Exploring school administrators’ perceptions of death education in public schools
| dc.contributor.author | Kraut, Jane | |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Scruby, Lynn (Nursing) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Enns, Charlotte (Educational Administration, Foundations, and Psychology) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Thompson, Genevieve | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Penner, Jamie | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-12-20T19:00:33Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-12-20T19:00:33Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2022-12-20 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-12-19 | |
| dc.date.submitted | 2022-12-20T02:39:28Z | en_US |
| dc.date.submitted | 2022-12-20T18:30:55Z | en_US |
| dc.degree.discipline | Nursing | en_US |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Nursing (M.N.) | en_US |
| dc.description.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. | en_US |
| dc.description.note | February 2023 | en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship | College of Nursing Endowment Fund, Graduate Student Research Grant Foundation of Registered Nurses of Manitoba Inc. Graduate Award Graduate Nursing Students Association Scholarship Mona McLeod Award Dr. S. J. Winkler Memorial Award Irene Nordwich Foundation Award | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1993/37021 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
| dc.rights | open access | en_US |
| dc.subject | Death Education | en_US |
| dc.subject | Public Health | en_US |
| dc.subject | Palliative Care | en_US |
| dc.subject | Nursing | en_US |
| dc.title | Exploring school administrators’ perceptions of death education in public schools | en_US |
| dc.type | master thesis | en_US |
| local.subject.manitoba | yes | en_US |