IMPLEMENTING THE IVAC MODEL - LESSONS FROM AN AUSTRALIAN CASE

This paper discusses the engagement of a primary school teacher with a democratic approach to the teaching of environmental health education as part of a Health Promoting Schools project, The Investigation-Visi ons-Action-Change (IVAC) model developed by Jensen was used to give st udents an opportunity to define a local health or environmental proble m of significance to them, to acquire knowledge about the problem, to envision possible solutions and then, based on these, to take some act ion to address the problem. The paper discusses two constraints faced by the teacher when using this model and makes suggestions for ways in which to overcome these.