Exploring school administrators’ perceptions of death education in public schools

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
2022-12-19
Authors
Kraut, Jane
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract

Background: Talking about death can positively impact health outcomes yet, death remains taboo. As a public health approach to palliative care, death education is one way to normalize conversations about death, dying, caregiving for those with life-limiting illness, and loss. Currently, these themes are not considered as part of the health curriculum in Manitoba. To find novel ways to bring death, dying, caregiving, and grieving into our daily discourse and to increase our death literacy, it is essential to consider upstream interventions for all ages. Death education is one such approach. To date, the current landscape of death education in the Manitoba public school system and administrators’ perceptions of introducing and integrating this into the curriculum are unexplored. Method: A exploratory, descriptive qualitative design was used. Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit experiences with death education and perceptions of formal inclusion in the curriculum from public school principals (n=7). Interviews were transcribed verbatim and content coding was used for analysis in conjunction with reflexive journals. Results: The study revealed conversations about death and grief do occur in schools, while caregiving, life-limiting illness, and dying are left out of the discussion. Schools respond as best they can with limited resources and without guidance. There is an appetite to including death education in the classroom. Administrators saw potential barriers to doing so but also noted supportive measures and specific strategies that would assist in integrating these themes. Conclusion: The knowledge gained from this study highlights the need to proactively address death, dying, caregiving, and loss in the school system. It also addresses the gap in the empirical literature regarding the current landscape and school administrators’ perspectives on including death education in the curriculum.

Description
Keywords
Death Education, Public Health, Palliative Care, Nursing
Citation