From teaching young people to be healthy to learning health

Abstract

In this article we make a case for a shift in health education practice away from teaching young people to be healthy to an understanding of the ways young people learn health. Initially, we illustrate ways in which health educa-tion curricula have developed in Sweden and New Zealand, two countries ostensibly leaning towards a process related health concept in contemporary school curriculum. With a point of departure in socio-cultural learning theory, we then critique the individualistic approach to health education, which characterizes much health policy today, and instead argue for an ap-proach to health education that takes as its starting point the learning that occurs in the lives of young people. Finally, we outline some implications of this approach for health education research and practice. Keywords: health education, learning, individualism, instrumentalism.