Session Objectives:

1. discuss the growing need for interdisciplinary curriculum – in this part, we will be discussing
about the reasons why there is a need to integrate curriculum? We will also be exploring the
two reasons why some failed in attempting to integrate the curriculum.
2. differentiate the types of curriculum integration – in this portion, we will be exploring the
design, characteristics and importance of each type of curriculum integration specifically
multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary curriculum. Moreover, we will be
providing examples in each curriculum.

Analogy. When you are out walking, nature does not confront you for three quarters of an hour only
with flowers and in the next only with animals.

In this analogy, the nature reflects the child’s education. It has multiple and necessary components,
multiple perspectives and should not be confined partially in a certain aspect with specific range of
time.

The common viewpoint of students now in a curriculum is that it is arbitrary divisive, where students
are defining the subject areas as separate bodies of knowledge with little relationship to one another.
Moreover, this fragmented type of schedule in school, where each discipline is assigned in a specific
time, does not actually reflect the reality of life. In context, we never woke up in the morning then do
an hour of math or science. Instead, we encounter problems, which need solutions from different
perspectives. That is why, curriculum integration can bridge this educational gap.

[Back Up Info]
Discipline field - a specific body of teachable knowledge with its own background of education,
training, procedures, methods, and content areas (Piaget 1972)

The starting point for all discussions about the nature of knowledge in schools should be a thorough
understanding of the disciplines. Each discipline asks different questions, a form of knowledge with
separate and distinct characteristics.

According to Hirst and Peters 1974, the advantage of the disciplines is that they permit schools to
investigate with systematic attention to the progressive mastery of closely related concepts and
patterns of reasoning.

This idea of specialization goes back to Aristotle who believed that knowledge should be divided into
three arenas (productive disciplines, theoretical disciplines, and practical disciplines) but we rarely
discuss with children the reason for dividing the day into discipline areas of focus.

However, before any meaningful integrated experience can occur, students need to begin to
understand the nature of knowledge on a level that is clearly appropriate to their age and experience.
As stated by Bruner 1975, the structure of the disciplines is necessary for knowledge acquisition, that
is, a fundamental factor to learn how things are related.
Interdisciplinary - a knowledge view and curriculum approach that consciously applies
methodology and language from more than one discipline to examine a central theme, issue,
problem, topic, or experience

According to Meeth 1978, its emphasis is on the deliberately identifying the relationships, the
linkages, between disciplines. It is a holistic approach that comes from Plato’ ideal of unity as the
highest good in all things; distinct but are interrelated.

WHY LOOK AT CURRICULUM INTEGRATION?

Activity 3: What do you think are the factors why we need to combine disciplines or to create an
integrated unit? Why look at curriculum integration? (https://bit.ly/3RF3lmY)

The Growth of Knowledge

Knowledge is growing at exponential proportions in all areas of study resulted from research and
practice. Curriculum has the blessing and burden of growth wherein the curriculum planner should
craft an effective one. He must know what to include, what should be taught and what should be
eliminated. By combining topics or related disciplines may lessen the burden in selecting the contents
and framing it in the curriculum.

Fragmented Schedules

Dividing time into blocks is made to parcel out “specific responsibilities” and to “maintain”
accountability. As discussed, a while ago, students view the curriculum as divisive, fragmented
because they need to study a certain discipline in a fixed time schedule. In addition, for every block,
students encounter another setting, another subject, another teacher. By integrating curriculum,
students can apply the discipline and skills in one block of time.

Relevance of Curriculum

We might have encountered students asked questions such as how can we use it to our daily lives. For
example, they find it difficult to understand why they need math when most of their instruction is
based on a textbook used in isolation from its applications.

Outside of school, we deal with problems and concerns in a flow of time that is not divided into
knowledge fields. We get up in the morning and confront the whole of our lives. It is not that schools
should avoid dealing with specific disciplines; rather, they also need to create learning experiences
that periodically demonstrate the relationship of the disciplines to real world encounters, thus
heightening their relevancy.

