Leisure Education: A New Goal for An Old Idea Whose Time Has Come

Abstract

Leisure education is an old idea that is being examined with renewed vigour in Canada. Practitioners and researchers fromvarious disciplines (e.g., health, justice, education, recreation) are recognising anewthatmany people who could benefit from leisure or recreation opportunities in their communities are unable to do so because they lack leisure literacy. Leisure literacy refers to the knowledge, skills and confidence to engage in personallymeaningful, health-enhancing leisure. Leisure education is a key means to enhance leisure literacy. The paper presents amodel of leisure education developed by Dr. Brenda Robertson and argues for howandwhy leisure education is needed to address the mental health and well-being needs of persons who experience marginalisation in their communities. Recommendations for moving forward with leisure education as part of a national agenda for recreation in Canada are presented.