Abstract:
This thesis examines health education assessment and evaluation in three primary and three secondary New Zealand schools, in order to review current teaching theories and practices and determine appropriate health assessment and evaluation strategies. A case study approach was utilised during a period of four school terms.
The research includes chapters on assessment, evaluation, education, health education, health education assessment and evaluation, a background to the implementation of health education in New Zealand schools, and an analysis of the theory and practice of case study methodology in educational research.
Important features of the thesis are the primary and secondary school case studies which include illustrations of health education and a theoretical analysis of teachers’ ,comments and views. The analysis indicates that health "outcomes" are difficult to measure. Major considerations are given in the discussions, therefore, to the concepts of formative and educative assessment and to the notion of process evaluation in health education, as opposed to summative or outcomes assessment and evaluation. Arguments are made against the political expediencies of objectives-based teaching methods and the reliance on “outcomes” as determinants of educational “quality”.
Suggestions for the development of strategies for health assessment and evaluation in primary and secondary schools, emphasise the empowerment of teachers and the development of "connoisseurship" through teacher professional development.
