This paper addresses forms of student participation in relation to learning. The discussion joins together two sets of theoretical concepts: • Principles and values shaping the critical educational approach of the health promoting schools, in particular the concept of action competence (Jensen and Schnack 1994; Jensen 1997, Simovska, 2009), and • The sociocultural perspective on learning (e.g. Vygotsky, 1978; Rogoff 1995; Rogoff et al., 2001) This analytical framework allows a move away from conceptualising teaching and learning about health as processes of knowledge transmission/reception resulting in specific health skills and lifestyles. Instead, it suggests a social, sociocultural and constructive approach to understanding the processes of teaching and learning. Inherent to the conceptualisation of participation in this perspective is the issue of ownership. Genuine student participation allows for student ownership of the learning process which presupposes that the potential for effective action is embedded in the knowledge that is acquired. The “owned knowledge” positions its possessor as an acting subject, able to employ his or her knowledge in a dynamic way (Paechter, 2001) by visualising different alternatives and dealing with complexities of change.