It Gives Me Great Pleasure To Present You With The Proceedings: Social Personal & Health Education Essay, UCC, Ireland

Introduction

It gives me great pleasure to present you with the proceedings from the inaugural conference of the SPHE Network which took place on 29th September 2012 in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. This conference, entitled “The Future of SPHE: Problems and Possibilities”, set out to explore the role and profile of Social, Personal, and Health Education in the context of 21st century Ireland. This is a context wherein the rationale for SPHE is becoming increasingly evident as children are presented with many challenges to their health and wellbeing. However, there are still barriers to be surmounted in order to achieve optimal implementation of this curricular area. These barriers are identified in this publication along with the many possibilities which present themselves as facilitators of SPHE.

The SPHE Network was established in 2000 and has grown significantly since then with membership from a wide variety of groups. We address many different issues which relate to SPHE with a view to facilitating the ongoing development of SPHE as an integral part of both the primary and post-primary curricula. We look at national and international research in relation to SPHE and endeavor to augment the research undertaken in this area. We meet regularly to share ideas and the organization of this conference was the product of one of our discussions.

The conference consisted of a variety of presentations and workshops and was divided into four main themes: Health Education/Promotion; Relationships and Sexuality Education; Global Education; and Social and Emotional Literacy. The many and diverse contributions in this publication endeavor to enhance your understanding of these key themes and to demonstrate how they can be reflected in your practice. It is also intended to highlight the key resources and supports for the implementation of SPHE.

The conference and this publication have benefitted significantly from the support of the DICE (Development and Intercultural Education) project. Development and Intercultural Education is viewed as an integral part of SPHE and the partnership between the SPHE Network and the DICE project has been and continues to be, positive and productive.