IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i18p7967-d1476522.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

New Insights for Teaching the One Health Approach: Transformative Environmental Education for Sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • José Manuel Pérez-Martín

    (Specific Didactics Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain)

  • Tamara Esquivel-Martín

    (Specific Didactics Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

The One Health approach often reaches classrooms through Environmental Education (EE), which aims to guide society’s response to current crises (environmental, health, economic, values). However, traditional EE teaching has focused on isolated ecological concepts and standardised solutions, ignoring the multidimensional nature of EE and failing to integrate the interdependence between environmental, animal, and human health. Moreover, teacher training often neglects didactic content knowledge, preventing students from acquiring the systemic vision needed to address eco-social problems and create sustainable solutions aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This limits teachers’ ability to influence students’ concerns and behaviours. In this context, this study aims to reflect on the current state of the issue and propose strategies informed by Science Education research to improve EE teaching, enabling the integration of One Health dimensions through effective didactics to achieve Transformative Environmental Education (TEE). For this purpose, we begin by addressing the limitations identified in recent systematic reviews, shifting the paradigm towards a symbiosis of EE and Science Education through scientific practices. We then present practical examples showcasing successful EE initiatives that foster a deeper understanding of socio-environmental issues, encourage innovative solutions, and nurture engaged citizens from early education onwards. These proposals can support classroom practice and ongoing teacher self-development. Pedagogical strategies include tackling issues that require systemic and critical thinking by developing scientific and epistemic practices while raising awareness of Environmental Justice. Thus, this study advocates for a new vision of EE, integrating the One Health approach, which could be applied to develop new educational programs, including teacher training. This would lead to a new learning evaluation model and help identify key determinants that trigger pro-environmental behaviours.

Suggested Citation

  • José Manuel Pérez-Martín & Tamara Esquivel-Martín, 2024. "New Insights for Teaching the One Health Approach: Transformative Environmental Education for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-18, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:7967-:d:1476522
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/7967/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/7967/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tamara Esquivel-Martín & José Manuel Pérez-Martín & Beatriz Bravo-Torija, 2023. "Does Pollution Only Affect Human Health? A Scenario for Argumentation in the Framework of One Health Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-21, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Irene Guevara-Herrero & Beatriz Bravo-Torija & José Manuel Pérez-Martín, 2024. "Educational Practice in Education for Environmental Justice: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-17, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:7967-:d:1476522. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.