Since the publication of WHO guidance in 1998, policymakers around the world have sought to include health promotion within education, with schools in many countries now taking a Health Promoting Schools approach (Holt, 2019). Importantly, Cushman and colleagues (2011) identified Scotland as one of the few countries in the world that had successfully aligned wellbeing with education in this way. In this blog post, we reflect on the health and wellbeing (HWB) curriculum in Scotland, where this curricular area is the responsibility of all teachers to ensure that ‘children and young people develop the knowledge and understanding, skills, capabilities and attributes which they need for mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing now and in the future’ (Scottish Government, 2009, p. 1).

We begin by recognising some of the challenges of this, before considering what might be learned from current practice and research in this area. We conclude by suggesting a shift of attention away from understanding HWB as content or skills to be taught, and towards the role of the teacher and how they are implicated in the development of pedagogies for HWB.

Enacting the HWB curriculum

For many teachers in Scotland, paying attention to their students’ HWB is an inherent part of their practice. However, some can find this aspect of the curriculum more challenging. This is especially the case in secondary schools, where school structures and accountability measures can impact on teachers’ capacity to engage meaningfully with the HWB curriculum (Campbell et al., 2025). By contrast, research suggests that primary school teachers understand HWB as being integral to what it means to be a teacher (Holt, 2019), evidenced through, for example, focusing on positive relationships and embedding emotional literacy into their practice (Holt, 2019). Nevertheless, there is some evidence to demonstrate how secondary school teachers in Scotland are beginning to work more explicitly with the HWB curriculum (Barrett, 2024; Holt et al., 2024). This research has revealed that, across different subjects, secondary teachers have embedded similar practices as primary teachers, without compromising (but rather enhancing) subject specific learning – achieved through, for example, making connections between classroom content and the lives of their students.

HWB as pedagogy and teacher identity

Importantly, research across both primary and secondary contexts suggests that those teachers who have embedded these HWB approaches also have a personal interest in this curricular area (Campbell et al., 2025) – in other words, HWB is a part of their identity as a teacher. It is through this focus on the teacher, their experiences and identities that we may begin to think about the HWB curriculum differently, shifting attention away from what is taught (although this is still important), towards who is enacting the curriculum and how the curriculum is enacted.

‘By focusing on the teacher, their experiences and identities, we may begin to think about the HWB curriculum differently, shifting attention away from what is taught, towards who is enacting the curriculum and how the curriculum is enacted.’

Understanding HWB in this way has implications for young people’s learning and personal growth. HWB as the teacher and as pedagogy brings attention to how subject learning affects students – how through their learning they become someone, not only who knows in the world, but who can flourish in the world (Barrett, 2024). There are also implications here for policy, where greater attention might be paid to the role of the teacher – and how their identities and experiences are implicated in, and can support, HWB curriculum enactment. In the context of initial teacher education, more attention might usefully be paid to understanding and constructing teacher identities (Holt et al., 2024). This means reflecting on how pre-service teachers’ previous experiences connect with their values and beliefs about teaching, the purposes of education, and the ways in which these can support the construction of pedagogies for learning and for health and wellbeing.

We urge all stakeholders, within and beyond Scotland, to embrace a broader understanding of wellbeing promotion in the school context; one that recognises it as more than just the development of knowledge and skills but as being integrally linked with both the teacher’s professional identity and the development of pedagogies for HWB.

References

Barrett, L. G. (2024). ‘We’re in a prime position …’: Secondary English teachers’ perspectives on their responsibility for health and wellbeing [Ed.D thesis, University of Glasgow]. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/84147/4/2024barrettedd.pdf

Campbell, L., Gray, S., Dey, D., Holt, D., & Mulholland, R. (2025). ‘Their best interests at heart’: Exploring influences on student teachers’ learning to promote health and wellbeing in the classroom. Teacher Development. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2024.2431574

Cushman, P., Clelland, T., & Hornby, G. (2011). Health-promoting schools and mental health issues: A survey of New Zealand schools. Pastoral Care in Education, 29(4), 247–260. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2011.626066

Holt, D. (2019). Primary school teacher’s responsibility to promote positive mental health [Doctoral dissertation, University of Edinburgh]. https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/35639

Holt, D., Gray, S., Dey, D. & Campbell, L. (2024). Early career teachers’ learning about promoting health and wellbeing: A narrative study. Pastoral Care in Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2024.2328305

Scottish Government. (2009). Curriculum for excellence: Health and wellbeing. https://education.gov.scot/media/xhfji3wv/health-and-wellbeing-pp.pdf