ABSTRACT
This chapter consists of two sections. The first examines the concept of the health promoting school, or healthy school as it has become known in England and Wales. It begins by relating key developments in health promotion, outlined in the previous chapter, to ideologies, theoretical perspectives and models that help to explain the concept of the health promoting school. A holistic and ecological model of the health promoting school is introduced to draw out the basic elements of the concept, which can be used as a framework for analysis and evaluation of the initiative. The key elements reviewed are: partnerships; professional roles and training; personal, social and health education, and citizenship; physical and social environment and action competence. The second part of the chapter explores some of the theories and principles of practice that underpin the successful introduction of innovations into the setting of the school, namely, management of change and diffusion of innovation. The chapter concludes with a case study of good practice in the development of the health promoting school in the Republic of Ireland, which illuminates the practical application of the concept in the context of one school.
