Young People’s health-related learning through social media: What do teachers need to know?

International regulatory bodies have argued that young people should be better supported to engage safely, responsibly and effectively with social media. This paper considers ways in which the introduction of structured social media engagement in schools could bring educational benefits for young people, particularly in supporting them to deal with challenges relating to health and wellbeing. New evidence is provided on: (i) the value of social media as a health-related learning tool to bridge informal and formal learning contexts; (ii) how teachers should be supported to better understand and respond to young people’s learning needs; and (iii) the school-based policies, expectations and resources that will help teachers to offer relevant support.

"- Social media is embedded in young people’s lives and is as an effective educational and health-related medium. - Teachers and young people should co-construct shared understandings of social media and its impacts. - Teachers need to be empathetic rather than antagonistic toward young people’s uses of social media. - Teachers should positioning themselves as continuous learners willing to co-construct digital pedagogies with young people. - The tendency for schools to ban mobile phones should be re-considered given educational and health-related benefits." (Goodyear and Armour, 2021: 1). "It is clear that schools and teachers do have an important role in the dynamic digital spaces inhabited by young people but that to engage productively, teachers need to work from an informed position on how and why young people use and navigate social media. Teachers also need to be empathetic rather than antagonistic, and position themselves as ongoing and continuous learners who collaborate with young people to co-construct digital pedagogies." (Goodyear and Armour, 2021: 10).