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Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 21st Century

Capabilities

Article · January 2018

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Article

Integrated Curriculum as Asia Pacific Journal of Educational

Research
2018. Vol. 1(1) 31-50
ⓒ The
Author(s) 2018 an Effective Way to Teach 21st Century
Capabilities

6)

Susan M. Drake*
Brock University, Ontario, Canada
Joanne L. Reid
Brock University, Ontario, Canada

Abstract
There is an emerging international consensus on the
importance of developing 21st Century capabilities as part of
education curricula. Yet, educators are uncertain about the
definitions of the capabilities, and how to teach and assess
them. This paper offers integrated curriculum as an effective
way to resolve some of the challenges associated with
developing the C21 capabilities. We present an overarching
curriculum framework - the Know-Do-Be. Next, we identify
the capabilities as they are described in various jurisdictions.
 Then we offer a backward design planning process that
allows for creative and coherent curriculum design. Models
of integrated curriculum are explored followed by research
on the effectiveness of integration. Finally, we show how
bringing together the competencies and integrated
curriculum can create a rich learning situation. The paper
concludes with recommendations for facilitating the
foregrounding of the 21st Century capabilities through
curriculum integration.

Keywords
21st Century capabilities, 21st Century competencies,
integrated curriculum, curriculum design

* Corresponding author
Faculty of Education, Brock University,
St. Catharines ON, Canada Email:
sdrake@brocku.ca
In our global networked world, there is a continuous explosion
of knowledge. Students can no longer simply memorize a
collection of facts to pass a test. They need to be lifelong
learners who can manage and make sense of huge amounts of
data, and be able to problem-solve the complex issues of the
day. They need to be able to differentiate between relevant and
reliable information and alternative facts designed to confuse.
They need to be creative thinkers who can innovate in a world
that offers open access to knowledge. In short, what is
considered worth knowing, doing and being is shifting, given
33 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

the global context. We all need the skills to navigate life in an

increasingly complex and ever-changing environment.
Education in the 21st Century has been and is being
profoundly influenced by technology and globalization.
Capabilities such as communication, creativity, and critical
thinking that have always had a place in education take on new
meaning and relevance with technological advancements
(Voogt, Erstad, Dede, & Mishra, 2013; Rotherham &
Willingham, 2009; Silva, 2009). There is an emerging global
consensus on the importance of developing 21st Century
capabilities as part of education curricula (Ontario Ministry of
Education, 2016).
Yet, concerns affecting both teachers in the field and teacher
educators revolve around how to teach and assess these
capabilities (Chu et al., 2017; van de Oudeweetering & Voogt,
2017; Thijs, Fisser, & Van der Hoeven, 2014). Educators
know much more about how to teach subjects such as
mathematics than they know how to teach the capabilities
(Häkkinena, Järveläb, Mäkitalo-Sieglc, Ahonena, Näykkib, &
Valtonend, 2016). There is little professional development
around the capabilities or knowledge of innovative teaching
practices (Voogt & Roblin, 2012).
The purpose of this paper is to offer integrated curriculum as
an effective way to resolve some of the challenges associated
with developing the 21st Century capabilities. We believe that
students fortunate enough to experience curriculum integration
may find themselves better prepared for life in the 21st
Century.
We offer a Know, Do, Be (KDB) framework (Drake & Reid,
2010). While the KDB framework can apply to any subject-
based curriculum, it is especially useful for constructing an
integrated curriculum based on curriculum mandates. This
framework is also an effective way to address the
interdisciplinary competencies.
In this paper, we use the terms “capabilities” and
“competencies” interchangeably. First, we present the KDB
framework. Next, we identify the capabilities as they are
described in various jurisdictions. Then we offer a backward
design planning process that allows for creative and coherent
curriculum design. Models of integrated curriculum
35 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

are explored followed by research on the effectiveness of

integration. Finally, we look at the context of teaching in the
21st Century to bring the competencies and integrated
curriculum together to create a rich learning situation.

