In my practice, I found that within my organisation staff members bring different strengths to the classrooms but it was difficult for me to think of how I could move from an integrated style programme to interdisciplinary. And what was the difference?
The Dictionary states integration as - an act or instance of combining into an integral whole. Interdisciplinary is involving two or more academic disciplines. The key difference being one merges the disciplines together while the other has the disciplines working side by side.
My COLLAB co-teacher and I currently run a very structured programme with some integration where possible but I would like to move to a more interdisciplinary approach. We are on the same page with this as we believe that students will benefit greatly from this approach.
After watching the video “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Science” , I was inspired and excited about the potential of this style of teaching and learning. It looked motivating and engaging for students and teachers alike.
The potential interdisciplinary connection that I would like to explore is Working with experts via the Internet. We are looking at Environmental Education and would like to add a Physics and IT components to a real world, problem solving inquiry. I would like to try to build a network of experts that we can call on via Skype or video link of some kind so that we can share knowledge and work together to answer questions or solve problems. I would also like to connect with other schools/teachers/students who are currently pursuing a similar line of study.
I can see many benefits for both students and teachers. Youngblood (2007) explains that the principles of interdisciplinary techniques will encourage discovery and innovation.
Students and their teachers will advance in critical thinking, communication, creativity, pedagogy, and essential academia with the use interdisciplinary techniques.Youngblood (2007)
Howard Gardner (1983) states that students bring multiple forms of intelligence to the learning process. As a result, given that students are diverse in their learning styles, backgrounds, interests, experiences, talents, and values, he believes that drawing on a broad range of frameworks and methodologies will enhance student engagement, and thus learning. Interdisciplinary instruction opens academic conversations to ideas from a range of disciplines so all students should be able to relate and contribute to the dialogue. Thus, the likelihood of connecting with all students in the classroom is enhanced by interdisciplinary learning.
With all methodologies there come challenges. According to Relan & Kimpston, 1991; Brophy & Alleman, 1991; Gibbons, 1979; Klein, 1992; Wicklein & Schell, 1995, educators are jumping on the bandwagon without adequately questioning the why it is they are making this change in practice or taking the time to shape a coherent approach to interdisciplinarity.
Interdisciplinary curricula is time consuming and takes collaborative team work to create, which can seem like a hard and exhausting disadvantage, especially if not supported by Senior Management. Time is a major factor in successful collaboration ventures.
I believe that being able to work and think in an Interdisciplinary way is a vital for our students and teachers. After all...The world is interdisciplinary!
References
Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI7 (26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai
Mathison,S.. & Freeman, M.(1997). The logic of interdisciplinary studies. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, 1997. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/cela/reports/mathisonlogic12004.pdf:
What is Interdisciplinary Teaching?. (2017). Interdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching. Retrieved 2 July 2017, from https://serc.carleton.edu/econ/interdisciplinary/what.html
Youngblood, Dawn, 2007. “Interdisciplinary Studies and the Bridging Disciplines: A Matter of Process.” Journal of Research Practice, v.3, i.2.http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ800366.
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