Health education has a long history in Finnish schools. However, only a decade ago it became a statutory and an independent school subject in basic education and upper secondary schools. This shift meant that it became part of the national school curricula with it’s own set of distinctive learning objectives and evaluation criteria. In December 2014 Finnish National Board of Education confirmed new curriculum for basic education where health literacy was explicitly included as a theoretical and pedagogical framework for defining what kind of learning should be promoted among the pupils (Finnish National Board of Education, 2014). Following Paakkari’s and Paakkari’s (2012) definition for health literacy it was decided that schools should develop pupils’ theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge, critical thinking, self-awareness and citizenship. Within this model, teaching should take into account the multidimensional nature of various health phenomena: including supporting and consuming physical, psychological and social factors. Additionally various phases of the lifespan and different levels of the Brofenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory can be used to approach health from the different angles. The school subject health education is a multidisciplinary subject, which evidently influences the discourses that are present in the classroom. Though political, ecomonic, cultural and societal factors are seen to influence on the content that are discussed with the pupils, the strong influence of the medical norms and texts is also recognized (Paakkari & Välimaa, 2013): pupils are faced with many guidelines and prescriptions on how to live in a healthy way (see Ingleby, 2012), that are often based on ‘factual certainty and authority’ (Evans, 2003). Hence, though the subject health education supports the development of a whole child, and a critical and active citizen in his/her own right, there is also a tendency to teach ‘right’ ways of behaving in a healthy way.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Evans, J. (2003). Physical education and health: a polemic or “let them eat cake”. European Physical Education Review, 9(1), 87-101. Finnish National Board of Education (2014). Opetussuunnitelman perusteet 2014. Helsinki. Finnish National Board of Education. Ingleby, D. (2012). Acquiring health literacy as a moral task. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 8(1), 22-31. Paakkari, L., & Paakkari, O. (2012). Health literacy as a learning outcome in schools. Health Education, 112(2), 133-152. Paakkari, L., & Välimaa, R. (2013). Ethical issues in the teaching and learning of health topics in schools: The conceptions of teacher trainees. Teaching and Teacher Education, 34, 66-76.