The KDB Framework

There is an international shift in considering what is most

important for a student to Know, Do, and Be (KDB).
Traditionally, curriculum expectations were largely in the
cognitive realm - the Know of the curriculum. In the 21st
Century, the Know focuses more on conceptual thinking rather
than memorizing facts. Examples of fundamental concepts
include sustainability, change, cause and consequences,
interdependence, and systems. These concepts are
interdisciplinary.
The Do has shifted from lower-order skills such as recall and
description to complex interdisciplinary capabilities such as
communication, collaboration, critical thinking, information
management, and creativity. Literacy and numeracy remain the
basic foundation, but research and inquiry are also prioritized.
Finally, Be is also important as jurisdictions develop new
educational policies that focus on mental health, personal
growth, socio-emotional learning, and values and attitudes.
Character education is a hallmark of the Be. Character
education cuts across the curriculum in all subjects and grade
levels, and has three main goals: lifelong learning, creating and
maintaining healthy relationships, and developing the values to
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 36

successfully participate in society (Bialik, Bogan, Fadel, &

Horvathova, 2015). The Be is also embedded in citizenship as
is found in several jurisdictions’ curriculum policies.
The Know, Do, and Be are interconnected and
interdependent. Twenty-first century capabilities are not taught
in isolation but rather are taught within a core body of
knowledge (Silva, 2009). Consider the capability of
Citizenship. As students learn the concept of good citizenship
(Know), then act in ways that demonstrate citizenship (Do),
they become good citizens (Be).

Capabilities / Competencies

The point of becoming proficient in the capabilities or

competences is to become a fulfilled and successful member of
21st Century society. Countries such as Canada, England,
Finland, Japan, Northern Ireland, Singapore, Australia and
Scotland are actively exploring how to identify, define, teach
and assess such skills. So too are well-known organizations
such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), Assessment and Teaching of 21st
Century Skills (ATC21S), and Partnership for 21st Century
Skills (P21). Analysis of frameworks for 21st Century
competencies showed a high degree of agreement in the
identification of the capabilities and in describing what they
are (see for example, Chu, Reynolds, Tavares, Notari, & Lee,
2017; Ontario Ministry of Education, 2016; Voogt & Roblin,
2012). Ontario, Canada describes competencies as the six Cs:
37 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

communication, character, critical thinking, creativity,

citizenship, collaboration. All six Cs appear in the overarching
curriculum frameworks of Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Finland, and USA (P21).
What do competencies mean to teachers? A web-based
survey done by van de Oudeweetering and Voogt (2017)
explored the perceptions of 2804 elementary or secondary
teachers in the Netherlands. The survey offered ten scales
based on the dimensions of 21st Century competencies. For
each scale, three to five items were developed that represented
classroom activities aimed at fostering student learning of
those competencies. The Netherlands study showed that the
competencies did not necessarily represent new knowledge for
the teachers who believed they were already teaching them.
However, they agreed that technology moderated how the
capabilities are taught in class.
What is the relationship of the competencies with each other?
Research on new technologies in education, for example,
indicates a reciprocal relationship between information and
communication technology (ICT) and creativity (Henriksen,
Mishra & Fisser, 2016). We are very interested in hearing
about the experiences of teachers who explicitly teach
competencies using the Measuring What Matters model
(Boehme, Crawford, Murray, Stolys, & Strangway, 2017). In
this model, there is a broad domain such as creativity, socio-
emotional learning, citizenship or health
(http://peopleforeducation.ca/mwm- defining-the-
competencies). The competencies lie within a domain and
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 38

