Fact-Finding Survey & Policy/Curriculum Analysis

Several members of the FRESH Partnership are undertaking a global fact-finding survey and collection/analysis of policy/curriculum documents from all countries and states/provinces. Lead organizations in this initiative include UNICEF, UNESCO, ISHN and other organizations.This summary of the project provides an overview.

The purpose of this initiative is to provide a factual, global report that can be used as a benchmark for countries in their continuous improvement planning as well as a start to UN agency monitoring efforts related to the Sustainable Development Goals.

The global report will include a tabulation of all survey responses as well as separate reports on the responses from low resource, high resource and conflict/disaster-affected countries. The policy, curriculum and other documents collected from this survey of all countries and states/provinces will be posted in the UNESCO Health Education Clearinghouse. The individual responses from the education and health officials in each jurisdiction will be kept confidential to encourage realistic assessment of the status of policies and programs so that progress can truly being made from there. 

The Fact-Finding Survey

Wherever possible, the questions in the survey have been correlated with existing self-assessment tools, surveys and reports published by various UN agencies and other credible sources. The questions have also been situated within the FRESH Framework of core components and cross-cutting themes. The topic of Food & Nutrition is examined within the survey as a sample issue, but the survey does not address the many other topics/themes that can be addressed using multi-component approaches and multi-intervention programs.

In practice, the daily work in school-based and school-linked promotion of educational success, health and social development is often focused on issues and programs. In this survey, we focus on the status the core components of policy, education, services and physical/social environment. We broaden that lens slightly to include now well-established concepts related to context, implementing, maintaining, scaling up and sustaining programs, building system/organizational capacity, mainstreaming policies within the core concerns of the education system and incremental systems-focused actions or changes.

The survey will:
  • Be sent to all countries and states/provinces (n=300+)
  • Ask questions re core components (policy, education, services, social environment and physical environment)
  • sk if country has selected 4-5 national priority issues, components or sub-populations to focus resources
  • Ask which aspects of the whole child, which ministries, which of 16 MCA’s, which of 30+ MIP’s are addressed
  • Ask if country/state has used evidence-based tools to do situation assessments and to ensure high quality implementation, planning and assessment
  • Ask if country/state participates in global health/social behaviour surveys such as HBSC, GSHS, etc
  • Ask if country/state has explicit strategy to integrate/mainstream within education system (educ. Benefits, personnel to schools etc.)
  • Ask if country/state is using systems-focused actions such as joint ministry budgeting, joint/paired assignments, consultations with middle managers etc. that modify system routines & structures:

Collection & Analysis of Policy, Guidance & Curriculum Documents related to HPSD Education

The content analysis of this extensive collection of documents will examine If and how Health, Personal & Social Development (HPSD) education is intended to promote health literacy, life skills & social inclusion in country and state/provincial core HPSD-related curricula/subjects and in any published plans to coordinate the many types of extended educational opportunities such as extra & co-curricular activities, school routines, after-school, community-based and on-line learning programs.

The FRESH Working Group on Health Literacy, Life Skills and Social Inclusion and the parallel International Research Network created by the World Education Research Association will analyze (over several months and with different groups of researchers) the relevant policy and curriculum documents from all countries and states/provinces regarding health and personal & social development education  with additional analyses on food & nutrition and preventing violent extremism/promoting social inclusion.

The documents will be stored in the UNESCO Clearinghouse on Health Education for researchers to access and assess. The IRN will form teams of researchers interested in different aspects of HPSD education.If you are interested in being part of one of the analysis teams, contact dmccall@internationalschoolhealth.org

The analysis on HPSD education will ask:
  • which curriculum structure (Health only, Health &Life Skills, Health, Personal, Social Development, Health & PE, stand alone or combined with Home Ec/Financial Literacy etc)
  • if the documents include a required or recommended instructional time for HPSD subjects,
  • if the curriculum document includes generic HPSD or essential student learning outcomes
  • if there is an emphasis on student agency and/or teacher agency
  • If the HPSD curriculum and extended learning linked explicitly with other components of a multi-component apporach

The content analysis will be similar to a recent OECD analysis of PE curricula in 16 HRC’s and to a Brooking’s preliminary analysis of 21st Century Learning skills

The analysis on social inclusion will emulate an EU analysis and several reviews measuring social & emotional learning.

Other analyses will be done on school food & nutrition
Announcements and Materials from the Survey and Analysis
The following draft and finalized materials have been produced by this project: