One Health Education Nexus: enhancing synergy among science-, school-, and teacher education beyond academic silos

Abstract

Introduction: The fact that the daily lives of billions of people were affected by the medical, social, and political aspects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic shows the need to anchor the understanding of One Health in society. Hence, promoting awareness and deepening the understanding of the interrelation between human health, animal health, and ecosystems must be accomplished through quality education, as advocated by UN Sustainable Development Goal 4. The often-questioned and discussed measures taken by governments to control the global pandemic between 2020 and 2023 can be seen as an opportunity to meet the educational needs of civil society solutions in multi-stakeholder settings between public, universities, and schools.

Methods: This paper focuses on the integration of One Health principles in educational frameworks, particularly within the context of the higher education teaching framework "Teaching Clinic." This master-level course in the domain of pre-service teacher education serves as a potent vehicle for facilitating One Health Education, bridging the gap between research, higher education, and schools. Through the presentation of two case studies, this article demonstrates how the Teaching Clinic approach fosters interdisciplinary perspectives and provides a dynamic learning environment for pre-service teachers, as well as for pupils involved in the educational process.

Results: In both cases, the integration of educational One Health school teaching-learning settings effectively enhanced pupils' understanding of complex topics and engaged them in active learning experiences. Pre-service teachers played a crucial role in developing, implementing, and evaluating these interventions. In Case I, pupils demonstrated proficiency in analyzing data and evaluating mathematical models, while in Case II, the chosen instructional approach facilitated One Health knowledge acquisition and enjoyment among pupils. These results underscore the potential of the One Health Teaching Clinic as a valuable educational framework for enhancing teaching and learning outcomes for pre-service teachers and fostering pupil engagement in socio-scientific One Health-related topics.

Discussion: The discussion delves into the significance of breaking down disciplinary silos and the crucial role of teacher education in promoting a holistic approach to education, emphasizing the intersectionality of One Health Education and Education for Sustainable Development. This article underpins the significance of collaborative efforts across multiple (scientific) disciplines and across secondary and tertiary education levels to reach a nexus. Moreover, it emphasizes the alignment of this approach with the 2030 Agenda, Education for Sustainable Development, and Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting the potential for collective action toward a more sustainable future.

Keywords: Agenda 2030; Education for Sustainable Development (ESD); One Health; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); biology education; science education; teacher education; teaching clinic.

Figure 1

The illustration demonstrates the collaborative utilization of design-based research methods by pre-service teachers in this course, wherein they engage in collective planning, implementation, and evaluation of classroom interventions centered on OH. Working alongside in-service teachers, they are guided by the principles of practitioner research. The TC orchestrates the convergence of four essential stakeholder groups - pre-service and in-service teachers, pupils, teacher educators, and subject matter experts - each assuming distinct roles within the process.

Figure 2

Illustration of a poster (see task4 in Table 1) meticulously designed and presented by the pupils. The posters serve as visual representations of the creative and intellectual efforts put forth by the pupils during the mathematics lesson.

Figure 3

The One Health (OH) board game was designed, enacted in the classroom, and researched by the pre-service teachers as part of the One Health Teaching Clinic (OH-TC) intervention. The rules of the game are similar to the well-known board game ‘Trivial Pursuit,” where a player’s ability to answer popular culture questions leads to victory. However, in the OH board game, players must respond to questions concerning various dimensions of OH. Players advance their game pieces across the board, and the squares they land on determines the subject of the question presented on a card. In contrast to the 6 categories found in “Trivial Pursuit,” such as “History” or “Science and Nature,” the OH board game consists of 7 categories organized within a 3-tier hierarchy of OH, which must be addressed sequentially (dimensions: environment/green, human/blue, animal/red), dyad-questions at intersectional topics (dimensions: animal-environment, environment-human, human-animal) and triad-questions at the OH- dimension of environment-animal-human-intersection (yellow; see left). Every pre-service teacher (P-STs) worked out questions for the game about the three dimensions of One Health. Additionally, action cards (violet) have been included to foster an environment conducive to learning through physical activity tasks within the classroom (48). Three of the P-STs did a pilot test before the game-based intervention with 8 classes (4 different grades included) in lower secondary schools. All pupils (n = 124) were asked to do a self-assessment about the concepts of OH. Questions about the fun factor and the willingness of repetition (with family and/ or friends) in their free time were added. The pupils got approximately 100 min to play the game. Finally, the results were analyzed to answer the research questions.

Figure 4

The upper part (A, modified with highlighting education) illustrates the network of research fields among OH publications from 2012 to 2021, based on the analysis by Qiang et al. (57). Among over 8,000 publications analyzed, major research areas such as zoonosis, infectious diseases, and microbiology emerged prominently. However, the analysis indicated limited involvement from the Social Sciences & Humanities, notably the education domain. Paths depicted in this illustration denote established connections, adjusted for clarity, with some paths excluded due to fewer than 20 supporting publications. The corresponding modified (B) [adapted from Qiang et al. (57)] showcases the One Health Teaching Clinic Network. This network is specifically designed to foster collaboration and networking across various scientific fields and sub-disciplines. Its overarching purpose is to bolster the presence of the Social Sciences and Humanities while bridging the gap between different fields, aiming to integrate them more cohesively. Adapted from Figure 4 in Qiang et al. (57), Copyright Elsevier (2022).