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3.0 DRUG EDUCATION TOPICS

This section examines the topics covered in the observed lessons. Section 3.1 reports general patterns in topic coverage, while 3.2 examines the age ranges to which different topics were taught and the level of content progression. Section 3.3 discusses factors influencing topic coverage, and section 3.4 examines the specific drugs covered at different age ranges.

3.1 General Patterns

A wide array of topics was covered in the 100 lessons which were observed. These have been grouped into areas which are commonly found in much of the drug education literature and the results are presented below in Table C3.1. As might be expected, the majority of lessons covered more than one of the topics listed here. For example, around half of the lessons we observed covered information about the names of drugs, types of drugs and also their effects and the consequences of using them. As a result the percentages in this table do not add up to an overall total of 100 per cent. Instead each row percentage reflects the proportion of overall lessons in which that topic or topic grouping was observed to be covered.

Table C3.1. Topics Covered in Observed Lessons

Note: The percentages in this table do not add up to 100 per cent because it was possible for a given lesson to cover more than one topic.

As the table indicates, the most frequently covered topics in the lessons we observed related to factual information about specific drugs or types of drugs and their effects; personal safety and keeping healthy; and making healthy and informed choices within the context of taking over-the-counter and prescribed medicines, smoking, drinking alcohol or experimenting with other unsafe substances.

The next most common topics in the lessons we observed related to drugs and the law: which ones and legal or illegal, how the law views the seriousness of people being caught possessing or supplying Class A, B or C drugs, and so forth. Just under a quarter of the lessons focused on pupils' and society's values, attitudes towards and feelings about drugs of different kinds and notions about what is and is not socially acceptable. A similar proportion of lessons focused on social influences.

3.2 Age Ranges and Progression in Topic Coverage

Table C3.2 presents data on the different age ranges to which these topics were taught. The distribution of some of the topics across the different age ranges does suggest some degree of progression. It is clear, from the table, for example, that topics relating to personal safety, a healthy body, being aware of what is dangerous and so forth are mainly covered in the early and middle years of primary. Where drugs are talked about they are mainly prescribed and over-the-counter medicines but we also noted some lessons where teachers or school nurses were raising awareness about used syringes, solvents and drug packaging that might be discarded in their locality.

By P6-7 over half of the observed teachers were introducing more information about specific drugs, particularly tobacco and, to a lesser degree, alcohol. Not many of the P6-7 lessons we observed went into much detail about other kinds of drugs, particularly illegal drugs but there were a small number of instances of this. A large majority of the S1-S2 lessons focused upon information about drugs and their effects and the physical, personal and social consequences of using them. S1 and S2 lessons were slightly more likely to cover nicotine and alcohol and the S3, S4 and S5 lessons were slightly more likely to focus on illegal drugs but the differences were not great.

However, it is also apparent that some primary schools are including topics in P6-7 and, to a lesser extent in P4-5, which are also being covered in S1-2 and even S3-4. This is particularly apparent with such topics as the effects of drugs, drugs and the law, making informed choices and helping children and young people to cope effectively with pressure.

Indeed some of the secondary school teachers we interviewed after observing their lessons indicated to us that they would like to know more about what the children had done in drug education lessons when they were in their upper primary years. They felt that they were sometimes going over ground that at least some of their pupils had covered before.

Table C3.2. Topics by Age Range

Note: The percentages in each column do not add up to 100 per cent because it was possible for a given lesson to cover more than one topic. The percentages are calculated on the basis of the number of lessons for a given age range which covered a particular topic or topic group.

Clearly there may be some issues relating to progression here, although it should be emphasised, first, that our comments only relate to the sample of lessons which were observed and, second, that the children in these P6-7 classes were not necessarily going to be transferred to the secondary schools where we observed the same topics being covered.

However, in eight of the 20 primary schools in our sample we had observed drug education in at least three classes and, of these, one class was drawn from the early years, one from the middle years and one from P6-P7. In a ninth primary school, a small rural school where there were two composite classes (P1-P4, and P5-7) we had observed drug education lessons with all of the children in the school. Similarly, in seven of the 19 secondary schools we had observed drug education in S1, S2, S3 and S4 classes and in three others we had observed drug education in classes drawn from three distinct secondary year groups.

This provided us with a good opportunity to examine the degree of progression in the drug education provided within schools. Table C3.3 highlights the extent to which there appeared to be content progression in these 19 sampled schools.

Table C3.3. Level of Content Progression across Year Groups in Sampled Schools

In the context of this table ' low' describes a situation where pupils appeared to be encountering similar drug education content in at least three distinct years. In the three primary schools the lessons observed in early, middle and upper years focused mainly on work around a healthy body, personal safety and attitudes to drugs. In the secondaries low progression was apparent in the sense that pupils appeared to be doing similar work on the names of drugs, different classifications and categories and their various effects in at least three year groups. This did not mean that the three observed lessons were identical but the main focus in each case was very similar.

The term ' some' here describes a situation in the primary schools where there was usually not much evidence of progression between two year groups or age ranges, usually between early-years and middle-years classes, even if the content in the P6 and P7 lessons was noticeably different. In the context of the secondary schools the term either referred to a situation where there was some overall progression from S1 to S4 but the content of the observed lessons delivered to, for example, S1 and S2 classes was very similar, or it referred to a situation where each year the class looked at a different drug area (e.g. smoking one year, alcohol the next, and illegal drugs in the third year) but in an almost identical way.

The term ' high' is more self-evident in this context. It describes those situations where it was clear from the observations conducted with classes in different year groups that the content covered in subsequent years was not only different from but also built upon and extended the work that had been done in previous years.

