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In Israel, the decision which educational framework is most suitable for pupils with special needs is made by a placement committee. In January 2005, the eighth amendment of the Israeli Special Education Law determined that all pupils have the legal right to participate in their placement committee’s deliberations. This paper aims to examine the implementation of this liberal reform that let young people’s voices be heard. Specifically, the focus is on the attitudes of involved professionals (committee chairs, educational supervisors, teachers, etc.) regarding the law, and whether and in what ways their views influence the extent to which this law is implemented.

The research used an eight-step linear scale to investigate both the desired and actual levels of children’s participation in the committee’s discussions, as evaluated by professionals. In addition, the pupils’ satisfaction with the discussion process was evaluated, based on the professionals’ perceptions. Furthermore, the research analyzed which socioeconomic, cultural and occupational variables correlated with the degree of students’ participation in and satisfaction with the process.

The major finding was that many of the adults responsible for the implementation of the reform do not believe in its principles and are even opposed to child participation. In their discussions, child participation was poor.

The conclusion drawn from the study is that legislation alone is not enough when implementing a controversial reform. Spreading of this new social norm must be accompanied by efforts to promote the concept of child participation among the professionals who implement it.

Child participation is increasingly a global phenomenon as stated by Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on Children's Rights. This supports the first principle, Democracy, of the Health Promoting School movement. The purpose of this paper is to facilitate a three-phase participatory research process (PRP) to document the views of children about participation in school.

A total of 248 primary school pupils aged nine to 13 years participated: the first group of pupils answered two questions on individual coloured paper; the second group categorised these data separately, by question, assigning labels for each of the categories; and the third group used the categories to develop schema. The analysis was inductive.

The most common categories for what made pupils feel a part of their school were school uniforms, sports, friends, teachers and their school/classroom environment. Increase in the number of school activities, encouraging friendship and equal participation were key indicators of how pupils would ensure that everybody felt a part of the school. The findings indicate that interpersonal relationships and belonging are in the opinion of children important for taking part in school life.

The paper illustrates children's understanding of what taking part in school means to them. The PRP encouraged pupils to have control of the three-phase research process, and demonstrated the ability of children to work together in groups while having fun at the same time.

This paper sets out to describe a small case study which aimed to unravel the complexity of pupil participation in secondary schools.

A secondary school in the south of England was selected as the case. Four group interviews, one individual interview and collection of relevant Healthy School documents provided data from which to begin to understand the mechanism, context and outcome of pupil participation in the case school.

The paper attempts to illuminate the theoretical underpinning for pupil participation with comments made by staff and pupils from the case study school. The mechanisms of participation are discussed briefly; however, it is recognised that individual schools will select initiatives according to their preference. Tentative evidence of a positive outcome for pupils who participate in school decision making is revealed. By exploring the context, or conditions, under which involvement occurs possible strategies for effective pupil participation are elicited.

The paper offers a framework for effective pupil participation.

The paper attempts to go some way towards illuminating the theory and practice of effective pupil participation.

Parental participation is important for strengthening and sustaining the concept of school health promotion but little is written on the processes involved. The purpose of this paper is to assess Irish parents’ and pupils’ views on how parents take part, or would like to take part, in school life.

The sample was recruited from nine primary schools, three Health Promoting Schools and six matched schools. Pupils aged nine to 13 years in the 4th, 5th and 6th class groups participated in the study. Parents of all participating pupils were also invited to take part in the study. Data were collected by self-completion questionnaire, comprising three closed and one open question.

A total of 218 parents and 231 pupils participated. There was general agreement between parents and pupils on parental participation in school. Overall 40.6 per cent of parents and 43.2 per cent of pupils reported that parents frequently take part in school activities. A majority of both parents (79.5 per cent) and pupils (83.6 per cent), agreed that parents were encouraged to talk about things that concern their child in school, while 73.5 per cent of parents and 65.6 per cent of pupils reported that they were made to feel a part of child's school. Qualitative data from parents and pupils suggested similar ways in which parents can best take part in school. Some respondents suggested how schools could engage with parents but most responses provided examples of how parents could act directly to take part in school life. These direct actions included doing, helping with, and watching school activities such as sports, tours, music and cake sales.

The findings illustrate the similarity of views of parents and pupils concerning parents’ participation in school life and suggest that children may have the potential to represent the voice of their parents in school when considering how to improve parental participation in schools.

Are the effects of school size transmitted in measurable quantities to the personalities of pupils? Having argued that the learning environments of small and large schools could differ in predictable ways, the authors examined the effects of these differences on the personality development of pupils. Multiple regression analysis revealed the effects of school size to be reflected in only two of eight personality outcomes — sense of cohesion and concern for persons. Two variables — attitude towards school and fear of failure — are regarded as “not proven” and four variables — functional identity, sense of internal control over events, breadth of role constructs, and cognitive complexity showed no evidence of the effects of school size.

With the aim of contributing to the evidence base on school‐based health promotion, the authors discuss the outcomes and processes of a European intervention project aiming to prevent obesity among children (4‐16 years) and promote their health and well‐being, titled Shape Up: a school‐community approach to influencing determinants of healthy and balanced growing up.

Multiple case study research was carried out in five schools in five EU countries. Data sources included project documents, interviews, and observations. Narrative qualitative cross‐case analysis was carried out following the single case analyses.

