Many official and guiding documents, provided by a number of organizations, emphasize the importance of both home and school in bringing up and educating children. However, research has demonstrated that there is some confusion about roles and expectations among teachers and parents who have diverging goals, demands, values and competencies (Kellaghan, 2001; Tveit, 2009). Similarly, the topic of parental responsibility occasionally raises public discussion (Böök and Perälä-Littunen, 2008; Izbicki, 2010), and teachers’ high workload is frequently described in literature (e.g., Sormunen et al., 2011; Philipp & Kunter, 2013).

Previous findings from Finland indicate that professional educators view their responsibility for children’s upbringing differently from parents, and consider that they have too much responsibility over children (Seppälä 2000; Alasuutari 2003). Controversially, there are also findings that emphasize the idea of shared responsibility between home and school by teachers and parents (Åman-Back and Björkvist, 2007), or, alternatively, either mutual responsibility or a greater share of parents’ responsibility, as described by parents (Sormunen et al., 2013).

As comparable data on the roles of home and school in children’s health education and guidance is sparse, this study explores both parents’ and teachers’ perceptions. The international perspective has been added to find out whether there are cultural issues regarding children’s health education. This study, therefore, explores how parents of 10–11-year-old children and school teachers in the Republic of Karelia (Russia) and in North Karelia (Finland) define their roles in children’s health education.

The research questions are:

1. What are the roles of teachers and parents in children’s health education in the Republic of Karelia and North Karelia?
2. Are there any culture-specific factors that emerge from the data?

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