Interdisciplinary opportunities to embody health and wellbeing practice through literacy and numeracy related pedagogical content knowledge

Citation

Murray AM & Uthmani N (2026) Interdisciplinary opportunities to embody health and wellbeing practice through literacy and numeracy related pedagogical content knowledge. Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching Conference 2026, Edinburch Futures Institute, 1 Lauriston Place Edinburgh, EH3 9EF United Kingdomhttps://efi.ed.ac.uk/venue/, 16.04.2026-16.04.2026. https://efi.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Interdisciplinary-Learning-and-Teaching-Programme-2026-With-abstracts.pdf

Abstract
This project seeks to explore ways for preservice primary student teachers to develop understanding, knowledge and proficiencies in planning and teaching Education Scotland’s ‘responsibility for all’ areas of health and wellbeing, literacy and numeracy. The initial teacher programme embraced and integrated these curricular area into one module. The learning cycle commenced weekly with a health and wellbeing concept, introduced, unpacked and explored discretely. Using a Bruner spiral curricular approach, the HWB concept was then revisited and progressed on two further occasions, integrated into literacy and numeracy space, before moving to the next learning cycle. This continued for a series of 10 concepts over two years, at which time students were provided a celebratory opportunity (Health and Wellbeing student fair; a mastery American science fair style) to share their emerged practice, receive feedback, and engage in reflective discussions with fair visitors and judges and peers. This preceded placement, where students gave their HWB practice(s) a go. Mixed methods capture how students felt before and after placement, within which a facilitator opportunity to apply their own IDL planned progressions, alongside their perceived efficacy to teach as found contextually relevant and meaningful to respective classes. Through a triangulated stakeholder approach; student, school-based mentor and university tutor, the programme seeks to take collected and collated insights forward to our initial teacher education interdisciplinary practice around health and wellbeing.

Keywords
interdisciplinay learning

Notes
Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching Conference 2026