For Whose Benefit? The Politics of Developing A Health Education
Curriculum
Introduction
The implementation of health education programmes in schools has
passed through a number of developmental stages in New Zealand.
As in other Western countries, the pattern of change is a reflection
of a wider range of contemporary influences which have impacted
on developments in health education. These include: prevailing paradigms
of the structure and function of schooling; current political and
community values and expectations for health outcomes in relation
to the curriculum; societal perceptions of the meaning of health;
current theories of teaching and learning; contemporary socio-economic
and political issues; and, of course, contemporary theorising on
the effectiveness and practice of school health education programmes.
This paper sets out a discussion of the theoretical foundations
which have dominated health education in New Zealand. It then outlines
contemporary developments in theorising in relation to the production
of the Draft Health and Physical Education Curriculum Statement
(1996) of which I was one of the principal writers. Finally, it
details the emergence of this new curriculum and sets out key challenges
which must be faced if it is to be successfully implemented.
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