Interdisciplinary Instruction
Howard Gardner writes:
Children come to school as integrated people with thoughts and feelings,
words and pictures, ideas and fantasies.They are intensely curious about the world.
They are scientists, artists, musicians, historians, dancers, and runners,
tellers of stories, and mathematicians.The challenge we face as teachers is to use the wealth they bring to us.
They come with a two-sided mind.We must encourage them to use it, to develop both types of thinking,
so they have access to the fullest possible range of mental abilities.
Why Interdisciplinary Units?
Interdisciplinary units allow a team of teachers to realize and optimize the potential of students learning by examining a concept or topic in a manner where the core subjects are taught with an “interconnectedness.” Students are immersed within the concept without the labels of various subjects (even though all subjects are being taught).
Do interdisciplinary units cover curriculum and standards?
Yes. Curriculum from each subject is identified and provides the vehicle for the unit’s activities and assessments.
Purpose of Interdisciplinary Instruction
Tell me, I forget
Show me, I remember
Involve me, I understand
There is a need to provide a greater focus on the knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of world cultures as our world becomes increasingly smaller. Concepts such as conflict resolution, team work, sensibility to and tolerance of others and their views, heightened perceptual awareness, synthesis of ideas to arrive at logical deductions, and work force preparedness are integral to the full education of today’s youth.
Interdisciplinary instruction creates a learning environment where the students are guided to make connections between the many facts and issues found in all the disciplines to form one “big picture” of the concept or topic. Curriculum becomes more relevant because there are connections between the subjects rather than strict isolation. In the real world, we do not wake up and do math for 45 minutes, reading for 30 minutes, then social studies for 30 minutes. We encounter a situation or problem and we utilize the subjects and skills we need to work through it. They are interconnected and work together. The activities and lessons in interdisciplinary instruction nurture real life situations and provide a different perspective with focus on themes and problems of life experience.
There are a handful of methods to write interdisciplinary units. Heidi Hayes Jacobs presents an effective method of teaching “process knowledge” or concepts in her book, Interdisciplinary Curriculum: Design and Implementation. By starting with curriculum mapping and a needs assessment, the areas of deeper meaning are identified within the curriculum and the units are written accordingly. Outcomes of these units focus on the understanding of the concept rather than the factual information. Factual information, therefore, is used as the vehicle for teaching, supporting and explaining the concept.
Interdisciplinary units provide students with the opportunity to access deeper knowledge by encouraging them to use their minds critically and creatively through activities and discussions that reach amongst all disciplines. Bringing together different disciplines bridges the gap between information, so students do not look at the subjects as separate entities but rather as a whole.
Research has shown that units written in this method have raised test scores in all disciplines due to an increase in a more thorough understanding of the factual information. Process knowledge is the glue that forces the factual knowledge into a single image that our brain will retain in its long-term memory. The result is a solid understanding of the relationship between the facts and the concept and sometimes, the facts, the concept, and how it relates to their life.
- Getting starting with Interdisciplinary Instruction
- Steps for Writing Interdisciplinary Units
- Co-Teaching Strategies
- The Key to Unlocking the Concepts of Interdisciplinary Instructions