Society’s Response to Fragmentation

We cannot expect students to cope with the multifaceted nature of work if they are trained people in
specialized way. We have become a specialized world, but the pendulum is swinging toward some
balance. Through integration, students can draw from the range of fields/disciplines to better serve
specific fields, issues or themes. This trend in schools toward integration will help students better
integrate strategies from their studies into the larger world.
[Back Up Info]
Schools may have attempt to plan and implement integration but lacks staying power. According to
Jacobs 1989, there are two problems that intervenes with the effective integrated curriculum.

First is, The Potpourri Problem. Literally, potpourri is a mixture of flowers, herbs, and spices that is
usually kept in a jar and used for scent; a miscellaneous collection; a medley; a mixture or collection
of seemingly unrelated items, an unusual assortment.

In the attempt to establish interdisciplinarity, potpourri problem can occur, in which, it is the sampling
of knowledge from each discipline such as a bit of science, a bit of math, etc. Hence, it was criticized
for its lack of focus. Students are offered a sampling of thematically related experiences from
different disciplines but are not guided to see how the diverse bits of knowledge form a coherent view
of the topic.

Second is, the Polarity Problem. When various disciplines are merged into one unit, poorly conceived
designs are prone to range of conflicts from lack of clarity to even teachers’ conflicts. For example, as
new views or perspectives are being integrated into a subject, the teacher involved might feel
threatened because of the “mastery”, their area of specialization, invasion of ideas may question the
mastery. Also, some may claim, “my methods are better than yours”.

Now, to avoid these two problems, curriculum planners should meet these two criteria: design and
content.

A STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH FOR DEVELOPING INTEGRATED UNITS OF STUDY

Selecting an Organizing Center. It begins by selecting an organizing center, which acts as the focus
for curriculum development. The topic can be a theme, subject area, event, issue, or problem. An
organizing center should neither be so general and all-encompassing that it is beyond the scope of a
definitive investigation, nor should it be so narrow that it restricts the parameters of study.

Events can also be highly effective organizing centers because of the many levels from which they
can be explored. Events can include not only current news happenings but also historical and possible
future occurrences, as well as events ongoing in the students' lives such as producing a play, writing a
literary magazine, and finding a job. It is obviously important to select a topic that is relevant to
students, interesting, and crosses discipline lines.

Brainstorming Associations. As the diagram shows, the organizing center for the topic or theme is
the hub of the wheel. Each of the spokes is a discipline area. Osborne (1963) notes that a brain-
storming session produces a great quantity of ideas from which a better quality of ideas can be
selected. The aim is not to have an equal number of associations per discipline; rather, it is to promote
the deliberate examination.

Establishing Guiding Questions to Serve as a Scope and Sequence.

DESIGN, IMPORTANCE AND SAMPLES OF CURRICULUM INTEGRATION

Multidisciplinary

- It involves multiple disciplines and they have multiple goal setting under one thematic
umbrella and with no attempt to integrate
 - People from different disciplines working together, each drawing their own disciplinary
knowledge. For example, any big project with multiple aspect

[Present the Sample]

As stated in the national core curriculum, all students in the comprehensive school in Finland should
be involved in (at least) one multidisciplinary unit during the school year (FNBE, 2016). However,
the national core curriculum does not specify which subjects, or how many different subjects, should
form a multidisciplinary unit, leaving this decision up to each, individual school and teachers.

The present case study covers the design, implementation and evaluation of a multidisciplinary unit in
a Finnish lower secondary school, grade 9. The entire multidisciplinary unit was organized around the
central concept of energy, and the present study focuses on an activity within that unit that explored
how energy can be used to analyze both living and non-living systems. Evaluation of the activity was
done with pre and post student questionnaires, analyzing the students' written poster presentations and
focus group interviews done with a voluntary group of students after the whole unit. The aim of the
study was to explore how students understand the multidisciplinary character of the energy concept.

