junior middle school teachers. 2. Data Collection. Contacted with schools and reached an agreement, e-mailed, sent or delivered directly the survey materials to responsible investigators for each school, obtaining informed consent. Using randomizer to select the target classes, the researcher and responsible investigator conducted survey.Results:3junior middle schools and1special education school were surveyed.65teachers and526students finished the questionnaires respectively. Detailed information was as follows:1. Among teachers,27were males and38were females, and the average age was35.0±6.45years.5teachers were school medical staffs,7were administrative staffs and58were headteachers. Among students,267were boys and259were girls, and the average age was13.5±0.90years.5.3percent of the students reported disease history, mainly about pulmonitis and myocarditis, and20students had hearing disability.15.4%of boys and8.8%of girls were overweight, and most of the students were in the stages of midpubertal and latepubertal.2. Teachers had the highest score in the Professional Development Domain, then Psychosocial Self and Health Behavior Domain, and the score of Gender Development Domain was the lowest. Frequency analysis demonstrated that12AHD competencies needed to be improved, mainly on Professional Development, Psychosocial Self and Health Behavior Domain. Analysis for open-ended questions illustrated that there was an overlap between the competencies derived from open-ended questions and AHD competencies. Besides, class management skills were mentioned in the open-ended questions.3. According to puberty-KAB item score, both boys and girls had lower score in12items, mainly about physiology phenomenon, cognitive development and intimate relationships.4. Mapping analysis found that12lower-score puberty-KAB items were mapped by28AHD competencies, and8competencies were consistent with the competencies to be improved by teacher self-evaluation. Comprehensive analysis from teachers’ and students’ perspectives,32AHD competencies were found to be enhanced and were classified as first-level, second level and third level.Conclusion:Teachers had higher training needs in Professional Development, Psychosocial Self, and Health Behavior Domain, while further research was needed to explore different teacher populations’ focuses. From puberty-KAB score, we found that students lacked the knowledge about physiology development, psychosocial development and gender development which needed teachers’guidance. Comprehensive mapping analysis demonstrated that AHD competencies to be improved by teachers covered5domains, and the first-level competencies were related to psychosocial development and health behavior. The study specified the teachers’training needs of AHD competency, and nursing staff as key persons to improve teachers’AHD competency needed further cultivated, especially for the competencies both teachers and students needed. Therefore, to make the nurse staff guide the teachers, the content related to AHD should be integrated in existing nursing curricula.