Our Story
Cancer is undeniably prevalent in the lives of adults and children alike. When children are impacted by cancer, they are likely to experience anxiety, misconceptions, and uncertainty. Educating students about cancer in an age appropriate manner corrects misconceptions and allows children to develop useful coping skills to help relieve their anxieties. Further, science often addresses the topics of most interest to children, including common questions such as:
To assess currently available educational resources and needs, the CancerEd team conducted a review of existing K-12 cancer curricula along with a review of primary literature. Our curricular review exposed a gap in resources that focuses on the science of cancer, especially for younger children, as well as a lack of cancer knowledge among high school students. Materials tailored to the emotional and social aspects of a cancer diagnosis and cancer prevention were more common.
To address the identified challenges and gaps, we have worked to create a comprehensive library of cancer curriculum resources.
Our goal:
to provide teachers and hospital staff with quality, accessible educational materials, which can be used to engage students in classroom activities pertaining to cancer.
To ensure our efforts are meeting the needs of both children and educators, we created two surveys intended to answer questions such as: what resources (specific topics and materials) do parents (or caregivers) and teachers need to help them teach children about cancer? We plan to revise existing materials and develop new lessons based on survey responses. To further ensure that our materials are meeting needs, we have been in conversation with staff at local hospitals.
Future hopes:
to elicit certified educators to review and pilot CancerEd materials
to create CancerEd materials for middle school and high school students
to invite teachers and parents that have taken the CancerEd surveys to share further thoughts at a focus group
to provide educational workshops for siblings of pediatric cancer patients
to host educators' workshops for teachers to feel confident using CancerEd materials