represent very specific criteria that are observable, concrete,

teachable, and learnable (Kidder, 2017, Personal
communication). For example, competencies for creativity are
articulated like this: “students work with objects and ideas
without an end goal in mind” or “students generate a range of
novel ideas in relation to personal knowledge and learning
context”. This specificity helped the teachers identify the
interconnected nature of learning areas often associated with
broad domains like creativity or social emotional learning.
That is, the teachers found that when they directly taught one
competency, the other competencies also improved. For
example, instruction aimed at developing certain targeted areas
of student creativity also improved other targeted areas in
socio-emotional learning because the competencies were
interconnected within the specific type of learning conditions
that students experienced. We intuitively thought this
interconnection might be true, and the teachers’ experiences
help confirm our intuitions. While researchers studying
competency-learning in classrooms within this project are
certain that there are strong interconnections and relationships
among these areas of learning, they are uncertain as to the
degree of interconnectedness, or the specific relationships
between areas like creativity and social emotional learning.
They do, however, suspect that the connectivity is directly
related to the kind of learning context that the students
experience (Cameron, Watkins, and Kidder, 2016).
39 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

What is Curriculum Integration?

Critical thinking, creative thinking, citizenship, character

development, and communication transcend the disciplines.
Thus, it makes sense that curriculum integration offers an
effective way to teach these 21st Century capabilities and
maintain, and possibly boost academic achievement. Indeed,
Sill (2001) identifies creativity, critical, and higher order
thinking as key benefits of interdisciplinary activities. But
what is curriculum integration?
Integrated curriculum has a wide range of definitions
(Jacobs, 1989). We offer a simplistic continuum for
understanding different ways of constructing an integrated
curriculum (Figure 1). Fusion is often a way to begin to
integrate the curriculum. In Ontario, for example, educators are
required to infuse character education, financial literacy,
critical literacy and environmental awareness into mandated
subject-based curriculum K to 12. A multidisciplinary
curriculum features a similar theme or a common capability in
different subject areas, but each subject is still distinct and
separate. For example, the theme of “identity” could be
explored in geography
(mapping), history (nationality), literature (characterization),
science (classification) and so on. An interdisciplinary
curriculum occurs when skills such as inquiry or
communication are taught across subject areas and the subjects
are less distinct. For example, students could apply critical
thinking to develop a social justice campaign around a local
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 40

issue such as water quality or homelessness. A

transdisciplinary curriculum transcends the disciplines; the
organizing center revolves around a pressing question, issue or
problem. Subjects lose their boundaries when they are
holistically blended around the question. There can be a
focused attention on developing relevant capabilities. For
example, students could explore controversial aspects of
citizenship as represented by art in public spaces. Their
exploration could challenge taken-for-granted assumptions:
How does public art reflect civic values, and are those values
relevant today? Which socio-economic, ethnic and political
groups are represented and who is missing? Is graffiti
vandalism or public art? Do war memorials promote positive
forms of citizenship? Students could critique existing
installations, research the artists, interview activists and civic
leaders, and create and install their own public art work. The
terms “integrated” or “interdisciplinary” are often used
interchangeably to describe a variety of approaches such as
these described and will be used that way in this paper.

Fusion Multidisciplinary
41 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

Interdisciplinary Transdisciplinary
Figure 1. Continuum of integration
How Effective is Integrated Curriculum?

Integrated curriculum is effective for academic learning.

Evidence collected from many studies at all grade levels for
over almost 100 years repeatedly leads to the same conclusion.
Students experiencing integrated approaches do as well as, or
better than, students in traditional classrooms in academic
success (see, for example, Aikin, 1941; Barr, Boulay, Selman,
McCormick, Lowenstein, Gamse, Fine, & Leonard, 2015;
Drake, Savage, Reid, Bernard, & Beres, 2015; Yoon,
Dyehouse, Lucietto, Diefes-Dux, & Capobianco, 2014).
Students who experience the integration of socio-emotional
learning improve their academic scores (Vega, 2012b).
Integrated curriculum can lead to deeper learning. “Deep
learning” means the shift from surface learning and covering
content to understanding a topic in depth with the student
taking the lead in his or her learning” (Fullan, 2013, p. 3). In
addition, interdisciplinary approaches can lead to increased
student engagement and motivation, less absenteeism, and
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 42

