Mainstreaming/Integrating Health, Social, Safety, Security and Sustainability Programs Within Education Systems

Advocates, policy-makers, officials and practitioners concerned with specific issues and programs have always sought to mainstream or integrate their issue and programs within schools. This has usually been done by testing/demonstrating an effective program on that issue and then disseminating knowledge about or sometimes distributing that program or related guidance documents to educators. 

To be successful, proponents of such non-educational programs and policies should seek to integrate their issues and programs within the core mandates, constraints, concerns, customs, professional norms and organizational practices of education systems. This can be done through establishing new kinds of partnerships, developing a deeper understanding of the mandates and norms of the education system and educators, promoting the learning, health and development of the whole child, using a systems-based strategy and making commitments from the non-educational sectors to provide ongoing human and financial resources. 
 
The rationale for integrating health & social programs effectively within the core activities and concerns of education systems is easily understood. However, the evidence and experience suggesting that a fundamentally new approach is required is only recently drawing the attention of practitioners, officials, policy-makers and researchers. Multi-component approaches and multi-intervention programs are not sustainable within the current situation, there is ongoing competition for attention from educators by many programs/approaches, educators view health & social programs as being secondary in their work. Humanitarian and relief aid agencies have only recently seen education as a partner among the first responders and in other contexts, schools are seen as receptors and supporters to be persuaded rather than true partners.

There are a number of studies and reports showing that full-scale, sustainable implementation and maintenance of comprehensive multi-component approaches such as health promoting schools is not being achieved and that even multi-intervention programs on specific broad health or social issues are not being sustained. There are often tensions, misunderstandings, competitions and differing priorities among and within the various sectors seeking access to schools that need to be addressed. Further, educators often view these various health & social programs as being secondary or "add-ons" to their core jobs, functions & mandates.

A consensus statement developed by FRESH Partners (ASCD, Education International and ISHN) suggests that these five strategies should replace the current, ineffective strategies on mainstreaming health, social and other programs within schools:
  1. The health, social, safety, environmental, relief/ humanitarian aid and environmental sectors and donor organizations should establish and maintain new partnership models with the education sector based on integration within education systems rather than add-on strategies for the education system.
  2. The health, social, safety, environmental, relief/ humanitarian aid sectors and donor organizations should understand and anticipate the challenges associated with working within and with the core mandates, values, norms, constraints, concerns, priorities and current trends of educational systems. This includes a thorough understanding of the work lives, social backgrounds, and professional identities of teachers and other educators as well as developing different, more effective, long-term work force development strategies for teacher education and development.
  3. The health, social, safety, environmental, relief/ humanitarian aid sectors and donor organizations should focus on health, safety and development of whole child, while continuing their absolutely necessary, often dictated priority to address urgent, specific health problems, conditions and behaviours related to their respective mandates outside of education.
  4. Health and other systems/sectors should commit to using & maintaining long-term, multi-component approaches and to providing ongoing human and financial resources to work within education systems at the national/state, local agency and neighbourhood level.
  5. This realignment of health and other sector efforts should use a systems-based, organizational development approach focused on capacity building and continuous improvement. Systems thinking, systems science and systems change models should be used explicitly to pursue greater integration within education systems.

References and Resources