Through pedagogy to safety : A study to identify more productive pedagogies for teaching home chemical safety education interventions to primary school children

Globally, accidental chemical poisonings account for the deaths of more than 35,000 children below the age of 15 annually. Chemical poisonings also cause many more children to endure disease and disability. A new Globally Harmonised System for Classification and Labelling was being introduced through the United Nations at the time of the study. This replaces the many disparate systems in use around the world.The aim of this study was to identify more productive methods for teaching home chemical safety interventions to primary school children aged 7 to 11 years old in order to increase their knowledge uptake and increase the retention of this knowledge. The new GHS hazard labelling system was applied to this.The focal concept was the knowledge gained and knowledge retained with the variety of influences that affect the outcomes of learning. A Delphi survey was employed to elicit consensus of expert opinion of the design of the educational intervention. The design of the study was based on a non-equivalent groups, pre-test, post-test, follow-up test structure. The quantitative part of this study demonstrated a larger gain in knowledge by the test school than by the control school from pre-test to post-test, but it is not clear whether this was due to the intervention or to regression. However, retention of knowledge gained was far superior for the test school and was the result of the intervention. Children’s misconceptions regarding the new hazard symbols were also elicited in the study, clarifying the task set for adults in teaching home chemical safety and mitigating the effect of cognitive dissonance.Rather than any individual teaching method being superior to others, a blend of teaching styles and learning activities was the most effective. Children’s capacity and resources for preventing injury are increased by strengthening their knowledge using comprehensive approaches