Week
31: My Interdisciplinary Connections Current & Future
Current practice:
My first
experience of cross-curricular had been at my previous school. Where we had a
low reading ability student group and the staff teaching this group had organised an
integrated approach to teach them skills necessary for various disciplines. In every
subject area we used to contextualise the content and skill learning around a
common theme. For example if context is sea/ water then in social studies they
would learn about oceans and rivers, in science water cycle, in mathematics
measurement of water to understand volume and numbers, in English they might be
writing a paragraphs around Rangi’s tears and so much so that even in art the
emphasis will be on paintings with water colours.
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| My Current & Potential Interdisciplinary Map
Interdisciplinary means “The ability to
integrate knowledge and modes of thinking from two or more disciplines to
generate a new insight” (Ivanitskaya, et.al. 2002).Research suggests (Mansilla,
V. B. (2007) that interdisciplinary approach prepares students as life-long
learners, adaptable problem solver and prepares students to understand and solve
global issues.
The chemist Willard Libby who discovered
radiocarbon dating, applied his findings in Chemistry to the discipline of
Archeology and won the Nobel Prize the discovery in 1960 (Youngblood, 2008).
My near future Goals: working with music and computer technology curriculum areas while
teaching waves topic of physics.
Physics is
a science that deals with structure of matter and interactions between the constituents
of universe. Certain aspects of physics appear challenging to students as they
see it to be quite abstract hence struggle to understand the concept, however, if
these could be integrated well with another discipline giving more hands on
experience to students and also build holistic view. One of the area of physics
wave’s topic can be covered with excellent interdisciplinary approach around
curriculum areas of music, art and digital technology.
The only
way possible to cover this is to have a project based learning, where staff could
organise a scheme of work with interdisciplinary approach. Students could start
from scratch makey- makey tool in a technology class, come up with a plan which
instrument type and music they are interested in. Maybe at second phase
students could design their selected instrument in an art class, at the same
time they can start learning characteristics of wave in physics and learning to
play musical instrument in music class.
Interdisciplinary approach to
prepare students for 21st century:
At Pakuranga College we have already started
working around this by using our learning charter to build learning habits around
core values of our school, as indicated below:
Staff has
been asked to try incorporating learning habits around each of these core value
and maybe try some in their unit plan on weekly basis and then add their notes
on a template shared through google doc. One example around learning habit Care
for ourselves, others & the environment resources is shown below:
Things to remember while
creating Interdisciplinary learning model
(Acknowledgement: www.interdisciplinarystudiespz.org/pdf/)
Benefits of Interdisciplinary
environment:
 Learners
are motivated and involved; they demonstrate an inquisitive attitude. Learners
develop confidence in facing challenges, both intellectual and practical. Learning
is connected and directly related to real life experiences. Learners
work individually and collaboratively Students
can become independent, confident individuals who ‘learn how to learn’ and
develop lifelong learning skills” (Duerr, 2008). Jones (2009) suggests that students
who are taught with an interdisciplinary technique develop higher order
thinking skills. Interdisciplinary learning build
holistic view of students rather than making them master academic content
knowledge. Teachers who embrace interdisciplinary
teaching often view their students as individuals with unique interests and
diverse intellectual profiles. Barton
and Smith (2000) suggests that interdisciplinary units enable teachers to use
classroom time more efficiently and address content in depth, while giving
students the opportunity to see the relationship between content areas and
engage in authentic tasks. Finally,
some teachers find interdisciplinary teaching rewarding because it offers learning
opportunities that enable them to find novelty and interest in their work. They
find opportunities for new and creative professional life as they consider
using materials stemming from multiple disciplines, (as opposed to a single
textbook).
Challenges of Interdisciplinary environment:
In
tertiary education the professors who focus on interdisciplinary studies
isolate themselves from the core of their field which lowers an academic's
reputation in the eyes of his peers and hurts his chances for tenure” (Kanakia,
2007). Szostak,
author of “How and Why to Teach Interdisciplinary Research Practice” explains
that the methodology of the practice of interdisciplinary is lost when a single
interdisciplinary course is then considered as a major field of learning. Interdisciplinary
curricula is time consuming and hence require lot of unit plan preparation time
with collaborative approach.
References:
Barton, K. C., & Smith, L. A. (2000).
Themes or motifs? Aiming for coherence through interdisciplinary outlines. The
Reading Teacher, 54(1), 54-63.
Duerr, L. L. (2008). Interdisciplinary
Instruction, Educational Horizons. Retrieved August, 8, 2011.
Ivanitskaya, L., Clark, D., Montgomery, G.,
& Primeau, R. (2002). Interdisciplinary learning: Process and outcomes.
Innovative Higher Education, 27(2), 95-111.
Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach
- Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary
studies. ESSAI, 7(26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai
Kanakia, R. (2007). “Talks touts benefits
of interdisciplinary approach, as well as some of its pitfalls.” Stanford Report.
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2007/february7/barr-
020707.html.
Mansilla, V. B. (2007). “Playing Sound
Waves ”, Quality interdisciplinary teaching in middle school classrooms and
beyond . Veronica Boix Mansilla. Education, 1–20.
Staples, H. ( 2005). “The Integration of
Biomimicry as a Solution-Oriented Approach to the Environmental Science
Curriculum for High School Students.”
Youngblood, D. (2007). Multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary,
and bridging disciplines: A matter of process. Journal of Research Practice,
3(2), 18
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Your goal to integrate physics across a variety of other curriculum areas is an interesting one. There are some concepts that I imagine would be difficult to integrate and physics certainly doesn't spring to my mind when thinking about ease of integration. I wonder if the content gets watered down in any way when you undertake a challenge such as this. At a primary school level teachers have been integrating curriculum areas for decades but I wonder how many secondary schools are able to integrate in this way. Certainly traditional secondary schooling was very compartmentalised and getting different faculties to talk to each other was difficult enough without them having to plan interdisciplinary topics. Good luck with your challenge.
ReplyDeleteI have actually managed it with music department successfully
DeleteCollegiality and conforming teaching practices to a 21st century school tend to help taking an interdisciplinary approach easier. This can be seen at Pakuranga College, where the English and Science faculties have introduced a common language of learning strategy that will help junior science students explain answers. This is a PEDAL strategy and is as follows:
ReplyDeletePoint: Make a statement
Evidence: Provide evidence or facts related to the point you are making/reporting on.
Decode: define the science vocab used
Analyse: Explain how your evidence proves your points and answers the question
Link it all together.
The student voice and achievement data is yet to be collected but it is definitely providing the students a way of seeing how "similar" english and science explanations can be.
I like the way you have incorporated Physics with the digital technology and music curriculum. I know it will be hard in terms of planning but I believe collegiality between the different faculties will overcome such difficulties and students will see the seamless transitions among the faculties which might be evident in higher achievement. Good luck and let us know how it all goes.