Integrating the Curriculum

How can teachers prepare their students for the 21^st century world?

Our world today is full of interconnections on a variety of levels. Whether we are connected to family members, friends or colleagues on a local or global scale, we are always using these connections to build our knowledge and understanding of the world around us. Collaboration through these connections is how people have improved the living conditions and standards of living for many. Understanding other people’s perspectives is how people in the 21^st century solve complex problems. It is because of this that an integrated curriculum is important in the classroom.

As our textbook describes, an integrated curriculum exposes students to a variety perspectives and approaches to solving 21st Century problems (Drake et al., 123). Students are able to gain a deeper understanding of subject matter and distinguish between disciplinary procedures. Being able to think about how others might approach a problem allows students to become critical thinkers and innovative when collaborating with others. 

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How easy will it be to integrate the curriculum?

Trying to incorporate multiple disciplines into one unit may seem like a daunting task. However, as our textbook points out, the K-12 curriculum has a unifying framework showing that all subjects share the same basic learning goals (Drake et al., 108). Using the backward design for curriculum that I mentioned in my last blog can easily be applied to an interdisciplinary approach. In a high school setting where multiple teachers collaborate to integrate the curriculum, using this backward design makes it easier to see what is common between different subjects. Once common outcomes are identified then these teachers can work together to develop enduring understandings that allow students to problem solve complex issues that address each subject.

This video in class really highlighted the effectiveness and collaboration needed to integrate the curriculum:

Now that we are working on our own curriculum development, I definitely see the benefits of integrating the curriculum. Just looking at the front matter of history, geography, and English (the subjects we chose to integrate) it is clear that there are common expectations for students to KNOW, DO and BE. After looking at the front matter my group found that all these subjects want students to KNOW different perspectives, concepts of identity and cause and effect relationships. As for the DO, these subjects want students to be effective communicators, be able to interpret and analyze, and collaborate. Students should BE creative and critical thinkers and informed citizens. With similar expectations in each subject, we are confident that we will be able to make connections to instructional and assessment tasks that represent learning across these three subject areas.

Initially my peers and I were frustrated with trying to develop an integrated curriculum. We had never seen curriculum documents before and the steps of backward design seemed difficult initially. Working through the steps took a long time and seemed tedious, and trying to discover exactly what was expected of us when developing the curriculum was frustrating. As we worked through and asked questions however, the ability to integrate the curriculum seems more and more attainable. As professor Drake mentioned in lecture, it is the willingness to work through the complexities of backward design that will make developing an integrated curriculum an enriching experience for teachers as well as students.

Why should educators focus on integrating the curriculum?

Although the process of integrating the curriculum may be tedious and long, there are significant benefits. Student knowledge becomes multidimensional and embedded within real world experiences when teachers take the extra step to integrate the curriculum. Having a common theme between disciplines allow students to make connections and enduring understandings that they might not have otherwise considered. It is through integrated curriculum that students can better see the relevance to what they are learning and apply their knowledge and skills in the real world, effectively BEcoming active and informed 21^st century citizens.

“Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

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^Reference:

^{Drake, S. M., Kolohon, M., & Reid, J. L. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st-Century Learner. Don Mills, Canada: Oxford University Press.}