Spiritual_Wellness_Holistic_Health_and_the_Practic

92 Philosophical Foundations of Health Education
programs founded within schools at the turn of the twentieth century, and it remains
still a prevailing philosophy. Health educators who espouse this philosophy define the
purpose of health education informing by giving the best scientific health practices.
Creswell and Newman (1989) viewed the cognitive - based approach to learning in
terms of objectives and quantifiable terms to be measured. They advocated the cognitive
approach as a means of transferring a large base of knowledge relatively quickly.
Cognitive - based philosophies of health education have been viewed as a foundation
upon which other philosophies can be developed (Kolbe, 1982).
One limitation to the cognitive - based approach to health education is that this
philosophy does not ensure the adaptation of healthy lifestyles. Also, the scientific
base of health knowledge changes rapidly and the transfer of specific knowledge produces
only short - term health effects. Yet, as the cognitive approach to health education
continues to be researched and developed, additions to this philosophy have been
made. The cognitive - based health education philosophical perspective includes strategies
and approaches that focus on constructivism, critical thinking, and decision making.
Critical thinking techniques enable learners to reason dialectically and to reach conclusions
in an analytical and logical format. Critical thinking works with cognitive - based
philosophy by emphasizing the ability to reason as a higher - order thinking skill and is
foundational for the synthesis of cognitive information. Decision making is viewed as
a systemic approach to education, designed to equip learners with skills that enable
them to make self - satisfying decisions and appropriate choices based on up - to - date
factual information.
The concept of health literacy (Joint Committee on National Health Education
Standards, 1995; Tappe & Galer - Unti, 2001; American Association of Health Education,
2008) is a good example of a cognitive approach in health education that employs
both the skill of critical thinking and decision making in practice. The American
Association of Health Education ’ s position statement on health literacy is reprinted in
Appendix C.
In summation, the cognitive - based philosophy of health education is found to be
strongly supported, with the school structure as the most effective way to affect the