better attitudes toward school. Student endorsements highlight

positive experiences in the affective domain – growing more
self-confident and self-aware, forming positive relationships,
and recognizing their place in their communities (MacMath,
Roberts, Wallace, & Chi, 2009; McNaughton, 2014; Russell &
Burton, 2000; Smithrin & Upitis, 2005; Venville, Sheffield,
Rennie, & Wallace, 2008). The benefits of integration can be
seen internationally; the countries that top the PISA scales all
have policy provisions for integration (Drake & Savage, 2016).
Finland, for example, one of the top-ranked countries in the
world on OECD measures, has shifted to a project-based
learning approach that is interdisciplinary in nature (Halinen,
2016). Quebec, Canada is also high ranking in PISA testing
and features an integrated curriculum evidenced through
culminating rich performance tasks.
Korea offers an integrated curriculum at many junctures in its
recent revised policy (Minister of Education, Science and
Technology Korea, 2009). In high school, the common core
subjects are integrated. Integrated Social Study includes
History, Economics, and Geography. Integrated Science Study
includes Physics, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Biology. The
exploration of the STEAM program is an effective way to
implement Science, Technology, Mathematics, Engineering,
and the Arts. The “free semester system” in middle school
schedules blocks of afternoon time for one semester so that
students can participate in open-ended pursuits such as club
activities and career education.
43 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

Designing an Integrated Curriculum

Backward design. Backward design is a curriculum design

process that allows for creative teaching while ensuring that
teachers address their curriculum mandates (Wiggins &
McTighe, 2005). Step 1 is to ask what is most important for
students to Know, Do and Be. Step 2 is to determine the
summative assessment which will determine whether a student
has accomplished the KDB. This type of assessment,
especially in integrated approaches, is a rich performance
assessment task rather than a test or exam. Step 3 is to create
the daily instructional activities and formative assessments that
scaffold the summative performance task. The instructional
activities enable the student to acquire the knowledge and
skills, and develop the traits required by the summative task.
An important aspect of designing a curriculum is to give
students as much voice and choice as possible. Alison Boehme
(2017) created a “Student-led curriculum inquiry” model in
which Grades 4 and 5 students investigate the Ontario
curriculum. To begin, students collaboratively chart what they
find when exploring curriculum documents, Growing Success
(assessment guide) and the 21st Century competency
documents. Once students have explored the science, social
studies, health, math and language documents, they determine
a topic of their choice and pull standards together to develop
an integrated project. Students also focus on developing
competencies using the Measuring What Matters model. Many
of the projects tend to be STEM-related and have included
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 44

projects on fractals, the periodic table, aviation, computer

engineering, steam-punk, pollution, fracking, better car
designs−the list goes on. Alison finds she has to research most
of the topics just to keep up with the students. Alison won a
Ministry of Ontario research grant to teach math and develop
creativity by using low-floor high-ceiling tasks in problem
solving that required students to think flexibly and fluidly in
terms of the application of their knowledge and understanding.

Unifying Frameworks. When we ask what is most important

for students to know, do, and be as a first step in backward
design, it is most effective to look at the big picture. Many
nations offer a unifying framework or a set of goals that cut
across all subjects and grades (Drake & Savage, 2016). It is in
the unifying frameworks that the capabilities are presented in
curriculum policy documents. We interpret this as meaning
that subject-based disciplinary content knowledge is
subordinate to these overarching interdisciplinary capabilities.
Examples of unifying frameworks are the following:
●
Singapore’s The Framework for 21st Century
Competencies and Student Outcomes
(https://www.moe.gov.sg/education/education-system/
21st-century-competencies)
●
USA’s Partnership for 21st Century Skills
http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework) and
●
Hong Kong’s education framework
https://cd.edb.gov.hk/becg/english/chapter1.html).
 45 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

