Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning

Interdisciplinary Units (IDUs) can become the bane of teachers, heads of department or those just trying to fulfil curriculum requirements. It's an unfortunately long name for something that most people subconsciously do every single day of their lives. Different curriculums have different requirements when it comes to IDU planning and implementation. This article is NOT about how to fulfil those requirements... it's an article with some very simple ways that you can start to highlight interdisciplinary thinking and learning for your students.

1.Why?

Skills frameworks have terms such as 'transfer' which is often considered a challenging skill for students to quantify and develop (and sometimes for teachers as well!). Consider the skill of transfer in relation to cooking; a student may be able to follow a recipe but they don't have a critical grasp of the interaction between ingredients, and why certain ingredients work together. A student with strong transfer skills is able to ad lib recipes based on their knowledge of ingredients interaction. They are also probably using skills such as ratios (maths) and design (arts) in creating a new recipe. In fact, creative thinking often requires the use of interdisciplinary knowledge and skills. When our students have transfer skills, they are making the necessary leap out of a subject area to looking at the world for what it is; a truly interconnected place requiring interdisciplinary thinking.

2. Model

This is the quickest way to demonstrate interdisciplinary thinking for your students. Talk/narrate when you are using knowledge or skills from one subject and applying it in another. For example, using algebra to calculate the amount of paint needed to create background sets in Theatre Arts. One of my favourite examples is to share my enjoyment of running while listening to a mindfulness workout from Headspace. These conversations between Headspace's Andy Puddicombe and Nike's Chris Bennett highlight the intersectionality between mental and physical health, a great example for students to learn about.

3. Use the language

Tell students when and why you are using skills and knowledge from one subject in another. Encourage them to think of their own personal examples. Remind students that they have a 'toolkit' of skills and that these skills can be used in many areas of their lives, not just the subject in which they were taught. Explain what is meant by 'transfer' as a skill, and what it means to be using 'interdisciplinary learning'. Having this vocabulary helps students become more aware of their learning development, and better able to verbalise it.

4. Discuss

Consider having a discussion or debate in your class where students explore the merits and drawbacks of subject-specific teaching. Examine your school timetable, consider why some subjects are taught separately and some taught together, or why this might change depending on the age of the students. Encourage students to take action based on their discussion. This could lead to student involvement in a school academic committee or students doing extended research projects on the impact of learning decisions.

5. Invite

Invite different experts in to your classroom to share information about how interdisciplinary learning is a part of their lives. Reach out to your network or parents in the school to find a guest speaker. One of the easiest (and cheapest) options is to ask one of your colleagues to come in to the class (and offer to go in to their classroom in exchange!). For some students, seeing a science teacher in a language class can be as startling as seeing a fish riding a bicycle!

Above all, I encourage teachers to lean in to interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Don't expect things to go perfectly or for students to suddenly make great leaps in progress. But don't let this stop you. Try something new, ask for help or ideas from colleagues, share success and failures, and try again. Our students will only benefit from an enhanced ability to look at the world as an interconnected and complex place, and our role as educators is to prepare them for this.