Abstract

The role of school has changed as other educational spaces have gained a relevant importance in the education of youngsters. Following a knowing-in-practice approach, this article focuses on knowing processes in which teenagers with a chronic diseases learn self-management skills. Drawing on a multi-sited ethnography we shows how young patients with Type 1 Diabetes acquire self-management capabilities in hospital wards and in summer camps and how these skills are put in practice. In particular, our work pays attention to the ways through which patients learn to manage their blood sugar levels using care technologies and their senses, to enact spaces of care legitimising care practices in public spaces, to deal with unexpected situations. Doing so, we contribute to the debate concerning self-management in chronic illness, showing as knowing processes are intertwined with social and material aspects, involving patients and technologies of care, but also health and educational professionals, relatives and peers.