We like to use an umbrella as a graphic to show that certain

knowledge (Know), skills (Do), and
attitudes/values/behaviours (Be) act as an umbrella over the
entire curriculum (Drake, 2012)
(https://www.musicjinni.com/q5OwmfLJJ8e/KDB-
Umbrella.html). These images convey the breadth and
cohesion of 21st Century capabiities and values across subjects
and grades.
Such unifying frameworks make curriculum integration
easier. Educators can see the big picture – the KDB.
Curriculum designers can align their curriculum with the
framework and use it as a bridge across disciplines. This is
particularly important for the capabilities that are intended to
be taught in each subject and grade.
We illustrate the KDB Umbrella by interpreting Korea’s educational
goals in Figure 2.

BE
Autonomous, creative,
humanitarian, democratic
citizens
DO
KNOW Creative processes
Subject-area Life skills (21st
expertise Century capabilities)

Figure 2. A possible representation of the Know/Do/Be

Umbrella for Korea’s Curriculum
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 46

Rich performance assessment task. The second step in

backwards design is to consider how we will know whether
students have learned the KDB. This step requires a
performance task as a summative assessment. This task is best
when it is rich and complex, inquiry-based, and set in the real
world. It should offer student choice and invite an authentic
public audience (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014). The type of
task is usually interdisciplinary by its very nature. Assessment
tools for the task such as a marking rubric need to be created
and shared with students at this time. Students need to know
from the beginning of a unit what they will be assessed on and
how this assessment will be done.

Daily activities. The third step is to create the daily activities

and embedded assessments that students will complete to
enable them to demonstrate the rich performance assessment
task. During this step, the designer needs to constantly align
the activities and assessments with the KDB that was
established in step 1. These activities act as a scaffold for the
rich performance assessment task that was created in step 2. A
guide to what types of instructional activities and assessments
follow in the next section.

Teaching in the 21St Century

The emerging consensus is that teaching competencies requires

profound changes in pedagogy and assessment (Ontario
Ministry of Education, 2016). In this section, we explore some
47 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

of the major trends in the 21st Century teaching. These trends

can inform the teaching and learning that most fully engages
students while also addressing the capabilities.

Inquiry. Inquiry has become an important focus in the 21st

Century and can address the capabilities. Inquiry and
curriculum integration go together well. Traditionally, an
inquiry involves a teacher-directed process such as in a science
lab. By contrast, teachers who are drawn to integrated
curriculum are usually favourable to a constructivist
philosophy and a student-centered, experiential approach
(Kuhlthau, Maniotes, & Caspari, 2015). This shift facilitates
creativity and curiosity, because students are encouraged to
pursue their own interests. Additionally, it can foster critical
thinking when an inquiry is set in the complicated real world.
It can involve collaboration because often the work involves
research, experimentation and problem-solving with others.
Inquiries can be across subjects, and indeed, rich, challenging
questions do encompass more than one subject area. This will
be especially true when the inquiry arises from a student’s
questions. Teachers begin with “wonderings” in the earliest
years. Teachers listen carefully to children as they play, and
teachers help identify what sparks awe. A Kindergarten class
explored the students’ wondering: “Do bubbles freeze in the
winter?” A favourite strategy is to create a “wonder wall”
where students’ questions are on prominent display and are
referred to during class activities.
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 48

Over the grade levels, the concept of wonderings deepens.

Questions become more complex: What is the source of crime
and what can we do to eliminate it? and What is the role of
politics in a controversial issue such as climate change?
Students learn the inquiry procedure as represented in subjects
such as science or history or art. They then can apply these
procedures to their own inquiries whether they be disciplinary
or interdisciplinary. This follows the recommendations of John
Dewey (1938) who believed that students learned best from
their own organic experiences, but that these experiences must
be accompanied by the structured scientific method to be
educative.
One of the most effective and natural ways to implement this
inquiry is through project-based learning. This type of learning
begins with a driving question and results in an in-depth
teaching/learning unit where students complete an inquiry to
address the question. Because most meaningful inquiries focus
on real world situations, they are usually interdisciplinary. If
teaching a standards-based curriculum, the questions emerge
from the concepts that are found in the Know of the KDB.
In project-based learning, the students can encounter “wicked
problems” where there are no clear-cut answers and there are
innumerable causes that demand acknowledgement and inquiry
in many different subject areas (Camillus, 2008). Poverty and
terrorism are examples of such problems. Critical thinking is
key in this type of inquiry. Some excellent examples can be
found at Buck Institute for Education (http://www.bie.org/),
New Tech Network (https://newtechnetwork.org/), and
49 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

