A Study on utilization of constructivist paradigm in Health Promotion and Education

보건교육 및 건강증진에 대한 구성주의 방법의 적용

The National Health Promotion Law passed in 1995 was a milestone for initiating a national health promotion program in Korea, and government officers and health professionals are working on how to approach health promotion issues. The purpose of this study was to analyse methods and use of constructivist paradigm in health promotion and education. The health promotion area needs community empowerment, building community partnerships, and community capacity. To meet these health promotion requirements health promotion workforce should be trained through professional preparation programs that contains communication skills, group process skills, and management of programs in advanced countries such as the United States and Australia. Skills and responsibilities of those who are in charge of providing health promotion services have not yet been clearly defined in Korea because the area of health promotion is a multi-academic field, and needs a different approach, constructivist approach. Constructivist paradigm requires relativism, reasoning skills, collaborating, and motivation. These components are needed for community empowerment. Constructivism also has been applied to the field of education. Problem-based education, outcome-based education, performance-based education came from the constructivism. These educational methods are student-centered method. As the modernizing society becomes more complicated, traditional or conventional teacher-centered education cannot meet the needs of students. Students need to learn skills necessary to make healthy decisions with individual value system. So these interactive, self-learning methods can serve much more to the learner. Constructivist educational methods can be applied to educational programs in computers, too. To expand and differentiate the area of health education and health promotion from other health related fields, it is crucial to devote efforts in application and development of constructivist methods.