Health Education

The program develops analytical and comparative skills that enable students to understand the diverse realities of education and to use subject-specific, pedagogical, and psychological curriculum documents in their work for planning, implementing, and reflecting on educational activities. It develops communication skills that are important for communication and cooperation with students/clients, colleagues at work, parents of students/clients, and professionals in the field. A significant benefit of the study is the development of self-reflective skills, which provide space for the development of attitudes towards oneself, towards the individuals being educated, and towards the profession: perception of the responsibility of the teaching profession, acceptance of the moral obligations of the helping profession and its ethics.

The study emphasizes the competency model of the curriculum, the principle of interdisciplinarity (the interconnection of certain pedagogical and psychological subjects); the principle of transdisciplinarity; the principle of progression and gradation of topics and subjects, from more general to more specific. The concept is further characterized by the interconnection of theory and practice. Reflective pedagogical practice is an important part of the concept. The principles of reflection on practice and self-reflection are linked to both practice and other experience-oriented subjects. An important part of the concept is also the support of inclusion and the support of digitization and internationalization, which are perceived as cross-cutting themes (also supported by a separate subject).

The aim of the three-year bachelor's degree program in health education is to prepare specialists with a broad social science foundation focused on pedagogical and psychological disciplines and to prepare graduates for a follow-up master's degree program in Health Education Teaching for Elementary Schools. During the program, emphasis is placed on developing professional skills and acquiring knowledge in health sciences, psychosocial fields, and related scientific disciplines, which graduates will use in practice and, if applicable, in further master's studies. The program includes acquiring specialized knowledge and skills from schools and institutions focused on primary and secondary prevention.

Upon successful completion of the programme, the graduate is able to:

• based on the knowledge in health science to create a holistic concept of health;
• use adequate resources;
• understand and lead a professional debate on field-specific resources;
• based on the ability to work with professional sources, can create their own text, presentation, or project;
• apply the above knowledge, skills, and abilities in the work of a health education teaching assistant at a primary school;
• understand the role of an individual and society in health promotion and protection;
• think critically about the use of pedagogical and psychological knowledge in the practice of a teaching assistant or other pedagogical worker, read familiar pedagogical and psychological texts for educators and understand them creatively;
• describe and analyse an educational situation using special terminology and rules of effective pedagogical communication and to propose a change; use their knowledge and skills in communication with pupils, parents, teachers in the school context;
• cooperate with various teachers at school and under their leadership to plan, implement and reflect on the sequence of teaching and activities in relation to the appropriate school curriculum;
• use self-reflective skills to reflect on their actions: for example, to better justify and evaluate their arguments, to give voice to their emotions and their connection to some behaviour or to critically review their own attitudes towards education;
• use basic methods and tools of pedagogical diagnostics to support differentiation and individualization, obtaining data for individual pupil support; communicate the results appropriately to pupils, teachers, parents, or other professionals;
• formulate their own concept of education they would like to implement in their future profession, supporting it with arguments from theory and practice;
• explain the basic principles of inclusive and special education; to reflect on their attitude towards diversity and its influence on their own teaching.

The knowledge, skills, and attitudes acquired during the course of study form the basis of the competencies required to practice the profession. Graduates have a basic professional education with a subject-specific didactic component and are prepared to continue on to a master's degree program in health education for elementary schools. According to §20 of Act No. 563/2004 Coll., on pedagogical workers, as amended, they can work as teaching assistants, instructors in leisure centers, educators in youth homes, educators in after-school clubs, and in various civic associations engaged in pedagogical activities.

• Teacher´s assistant

An integrating component of the studies includes reflected practical teacher training. The system of practical teacher training is designed to develop the students’ professional competences also by means of reflections of the educational reality and self-reflections. In this way the students become fully competent experts in the area of health education.

The final work of the student demonstrates the ability to apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the course of study in working on a specific professional-pedagogical problem. The type of final thesis corresponds to the content and level of the given degree of study. The student chooses from the following types of works: a) theoretical-applied, b) theoretical-empirical (research), c) theoretical. The types of work and recommendations for their implementation are further guided by the APA manual. The length of the final thesis ranges from 81,000 to 130,000 characters, including gaps, i.e. 45-60 standard pages.

The standards for the completion of final bachelor's theses at the departments are in accordance with Dean's Directive No. 1/2024 Final Theses (bachelor's, master's, rigorous, and continuing education theses) at the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University, as amended, effective from February 24, 2025.

Finally, these pursue the objectives listed below in accordance with the profile of a graduate of the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University.

The thesis follows the following goals based on the profile of the graduate of the Faculty of Education of MU. Students:

- demonstrate an awareness of the current issues of their field of study, they can clearly and comprehensibly define the topic of the final thesis and its objectives, describe the initial state of knowledge and propose appropriate methods of achieving their stated goals;

- work with appropriate primary and secondary sources of information, cite them according to a valid standard (APA) and in accordance with the ethics of academic work;

- through the creation of their own text they demonstrate stylistic competence, and the ability to create an academic text;

- demonstrate the ability to ask questions and solve problems, to formulate new ideas and conclusions that bring at least some new knowledge about the phenomenon being studied, or enrich the methodological (in the area of research) or methodical (in the area of education) procedures in relation to clearly defined target groups (pupils at primary and secondary school, groups with specific educational needs, etc.).

Graduates from the Bachelor’s degree may (subject to accession criteria) continue in the follow-up Master’s degree programme Lower Secondary School Teacher Training in Health Education.