Virginia AHPERD_SpringSummer2026

A Health Education Philosophy Michael S. Mucedola PhD, MST, MCHES Professor of Health Education, Department Chair - Longwood University, Department of Health, Recreation & Kinesiology

Introduction Educators may utilize thousands of strategies in their quest toward facilitating student learning. Yet, the ap proach guiding the process becomes subjective for each teacher and depends on numerous factors. How and why, one teaches is driven by certain values, ideas, thinking, beliefs, viewpoints, and other elements. Thus, it is in the interest of the educator to develop and refine a teaching philosophy since it is so integral to the learning process for their students. From a health education standpoint, Ober teuffer (1977) opined that without philosophy, a specific discipline lacks direction. A well-informed teaching philosophy is a lifelong pro cess of self-reflection and refinement, and may shift de pending on the topic, students, environment, current science, and other factors that present themselves. For example, should the role of a health educator be to pres ent facts and allow each student to make decisions as they see fit? Others might contend the health educator should define what is healthy or unhealthy based on the best avail able science and then guide students to conform to those behaviors. Or should students determine what is healthy or unhealthy while the teacher presents a spectrum of in formation? Should a health educator target students indi vidually or as a group? These endless types of questions and how one goes about answering them depends on one’s philosophy and will significantly impact the direction in which students are led during the learning process. The aim of this article is to present seminal research highlight ing five prominent health education philosophies (cogni tive-based, decision-making, behavior change, freeing/ functioning, and social change) (Black et al., 2010; Welle et al., 1995) along with advocating for a new philosophical approach to account for a student’s culture and to tackle many of the current health trends that continue to present challenges for individuals and society. Health Education Philosophical Approaches Cognitive-Based Philosophy A content driven approach focusing on facts and ex panding knowledge is the essence of a cognitive-based philosophy. For decades, this style of teaching was (and for many continues to be) the preferred method for many educators. In the health education field, this was em braced by teachers over the years but more prominently appeared in the literature around the 1970’s (Means, 1975).

Health educators aimed to expand student’s health-related knowledge through various teaching strategies. Usually, a significant amount of information is taught during a short time and is evaluated through various assessments such as quizzes, tests, research papers, and other tactics to as certain if knowledge was gained. For years, this teaching philosophy was endorsed by many health educators as the “right” approach (Gold & Kelly, 1988; Greenberg, 1972). While each health educator will ultimately choose a phi losophy that best suits them, it is important to note that some form of information, knowledge, facts, and so on is usually required when teaching health and thus, this phi losophy may become part of an overall health education philosophy. While content may not always be the driving factor, a certain level of knowledge is integral regarding one’s health and overall quality of life. Decision-Making Philosophy The decision-making philosophy refers to a belief in which the health educator teaches skills for individuals to hopefully make health-enhancing choices, with a focus on the process, rather than results. The are several fac tors that may influence decision making and one should be cognizant of these possibilities when implementing this approach. For instance, cognitive biases, individual preferences, personal beliefs, experiences, commitment, age, socioeconomic status, and so on can impact decision making (Dietrich, 2010). The health educator may utilize teaching strategies such as heuristics with a decision-mak ing philosophy. Heuristics are practical problem-solving techniques that lessen cognitive burden, use minimal in formation, may not be optimal, but are beneficial when at tempting to achieve short-term goals or make an effective decision (Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008). The decision-mak ing philosophy should focus more on the performance of skills instead of the decision, with an emphasis on process rather than the product (Kolbe et al., 1982). A health educa tor with this philosophy may use additional strategies such as scenarios, role-plays, pros and cons activities, and so on when working with individuals on health-related issues. Behavior Change Philosophy A health educator with a goal of changing unhealthy behaviors while sustaining healthy ones would endorse the behavior change philosophy with a focus on behavior modification (Hochbaum, 1971). Utilizing established best practices that are driven by current science, the health educator determines which behaviors are healthy (such

2 • Virginia AHPERD • SPRING/SUMMER 2026