Education is the most significant factor on the health of schoolchildren, due to its long duration and its impact
Education is the most significant factor on the health of schoolchildren, due to its long duration and its impact. The intensification of the educational process, the use of new educational methods and techniques and enrollment at an earlier age have all increased the number of children who are incapable of adapting to academic burdens without excess stress. The number of children with borderline states and chronic diseases is growing. These negative tendencies are aggravated by adverse social and ecological conditions. Therefore, each educational establishment, in addition to solving pedagogical problems, should correlate the academic load and teaching methodology with the age and individual characteristics of children, to help protect and strengthen their health.
The implementation of health-preserving techniques in the educational process brings about positive changes in the state of health of schoolchildren. The ORTO Expert system is an efficient support tool for health-preserving techniques. With the help of this system it is possible to make quick and easy diagnoses of the functional condition of schoolchildren's bodies. One of the results of diagnosis is the evaluation of the adaptation of a child's body to external factors. Adaptation is classified as satisfactory, unsatisfactory or strained. The results of diagnoses can be easily used in practice. The tools built into the ORTO Expert system allow for the long-term monitoring of the adaptation of each child throughout the course of the educational process.
The application of the ORTO Expert system enables the adoption of a higher level of health-improving techniques in educational establishments.
Diagnostics of adaptation at critical school stages (1-st and 5-th grades)
At enrollment and during the transition to the middle level (5-th grade) children face up the necessity to adapt to new social conditions and new kinds of activity. The ability to adapt is critical to the success of further education, the effectiveness of communication skills and opportunities for personal development in the school environment. Therefore, the diagnosis of the functional body state of schoolchildren is extremely important. It allows for a timely assessment of maladaptation in time to take corrective measures.
1. Diagnosis of the functional body state of children with the help of the ORTO system at enrollment and during the transition to a medium educational level (see figure).
2. Assembling of a group of maladaptive schoolchildren based on the results of diagnosis.
3. Discovering the reasons for maladaptation. Planning and carrying out corrective actions.
Figure. A sample report of the body state of a group of children diagnosed with the ORTO system (“green” stands for children with satisfactory adaptation, “yellow”—with strained adaptation, “red”—with unsatisfactory adaptation).
Assessment of adaptation of senior school students to a more advanced educational level
Recently, senior grades have started introducing in-depth studies of certain subjects. This is helpful for students to receive high-quality knowledge and skills in order to move on to the next stage of education. However, advanced studies mean complexity of the subject matter, a large amount of material and a fast rate of learning. In such conditions, the absence of motivation or abilities, bad health and a number of other factors can strain the mechanisms of adaptation. In the end, the high physiological cost of education considerably reduces the efficiency of knowledge and skills and makes a very negative impact on health. The evaluation of the functional body state will help to reveal the high physiological cost of training in a timely manner. This will help determine how well the area of education chosen by the school student corresponds to his/her skills and abilities.
1. Diagnosis of the functional body state of children with the ORTO system during the transition to the next educational level.
2. Formation of a group of schoolchildren with unsatisfactory adaptation based on the results of diagnostics.
3. Discovering and eliminating the reasons for maladaptation. Recommendations on the choice of a field of study.
Assessment of the efficiency of corrective work
The orientation of modern schools towards a high level of education and intensification of the educational process make some children incapable of mastering the required amount of information. As a rule, such children form special-needs groups or classes where schooling is carried out in a less intensive cycle. The dynamic estimation of the functional body state of such schoolchildren throughout an academic year coupled with the analysis of their progress will allow the determination of the efficiency of the form of education in question.
1. Dynamic diagnostics of the children's functional body state with the ORTO system throughout an academic year (2-3 times) (see the figure).
2. Comparison of the number of children with unsatisfactory adaptation in the beginning and the end of an academic year. Evaluation of the results of corrective work based on the results of the comparison.
3. Making a decision on the necessity of further corrective work.
Figure. A sample report on the change of the body state of a group of children based on the results of diagnostics with the ORTO system (“green” stands for children with satisfactory adaptation, “yellow”—with strained adaptation, “red”—with unsatisfactory adaptation).
Evaluation of the influence of innovative technologies on the health of schoolchildren
Many educational institutions open classes for approbation of various pedagogical innovations. In filling the curricula of such classes with new information, varying the contents of the curricula and showing enthusiasm for the creative process, teachers frequently forget about the capabilities of the child, his/her physical and mental characteristics. The quality of knowledge suffers as a result. Incorrect pedagogical influence can worsen the health of schoolchildren The assessment of the functional body state of children from "experimental" classes in comparison with children studying under traditional programs, will allow to determine the physiological cost of innovative education. It will also help to adjust the educational process to make it conform to the capabilities of schoolchildren.
1. Diagnosis, using the ORTO system, of the functional body state of children studying under innovative and traditional programs.
2. Comparative analysis of adaptation of children studying under different programs.
3. Making a conclusion on the physiological cost of innovative education based on the ratio of children with different types of adaptation. Introducing changes into the educational process, if necessary.
Effectiveness control of health-improving actions
Taking into account negative tendencies in the state of health of schoolchildren, some educational institutions practice systematic health-improving work with them. However, the results of this work are frequently estimated subjectively which reduces its quality. The ORTO system is an instrumental and objective method of control over the health-improving work. The analysis of the functional condition of the body state of schoolchildren before and after taking health-improving measures will be evidence of the effectiveness of the influence. It will also allow to use the individual approach in health-improving work and raise its quality.
1. Diagnostics of the functional body state of children with the ORTO system before and after taking health-improving measures (see figure).
2. Comparing of adaptation of children's bodies before and after the measures. Assessment of health-improving work based on the results of this comparison.
3. Making a decision on the necessity of further health-improving work.
Figure. A sample report of the change of the body state of a child based on the results of diagnostics with the ORTO system.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
