Building Interdisciplinary Learning into Traditional Classrooms
July 3, 2020
interdisciplinary learning into traditional classrooms

A traditional classroom setting is just that…traditional. Teachers must teach specific subjects for a required amount of time, often using prescribed curriculum materials that may be a decade old. There’s little consideration for the individual learner–their interests, abilities, attention span or learning styles.

Many teachers try to compensate for this lack of diversity in the curriculum by bringing in some of their own resources; however, when every fifth grade teacher must teach language arts from 10:00 to 10:50 a.m. and math from 1:35 to 3:00 p.m., there’s little room for flexibility. At the middle school and high school levels, many students are required to attend classes on a 50-minute rotation, with a different teacher for each subject area.

Find another startling analogy of what traditional education looks like in Chapter 1 of Interdisciplinary Curriculum: Design and Implementation. This snapshot provides a multi-faceted argument for interdisciplinary learning.

Traditional teaching structure, putting children and concepts in silos, goes against what we adults know well is not reality. We use our computation skills all day long, from doubling recipes while cooking to calculating time zones during a meeting. Our language arts skills are at work every day, through writing and responding to emails (and determining which are the most important ones), communicating with team members and even reasoning with their partner. We don’t use our skills in silos, so why do we teach in this disassociated manner?

Interdisciplinary is what the real world looks like and traditional educational systems are not preparing our children and young adults for using multiple skill sets and content areas at once.

Listen in to my podcast episode about making learning stick with interdisciplinary learning:

Listen to “9. Making Learning Stick with Interdisciplinary Learning” on Spreaker.

We need to do better by our children. That starts with reimagining education as we know it, but that becomes a challenge during our climate of slow change, full of red tape and roadblocks.

In an ideal world, teachers could collaborate and band various class periods together to create interdisciplinary learning. But that doesn’t mean interdisciplinary learning cannot happen if a teacher is limited by a traditional schedule.

How to Bring Interdisciplinary Learning into Traditional Classrooms

Individual schools and classrooms can make the switch, with careful planning and a dedication to growth. Here are questions teachers can ask themselves to create learning experiences that connect various subjects and relevant real-world learning:

  • What outcomes am I seeking? Are there specific skills and understandings I want students to take away? Determining this first applies reverse engineering (or Understanding by Design/UbD).
  • Which competencies and textbook concepts absolutely must be addressed? Becoming intentional about content and not merely covering a wide variety of lessons in a superficial manner will provide more space to create interdisciplinary and personal connections for the learners.
  • Is there a theme with an essential question that can pull together the content for this semester?
  • Looking at my theme through the lenses of various subject matters, what connections might I make? For example, is there a way I can include writing, reading, research, applied math, healthy physical choices, current events, historic people/events in this unit?
  • Looking at this theme, are there ways I can embed student choice and student voice (agency) to help students own their own personal connections to the learning?
  • Looking at this theme, what real-world connections can I bring in? Are there local resources? Current world events? Guest speakers? How can I create relevance so that the learning is more profound for the students?

Taking any or all of these questions and letting them guide your planning will allow you to create interdisciplinary and meaningful learning in your classroom…learning that students will find meaningful and have much greater staying power than merely covering topics in a textbook. You may even spark some passions in your students that will fuel their future learning or career choices. Isn’t that a wonderful legacy to leave as a teacher?

If you’re a teacher or leader in a traditional setting looking for more resources to grow your interdisciplinary instruction repertoire, download our guide below!

Download 5 hacks to incorporating interdisciplinary learning into your everyday classroom.

By providing your email address you are agreeing to receive email communications from Education Evolution.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest Episodes

Life with Passion and Purpose

The guiding principle of Education Evolution has been to light passion among educational leaders and to spark them into action. Over the last few years, I believe we’ve done just that. And while the work isn’t over yet, the time has come to put a pause on the podcast....

Unlocking the World of Literacy with Marnie Ginsburg

Reading is simple, right? Not for everyone, and it’s especially challenging for those who don’t have access to all the tools and resources they need to be successful. This week we hear from Marnie Ginsburg, founder of Reading Simplified, who has dedicated her career...

Leading Like a Teacher with Miriam Plotinsky

The further away administrators get from their roots as teachers, the more they forget what it’s like to be in the trenches. The result is often either a real or perceived lack of empathy for teachers. Both teachers and administrators have vital roles in the school,...

Latest Blog Posts

Why Isn’t Educational Change Happening?

School change is so much harder than I thought! When I did my doctoral research on school innovation and created a hands-on learning school-within-a-school in the 90s, I had no idea that I’d spend the next few decades making tiny changes. Changes that often...

Instilling a Practice of Gratitude in Uncertain Times

Thanksgiving looks different this year. Traditions are being shattered in 2020 and new realities are emerging. Thanksgiving is no exception. After Canada’s Thanksgiving in October, COVID statistics jumped, reminding us that, sadly, the pandemic isn’t taking a break...

One Size Doesn’t Fit All in Education

Our one-size-fits-all model of traditional education has been based on the false idea that every student in a given class is performing at the same level academically, behaviorally, and socially and that they all need the same things. As a result, many students are...

Categories
Categories

Menu

Here

Subscribe
Listen to Education Evolution on Apple Podcasts
Listen to Education Evolution on Spotify
Listen to Education Evolution on Stitcher
Listen on Google Play Music

Related Posts

TiLTing the Way We Teach Our Kids with Debbie Reber

TiLTing the Way We Teach Our Kids with Debbie Reber

Schools try to help and support families with neurodiverse learners, but there’s not a lot of wiggle room for anyone who doesn’t fit into the “normal” box. What schools don’t acknowledge is that no two kids will ever be the same or learn in the same way. It’s the...

Sign Up for Podcast & Blog Announcements
and Get our Free Guide:
Five Interdependent Hacks to Lead the Creation of a Learner-Centered Culture!

By providing your email address you are agreeing to receive email communications from Education Evolution.
You can unsubscribe at any time.