Extension and Healthy Environments: student accounts of experiences

Abstract

This paper focuses on an Experiential Education Outreach Practice (Práctica de Extensión de Educación Experiencial, PEEE) carried out by students and teachers as part of the Health Education and Family Economics (Educación para la Salud y Economía Familiar, ESEF) course of the Bachelor's Degree program in Nutrition (Licenciatura en Nutrición, LN), at the National University of Litoral (Universidad Nacional del Litoral, UNL), together with a High School of Art Orientation educational community in the city of Santa Fe, Argentina. The objectives and contents of the course, whose main topic is Food and Nutrition Education (Educación Alimentaria Nutricional, EAN), are an essential tool for future health professionals. ESEF outreach proposal plays a crucial role in achieving curricular objectives, thus integrating educational practice into the social context. Drawing on students' voices, this article seeks to share their perspective about the experience, with a special focus on their perceived strengths and weaknesses during the outreach work. These perceptions make it possible to deepen their learning, facilitating the acquisition of abilities, skills, attitudes and values that are fundamental to building their role as health educators and to the development of a healthy school environment in the community where they work.