The study showed that, if given sufficient guidance, pupils can act as agents of health‐promoting changes on both school and local community level; they were involved in actions which improved school policies, provisions and affordances for healthier diet and regular physical activity. The study identified three forms of participation, each with a different level of pupil involvement and agency.

The study is qualitative, based on five single cases and cross‐case analysis; this research design implies caution related to extensive non‐contextualised generalisation of the findings. However, valuable implications for research and practice can be drawn, especially in relation to structural barriers for participatory health promotion.

The paper is of value for researchers as well as practitioners in the field, particularly those interested in eco‐social models of health, whole‐school approaches to health promotion and pupil participation. The study's specific value is in the systematic qualitative cross‐case analysis, which contributes to the research rigour and allows for situated generalisation.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how pedometers (simple gadgets that count steps) can be used as tools in participatory health education to enhance primary school children's insights into, and abilities to reflect on, physical activity in their daily life. The paper focuses on how using pedometers fosters participation and enhances reflection concerning physical activity.

The paper draws on findings from an exploratory project with sixth-grade classes (12-13 years) in four Danish primary schools. The approach is called Imove. In Imove, pupils use pedometers to study their own patterns of physical activity, transform their data into statistics, and use the statistical representation to reflect on how physical activity is integrated into everyday life patterns, and how different activities constitute an active life.

The paper concludes that pedometers support pupils’ participation in studying their own health practices, and the step data provide new insights into, and encourage pupils to reflect on, the way physical activity is formed into everyday patterns.

The study is an exploratory one with four participating school classes. The findings need to be further explored by employing similar methodology in studies with more participants. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that pedometers support pupils’ genuine participation in health educational processes.

The findings identify simple measuring technologies, such as pedometers, as potent assets in health education learning processes and call for creative thinking in developing health promotion programmes for young people.

Measuring technologies play an increasingly critical role in health research, as well as in individual health regulating practices. This paper contributes with a new perspective by demonstrating the educational possibilities of applying pedometers in participatory school health education.

Health promotion programmes are widely held to be more effective when the subjects of them actively participate in the process of change. The purpose of this paper is to report on an evaluation of the Food for Life Partnership programme, a multi‐level initiative in England promoting healthier nutrition and food sustainability awareness for students and their families through involvement in cooking, growing, farm visits and School Nutrition Action Groups (SNAGs).

The study adopted a mixed methods approach, drawing upon quantitative and qualitative data sources. The data sources included quantitative data on school level programme related activities, qualitative data collected through focus groups with children and reports from teachers and other staff involved in the delivery of the programme.

The paper concludes that the pivotal role of SNAGs in catalysing and embracing a whole school approach must be seen as an important mechanism for any health promotion in complex school environments.

This was a national evaluation of a unique school food project aiming to transform food culture in primary and secondary schools. The findings highlight the importance of a whole school approach to public health initiatives and the centrality of pupil participation in the success and sustainability of such interventions.

The purpose of this paper is to examine Finnish ninth grade pupils’ (15-16 years) perspectives on hot school lunches and consider the potential of these perspectives as a resource for food and health education.

Data include observations, essays, and visually elicitated focus group discussions from a larger qualitative case study. Data were collected during the term 2012-2013.

Pupils considered the lunch break as their free time and valued discussions with friends. The taste of school food was important for them. Pupils solved contradicting expectations connected to school lunches through constructing social hierarchies, making compromises, and conforming to peers’ or general opinions. Desire for social belonging and independence were important justifications for breaking food-related rules.

Due to the focus on one school, further research needs to address contextual variation in different schools and age groups, as well as the viewpoint of teachers.

To genuinely engage pupils, potential contradictions between adults’ and adolescents’ perspectives need attention. Understanding food-related social determinants and justifications for food practices from pupils’ perspective are valuable pedagogical assets for teachers. Pupils’ speech and activities that counteract formal aims can be seen also as possibilities for dialogue, rather than merely problems to be changed by adults.

The paper describes how pupils’ perspectives to school lunch practices are in tension with the educational aims of school lunches, thus contributing to developing adolescent-centered food and health education in secondary schools.

Whole-school approaches emphasising pupil participation are recognised as being conducive for building social capital, yet how participatory health educational processes relate to different types of social capital remains unclear. The purpose of this paper is to explore which mechanisms within a participatory health educational process influence social capital and collective actions in the school context, and to discuss children’s agency in such processes.

A multiple case study design, with the Danish “We Act – Together for Health” intervention, considered as an instrumental case regarding participatory health educational processes for children, principally since it applied the participatory Investigation–Vision–Action–Change (IVAC) methodology. The paper is based on a theory-driven, abductive research strategy. Qualitative methods, including focus group interviews with children, semi-structured interviews with teachers and school principals, and participant observation were used.

The study’s conceptual framework, which elucidates several mechanisms that interact with types of social capital and collective actions within the school setting, indicates that working with child participation through the IVAC methodology can influence types of social capital and collective actions. It also emphasises children’s limited agency in terms of affecting bridging and linking social capital, norms of reciprocity and collective actions without sufficient support mechanisms at the school and class levels.

The study provides a novel comprehensive conceptual framework identifying the specific mechanisms at different levels that influence social capital and collective actions.