A case for connecting school-based health education in Aotearoa New Zealand to critical health literacy

ABSTRACT Critical health literacy (CHL) and more specifically the development of young people's CHL in school-based health education is an under-explored area in research. This is despite health literacy being viewed as a critical determinant of health in contemporary times (World Health Organization. (2016a). The mandate for health literacy. https://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/9gchp/health-literacy/en/) and the ever-growing recognition of the need for people to be critical consumers and producers of knowledge in the twenty-first century. In this paper, we present findings from a qualitative study which explored the learning experiences and outcomes of senior secondary school-based health education in Aotearoa New Zealand. We conducted a deductive thematic analysis based upon a range of authors' descriptions of the components of CHL. Our findings indicate multiple ways in which health education has the potential to connect to the development of CHL, with these organized into four themes: Taking individual and collective action to promote health, interpersonal awareness and skills, knowledge of community and political structures and social determinants of health, critical thinking and appraisal of health-related information. We conclude the paper with implications for policy and practice relating to CHL in our complex times, as well as avenues for future inquiry in this under-researched area.