The analysis of the school climate as a paradigm for new care

Abstract

Introduction: The school climate is the students’ perception of the institution with regard to interpersonal relationships, infrastructure, community engagement, co-management, among other factors. Objective: to characterize the school climate based on the students' perception, emphasizing both the weakest and the most established dimensions. Methodology: a cross-sectional study was carried out with 129 students which enrolled in the second year of high school in 2018 in state-run schools in Natal/RN/Brazil. The subjects answered a questionnaire to identify their socioeconomic profile and school climate. Frequencies and measures of central tendency were calculated. Results: About 80% of the students agreed that they like being at school or feel they have good friends at school; 70% say that the relationship among all school actors is good; 67.20% feel that those who work at the school enjoy what they do. However, 40% of the students do not feel proud of their school, a mere 32% agreed that everyone participates in making important decisions at school, and only 53% stated they feel safe at school. Conclusions: The results show that Management & Transparency and Infrastructure are the most fragile dimensions of the school climate, while the most established ones are Friendship, Interpersonal Relations, Welcoming and Equality and Mutual Collaboration.

Keywords: Health Promotion. School Health Services. Health Evaluation.