This is A Teachable Moment: Using the Pandemic as a Learning Situation

This is A Teachable Moment

By Jill Jenkins

            With the media blasting statistics on the death toll from COVID 19, parents protesting face mask mandates and social distancing and schools struggling to create a safe way to reopen schools, educators have an unprecedented teachable moment to teach curious students about how the human immune system works, the history of pandemics and medicine, and how they can protect themselves today and in the future from viruses. The fruit for learning is ripe for the picking.

Luckily there are some great sources out there. National Geographic just published a great article entitled Stopping Pandemics: What We’ve Learned from History’s Deadliest Outbreaks” by Richard Conniff in the August, 2020 edition. The article includes descriptions of how the small pox outbreak could have been prevented or eradicated in 1721.  It describes how even earlier the European devastated the native population with small pox, measles and other diseases that had native population had no immunity.  Throughout the history of the world, new diseases and virus have decimated the world’s population.  Knowing that the world has faced pandemics in the past could help students cope with the current pandemic.  The article included this list of pandemics throughout history and the number of deaths: 

·         The Plague of Justinian 541-48 in Byzantine Empire 50 million deaths

·         Antionine Plague 165-180 Roman Empire 5 million deaths

·         Black Death 1347-1351 Global 50 million deaths

·         Cocoliztil 1 1545-48 Mexico 15 million deaths

·         Small Pox 1519-1520 Mexico 8 million deaths

·         Cocoliztil 1576-78 Mexico 25 million deaths

·         Russian Flu 1889-1890 global 1 million deaths

·         1918 Flu (Spanish Flu) 1918-1919 Global 80 million deaths

·         3^rd Plague Pandemic 1894-1922 Global 10 million deaths

·         Cholera 6 1899-1923 Global 13 million deaths

·         Asian Flu 1957-1958 Global 13 million

·         Hong Kong Flu 1968 Global 1 million

·         HIV/AIDS 1981-present Global 32 million

 

Furthermore, the article gives detailed descriptions of medical advances beyond those in the small pox developments of 1721. During the Chorea outbreak of 1842 Edwin Chadwick’ revolutionary idea that the cause of the disease was raw sewage in the drinking water was revealed in his publication of The Sanitary Report. Chadwick led people into the home of an impoverished citizen where three feet of human waste had backed up. He described that the filth from the jailhouse holding 65 prisoners ran down the street. Making the connection between sewage and drinking water revolutionized sanitation through out the civilized world. Learning about his accomplishments could help students understand how pandemics advances medical development

Another example of how pandemics promotes solutions to medical problems is the story of John Pringle described in this article. The article describes how 75% of Napoleon’s solders died of Typhus in 1812 and more soldiers in every army died from disease than war wounds, until John Pringle an army physician suggested sanitation changes in his book Observation on the Diseases of the Army.

            In my lifetime Polio afflicted 15,000 people in the United States every year according to the article.  Most of my generation knew a friend or a family member who was afflicted.  Now the disease has been virtually eradicated from earth.  The article discusses the development of the vaccine by Dr. Salk, who began human trials in 1955, but it wasn’t until 1957-58 that communities were given sugar cubes soaked in the vaccine in local schools.  Students will gain a greater understanding of the difficulties in developing a vaccine for COVID 19 and how important community support is to eliminate a disease, but it can and has happened with other diseases. Giving students hope is paramount.

     Understanding past pandemics means understand the history of medicine. For years people believed disease was caused by bad humors or filth and refused to believe a germ too small to see could cause disease.  Germ Theory developed by Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur’s research significantly changed the approach to infectious disease.  The article describes their work and even describes the Ebola disease in Africa. Inspiring students who might want to pursue a career in medicine or medical research is possible.

     The article describes the development of penicillin by Howard Florey.  This was particularly interesting to me because during World War II significant amounts of penicillin was manufactured (2.3 million doses for D-Day).  My father was serving in the Philippines when he fell ill from bacteria spinal meningitis.  He was the second sailor to be given this new medicine, which had never been given for that malady. He was the second sailor whose life was saved by a disease that until then was a death sentence. Students believe that history is far removed from them.  Helping them understand the medical developments have happened in their parents, their grandparents and even their lives will give them hope. 

Knowing how important these medical advances have been, I think it is important to grasp this moment and teach children about them.  Having students read this article and select a disease or medical breakthrough to research on their own and write a research paper could help them understand the situation we are now facing. 

Other important materials that a teacher might use might include either of the two books:

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John Barry.

 

  Or even more fascinating is Pale Rider: The Spanish Flue of 1918 and How It Changed the World by Laura Spinney

Since students learn more from a variety of mediums, an appropriate film for students to view to gain greater understanding is the CDC movie, The Influenza of 1918.

 

     The teachers could create a variety of writing assignments from researching one of the many pioneers of medicine and writing about how their work and dedication is an honorable pursuit.  The teacher could coordinate with a history, a science and/or a health teacher and write about how individuals contributed to modern medicine. More importantly by studying the past, students who might be fearful about COVID 19 may learn how people in the past protected themselves and the mistake that were made and develop a personal plan to move through the current pandemic.   

According to National Geographic Magazine November 2020 Volume. 5 “The Science We Must Trust by Robin Marantz Henig LIn Andrews, director of teacher support at the National Center for Science Education have created a five-part lesson plan with ten of her colleagues. The unit focuses on epidemiology and the scientific process. By exploring milestones in epidemiology like when the British scientist, John Snow traced the outbreak of cholera to the drinking water even before germ theory. Check out the article if it could be useful in creating a teachable moment from an educational dark age.