From a student perspective, a solid understanding of the concept of energy is deemed as foundational
for being able to understand and participate in discussions concerning such vital topics as
sustainability, climate change and possible future energy solutions (Nordine, 2016). The content
related goal of the unit was to give the students a broader understanding of the concept of energy, by
exploring the energy concept through the lens of different subjects (science, technology and social
sciences).

The multidisciplinary unit was divided into six parts:

• The first part consisted of a general introduction to the energy theme

• 2nd part, a set of four laboratory sessions or energy-body lab – (1)building and optimizing the
blades of a model wind-power plant, (2) building and investigating a chemical battery, (3)
exploring the photosynthesis of plants; (4) exploring the connections between work, energy,
chemical energy and the human body

• 3rd part, the students built and optimized their own water rocket

• 4th part consisted of a visit to a local waste-to-energy plant.

• 5th part involved conducting an interview with a non-native speaker working in the local
energy sector.

• The whole unit ended with an exhibition, to which pupils in grade 6 were invited. For the
exhibition, each group of (3-4) students planned and gave a presentation (oral, poster, or
audiovisual) and interacted with the 6-th grade exhibition attendees.

In connection with the diagram, different disciplines use the term "energy" differently

- physicists view energy primarily as a quantity that is conserved in interactions,

- biologist may focus more on how energy is transferred across system boundaries
- economist on it being a scarce resource.

Interdisciplinary
 Students call for the explanation of curriculum: (Brandt, 1991, p. 24).

- "Why are we studying this?”

- “It doesn't seem to make any sense.”
- “ How does it fit with my life?"

An interdisciplinary curriculum highlights learning experiences that illustrate relationships

between the disciplines, thus maximizing the relevancy and connections to the content.

Interdisciplinary approach combines two or more disciplines to a new level of integration

where component boundaries start to break down, no longer a simple addition of parts, to
form new learning or new ideas. Additionally, many intellectual and social problems require
interdisciplinarity.

There are current versions of Interdisciplinary Curriculum

a. Inquiry
b. Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
c. STEM and STEAM
d. The Infusion of Environmental Responsibility

The objectives of the STEAM Curriculum are (a) to create projects that guide students to
understand our Earth, human impact and their role in creating a sustainable future and (b) to
create a sustainable future, we must educate our students on the impact that our actions have
on our world today.

[Read the Pictures in the Slide]

Interdisciplinary teaching can prepare students to solve real-world, multi-faceted problems

related to sustainability. It can come in a variety of different formats, from fully integrated
courses to courses that are linked by themes. Common to all types of interdisciplinary
teaching is the benefit students and faculty receive from learning about multiple perspectives,
which has value for retention, student engagement, transfer, and spurs systems thinking and
working as a team.

In Importance: Moreover, students will cover topics in more depth because they have varied
perspectives

Transdisciplinary

[Definitions]

academic sector – teachers / engages with the academic content

non-academic sector – may include for example industry organisations and business,
government, civil society organisations such as non-profit or charitable organisations (NGOs,
trusts, foundations, etc.), cultural institutions, museums, hospitals, international organisations
(like UN or WHO), etc.
 It is the most integrated model where students begin with an authentic real-world issue rather
than with the disciplines. In this method, the content and the theme are the same, and there is no
division between the disciplines (Drake, 1991; Grady, 1994).

Transdisciplinary curriculum (the convergence) crosses disciplinary and sectorial boundaries

for a common goal to develop integrated knowledge for science and society and also to create new
paradigms. (Morton et.al. 2015). The core idea of transdisciplinarity is different academic disciplines
working jointly with practitioners to solve a real-world problem. It can be applied in a great variety of
fields” (Klein et al., 2001 as cited by Budwig and Alexander 2020).

[Sample – IBPYP]

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme is a curriculum framework designed
for students aged 3 to 12.

