Building a system that supports interdisciplinary conceptual transfer in the DP

Why interdisciplinary transfer?

Think of a global problem facing us: climate change, robots replacing the workforce, income inequality. None of these things can be solved by single approach or by a single discipline. We need interdisciplinary systems thinkers who can transfer ideas to new contexts and understand various perspectives on a problem.

Giving our students the ability to resolve interdisciplinary problems requires that they are able to use and evaluate a number of different perspectives. This is why concepts are so important (and why conceptual teaching and learning is one of the central tenets of the IB’s Approaches to Teaching). Paradigms are built from the conceptual understandings that we make about the world around us. These paradigms can be limited in nature or sophisticated. If we want to both broaden, and deepen, understanding in students, then we have to talk about how various disciplines approach core ideas. Likewise, if we want our pupils to develop International Mindedness, then they need to be able to view things from multiple perspectives and weigh up disparate ideas.

I wish to therefore argue that the best way to facilitate interdisciplinary understanding is to offer a framework that allows for the comparison of contrasting disciplinary perspectives. The best way to do this is to reference to some shared global concepts.

Is there a need in the DP for interdisciplinary understanding?

The philosophical answer to the question is that it certainly should be, given the need identified above. BUT, the pragmatic answer to this question is NO. The only time ideas need to be shared between disciplines are:

• If a student is taking one of the transdisciplinary DP subjects ie Environmental Systems and Societies (a Group 3 & 4 subject) or Literature and Performance (a Group 1 & 6 subject). Unfortunately the uptake of these are limited to those schools large enough to offer non traditional subjects and they are only offered at SL
• If a student has opted for a World Studies Extended Essay which requires the linking of two subjects. Unfortunately again uptake is low here as they generally are harder to write and get lower grades.

Sometimes TOK is referenced in answer to this question but this is strictly untrue. TOK only evaluates the various methodologies subjects adopt in getting to a perspective. They do not evaluate actual ideas themselves and form new ideas on them to solve problems. Interdisciplinary thinking is interested in finding solutions to problems, TOK is not interested in the solutions but in whether the process of solution finding is valid.

What are key concepts? Surely these help build interdisciplinary understanding?

Certainly this was the intention stated for the key concepts. This is how the IB defines them:

“Concepts are explored in order to both deepen disciplinary understanding and to help students make connections and transfer learning to new contexts.”

What is an IB education,2017 p6

Unfortunately no reference to concepts is made in the DP from Principles into Practice, however subject guides are making reference to them for example:

“Concepts are big powerful ideas that have relevance both within and across subject areas.”

Current DP History Guide, p94

So in essence a concept is one that deepens understanding AND transfers that understanding across the subjects and into new contexts.

Each of the DP Subject Guides has identified the crucial key concepts for their subject areas (with current notable exceptions of the Sciences, which are currently in review, and TOK, though I think this was the wrong decision, see header image).

So in the DP they have key concepts and these are all concepts that powerful support learning in the subject discipline. What is unclear is how these key concepts transfer across subject areas.

Note to Lynne Erickson fans regarding something she has said about concepts; She mentions in her book that concepts are Universal & timeless (Erickson & Lanning, 2014, p33). I do not agree, I believe that they are contextual & evolving, that every discipline has a different take on concepts and that a student of multiple disciples needs to see and understand the differences in these perspectives. This for me lies at the heart of the drive for, and the power of, interdisciplinary understanding.

What are the global contexts, can these help?

Global contexts are a list of situations that are used in both the PYP and MYP. Currently the DP does not use them presumably because, whereas the PYP is consider ‘transdisciplinary’, the MYP has some ‘interdisciplinary’ aspects, the DP is considered to be a ‘disciplinary’ course. This is a shame, and is I believe partly due to the fact that the global contexts have been listed as a series of STATEMENTS. If, however, you do small tweak to them and turn them into QUESTIONS something powerful happens. They reveal themselves as deep conceptual issues to be explored by all subjects, in a disciplinary manner. I call these questions Global Questions.

What are Global Concepts?

Global Concepts are an idea that might resolve the problem with key concepts indicated above:

What is unclear is how these key concepts transfer across subject areas.

They are a solution to allowing for more interdisciplinary connections. They are a list that I have made that seem to respond to the questions that bubble up from the Global Questions. They are chosen because I believe that they facilitate the transfer of ideas and perspectives across the disciplines, yet allow each discipline to address them in their own unique ways:

Identity                   much of our expression and action emerges from what we believe about ourselves and our tribes, and that in turn influences the perspectives we adopt 

Reasoning              the way we establish ideas about the world around us, are based on assumptions and world views; our conclusions are dependent on them

Development        we are driven by a desire to try to better ourselves, but it can have wider consequences.

Interdependence  in a complex system everything is connected; we have choice to act cooperatively or competitively.

Responsibility        winners within a competitive market hold the power, but with power comes the choice of whether to exploit or to consider how we respond to inequality.  

Uncertainty            there is always more that we don't know, it is hard to establish causal relationships to any change

Purpose                  humans have an ability to make decisions that have higher meaning and that this is shaped by our values and ethics

Creativity                we remake ourselves and express ourselves, and our ideas, in new ways

How could they work together?

There is no mandated way for writing up DP units. In the MYP units teachers are required to develop Statements of Inquiry (in the available sample unit planners in DP this closest to this is the Central Idea box). At the simplest level, I would argue that these are statements should be expressed to cover the following in as simple terms as are possible:

• The core disciplinary idea students are learning (the crucial understandings in a topic)
• The context in which this idea is important (the global context)
• A connection that this has towards a larger more transferrable idea (a concept)

To avoid these statements getting too complicated, perhaps it is can be better summed up as:

a meaningful idea and a context in which that idea is important.

For example, in chemistry, a topic might be on chemical reaction and percentage yield calculations, the context might be on environmental impact and the concept might be on development (with all its undesirable consequences):

“The development of useful products from chemical reactions has always a less than perfect yield, this has an impact on the environment”.

Note to Lynne Erickson fans: notice how the conceptual nature of the global context leverages the understanding of the global concept.

Further, I think that Lynne has it right when she advocates for more than one statement of conceptual understanding. She suggests up to seven. I would think that three might suffice. One linking to a interdisciplinary connection (as I have described) and two towards the various subject specific key concepts that are being focussed on in the unit. But since there are no defined approaches this is very flexible.

Over to you

What are your thoughts? Should DP support more interdisciplinary understandings? Is this a useful approach? If not how would you do it? Like, comment and share please.