As Table C3.3 demonstrates, there was clear evidence of low or limited progression in fourteen of the nineteen schools where we were able to check for this. The question which clearly follows is whether or not this may be symptomatic of a potentially serious problem. It has been customary to argue that heath education provision in schools should be structured around the principle of a spiral curriculum but content is only one dimension of that principle. In subject areas where there is a clear progression in cognition (as in academic subjects such as mathematics) then it is clear that the spiral structure of the curriculum will return the learner to certain concepts, procedures and principles but in more intellectually challenging ways as they develop. At present there are undoubtedly some aspects of health education in general and drug education in particular where the topics to be covered can be structured according to how challenging the content will be for different age groups. However, other principles also influence thinking about the spiral curriculum and one of these is the experience of the learner. That is to say, pupils return to the same topics, ideas and principles again and again as their personal experiences change. There is an element of this in drug education as well and it may well underpin the thinking behind those school approaches which look at different drugs in different years but in a very similar way.

Some of the teachers we interviewed explained the thinking behind their drug education lessons is this way: " Right now they are most likely to experience pressure to try a cigarette. Next year the issue is going to be alcohol because we can see that with this year's S2s. In an area like this they don't really come into contact much at their age with the drug scene".

On the other hand, others have argued that the most appropriate time to introduce education about smoking, alcohol and illegal drugs is before most young people have come into contact with them.

There is a related issue regarding progression in composite classes. As noted earlier, nearly half of the early-years classes and the middle-years classes were composite. About one third of the upper-years primary classes were also composite. In the three smallest primary schools there were only two classes. In two cases these were P1-P4 and P5-P7; in the third case the classes were P1-P3 and P4-P7. We did not observe any differentiation by topic in any of these composite classes. It could be argued that this was not particularly problematic in classes with only two year groups and some of the teachers explained to observers that the school operated a rolling programme so that the children would not repeat the same lessons when they moved up a year. However, in those cases where there are three or even four year groups in the same class it is more questionable as to whether the same topic (e.g. medicines and other unsafe substances in the home) is appropriate for all of them. Equally there might be questions about whether work on the effects of smoking, solvent abuse or illegal drugs with P6s and P7s would be equally appropriate for the P4s and P5s in the same class.

Generally, there appears to be some confusion still about the fundamental principles that should underpin the delivery of drug education, including issues relating to progression and differentiation, and this was reflected in what we were observing in school classrooms.

3.3 Factors Influencing Topic Coverage

As we have seen elsewhere in this report, factors such as local authority policy on resources, whether or not the school and the teacher is using a published package and the background and training of staff can influence classroom practice in drug education. In terms of influences on topics covered the following main findings emerged:

• There were few differences between the local authorities sampled in the observation exercise.
• All gave considerable emphasis to information about drugs and their effects.
• The lessons observed in Aberdeenshire and Edinburgh City were markedly more likely to have examined social influences on drug use.
• Drugs and the law was more likely to have been covered in the observed lessons in the city-based local authorities: Aberdeen city, Edinburgh city and Glasgow city.
• Work on risk assessment and decision making with regard to drug use were also most likely to be covered in the city-based local authorities and South Lanark.
• Those teachers observed to be using published packages were more likely to be including some work on skills development (coping with pressure, assertiveness, decision making, etc) when looking at different types of drugs.

3.4 Coverage of Specific Drugs

Fifteen of the 100 observed lessons did not specifically focus on drugs. As noted elsewhere in the report, they were more concerned with what we have described as groundwork. This was usually in observed early-years and middle-years lessons in primary schools. As can be seen from Table C3.4 those early-years and middle-years lessons where drugs were specifically mentioned tended to focus on medicines. These were usually the ones with which the children were already familiar, such as calpol, paracetemol, aspirin and cold remedies. There were not many observed references to prescribed drugs.

Table C3.4. Drugs Featured in Observed Lessons

Whilst there was still a clear focus on medicines in middle-years lessons, nearly half of these lessons also focused on nicotine and alcohol, and a small number introduced the names of some illegal drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and amphetamines.

While just over one-third of the upper primary classes also focused on medicines, teachers and pupils were more likely to mention prescribed medicines and by this stage there was also a much stronger emphasis on nicotine and alcohol (71 per cent and 62 per cent of the upper primary lessons observed respectively). Around a third of these particular lessons also featured amphetamines and cocaine, one quarter mentioned ecstasy and heroin, and one-in-five featured hallucinogens such as LSD and Magic Mushrooms.

In S1 and S2 just over half of the observed lessons focused on alcohol and nicotine but by this stage lessons were also more likely to introduce illegal drugs, with the most frequently featured being: ecstasy, heroin, cocaine, LSD and amphetamines.

This developmental pattern also continues into S3-S5 lessons where there was less focus on nicotine and alcohol per se (though an increased focus on binge drinking). However, the main illegal substances featured were very similar to those covered in S2-S3 lessons: cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, LSD and amphetamines.

Evidence of progression was slightly clearer here than when examining the topics featured in observed lessons. However, if the spiral curriculum approach indicates that lesson planning should take into account the pupils' own experiences then it is perhaps surprising that so few upper primary and S1-S2 lessons focused on solvents and other volatile substances, and so few S1-S2 and S3-S4 lessons focused on Magic Mushrooms. Interestingly in most of the instances where this particular hallucinogen was discussed, it was the pupils who raised it.

Clearly any discussion of progression based on the evidence here needs to be treated with caution. As we have observed at various points in this report, we were only observing a sample of lessons and not all of those drug education lessons which each school delivered to each sample year group or class. Nevertheless, when drugs were mentioned it was usually within the context of learning activities about the names of different drugs and their effects, i.e. those lessons where specific drugs were most likely to feature anyway.

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