It prepares students for the intellectual challenges of further education and their future careers,
focusing on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world
outside.

It provides schools with a curriculum framework of essential elements — the knowledge, concepts,
skills, attitudes, and action that young students need to equip them for successful lives, both now and
in the future. Schools work with the five elements to construct a rigorous and challenging primary
curriculum for international education.

The curriculum is transdisciplinary, meaning that it focuses on issues that go across subject areas.
Schools will develop students’ academic, social and emotional wellbeing, focusing on international-
mindedness and strong personal values. The PYP nurtures independent learning skills, encouraging
every student to take responsibility for their learning.

-next slide-

PYP students use their initiative to take responsibility and ownership of their learning. By learning
through inquiry and reflecting on their own learning, PYP students develop knowledge, conceptual
understandings, skills and the attributes of the IB Learner profile to make a difference in their own
lives, their communities, and beyond.

The PYP is organized according to:

- The written curriculum, which explains what PYP students will learn
- The taught curriculum, which sets out how educators teach the PYP
- The assessed curriculum, which details the principles and practice of effective assessment
in the PYP

-next slide-

The programme incorporates local and global issues into the curriculum, asking students to look at six
related, transdisciplinary themes and to consider the links between them.
These are:

- Who we are. an inquiry into the nature of self; beliefs and values; physical, mental social
and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities and
cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human
- Where we are in place and time. an inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal
histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of
humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals, from
local and global perspectives
- How we express ourselves. an inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express
ideas, feelings, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and
enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic
- How the world works. an inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction
between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans
use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological
advances on society and on the environment
- How we organize ourselves. an inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made
systems and communities; the structure and function of organisations; societal decision-
making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.
- Sharing the planet. an inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share
finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the
relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict
resolution.

These themes are selected for their relevance to the real world. They are described as transdisciplinary
because they focus on issues that go across subject areas. These themes are intended to help children
make sense of themselves, of other people, and of the physical environment, and to give them
different ways of looking at the world. The students explore each theme by engaging with a Unit of
Inquiry. In each Unit of Inquiry teachers pose a series of open-ended questions that encourage
students to explore all of its aspects

The transdisciplinary themes help teachers to develop a programme of inquiry. Teachers work
together to develop investigations into important ideas, which require a substantial and high level of
involvement on the part of students.

Through the PYP curriculum framework, schools ensure that students examine each theme.

[examining the parts]

a. The first column comes directly from the sample programme of inquiry and includes the
transdisciplinary theme title and descriptor and the central idea. The key and related concepts
and lines of inquiry are also listed here. This encourages schools to keep in mind the
transdisciplinary nature of learning, and reminds them that they should utilize the subject-
specific concepts, knowledge and skills to support learning that transcends the confines of the
subject area.
b. The second column lists the science strands applicable to this unit of inquiry. Full science
strand descriptions are found in the introduction to this scope and sequence document.
c. The second column lists the science skills to be implemented across Science curriculum
content areas and are neatly aligned with the ‘Outcomes’ stipulated in the PYP documents.
 Those science skills that might be easier to teach and observe for each unit are marked in bold
text.
d. The possible learning outcomes in column three have been developed to reflect the
knowledge, concepts and skills from columns one and two as well as being developmentally
appropriate for the intended age group. They also take into account the attitudes and the
attributes of the IB learner profile and transdisciplinary skills.
e. Reflecting a “less is more” principle, the number of learning outcomes has been carefully
considered and limited in terms of what is achievable and assessable in each unit of inquiry.
f. This box notifies users when possible, learning outcomes for social studies have been
developed for this unit. These outcomes can be found in the PYP social studies scope and
sequence (2008).

As the learner moves from left to right on the continuum, the learner gains knowledge and
depth.

“Curriculum integration facilitates the pursuit of new knowledge and meaning by

transcending the disciplines of knowledge rather than abandoning them.” —James
A. Bean as cited by Button 2021