Expeditionary Learning (http://eleducation.org/). Five

principles for high quality project-based work are described in
a video from Edutopia (https://www.edutopia.org/video/5-
keys-rigorous-project-based- learning).
At the Inquiry Hub, a high school in Coquitlam, British
Columbia, Canada, students conduct their own inquiries based
on their own interests (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014). This
process encourages inquiry, research, and creativity. Consider
these examples of inquiries that students have completed,
either by themselves or collaboratively:
●
Designing 3-D models to scale
●
Developing a commercial glass recycling program
●
Inventing a vortex water fountain
●
Studying game theory and human behavior
●
Building a microkernel (coding)
●
Constructing aquaponic and hydroponic gardens

Design Thinking and Maker Spaces. Design thinking is an

inquiry process revolving around making things from digital
apps to eco-friendly clothes in a “maker space”. Projects
usually require the application of technology along with low-
tech tools. Tools in Zoe Brannigan-Pipe’s classroom include a
3-D printer, Lego, Minecraft and sewing machines. (You can
access Zoe’s work at Pipedreams http:/integratedcurriculum/
pipedreams-education.ca/). Students follow a defined
procedure which allows for creativity coupled with structure
for accountability. Maker spaces, by definition, involve
different subject areas and thus, an integrated curriculum
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 50

works well here. Students can develop innovation and

entrepreneurial skills. Often the work is collaborative and
working with the needs of others involves empathy and
communication skills.

Technology. Although competencies have been recognized

for a long time in education, it is ICT as a core competency
that is propelling general capabilities into prominence (Voogt,
Erstad, Dede, & Mishra, 2013). Digital literacy includes the Be
where students need to learn to be a digital citizen. Technology
pushes a topic beyond a defined subject area and will usually
include the real-world context that by its nature is integrated.
As thoughtful educators know, technology cannot be about
the bells and whistles; it should be used to enhance learning,
increase engagement and improve academic achievement.
Technology promotes global connections. Students may
connect with experts and share their work with anyone around
the world. Through various digital platforms such as virtual
manipulatives and augmented realities, students can creatively
represent complex concepts (Dede, 2014; Henriksen, Mishra,
& Fisser, 2016). Students can communicate and collaborate
through programs such as Googledocs, Voicethread,
interactive games, interactive maps, and graphing tools,
Students can join an organization that has already established
global connections and collaborative inquiries.
Technology gives teachers extended opportunities to engage
students by connecting curriculum to life outside the
classroom. One of the most well-known organizations that
51 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

promote global connection is the non-profit iEarn

(https://iearn.org/). There are over 100 ongoing projects in
subject areas or are interdisciplinary. Current projects in South
Korea involve https://iearn.org/country/iearn-south-korea. For
example, through the support of the Japan Korea Cultural
Exchange Foundation and Hyogo International Exchange
Association, iEARN-Japan and iEARN-Korea completed three
exchange programs.

Focusing on the Be. Character education is a fundamental

capability seen in some form in most competency frameworks.
Character education is the Be. Consider Korea where “The
educated person is one who is, among other things, a creative
community member who leads a dignified life based on
understanding cultural knowledge and pluralistic values” (The
School Curriculum of the Republic of Korea, 2009, p. 2). This
person is an individual who thinks creatively, takes up new
challenges, participates in community development, and
considers others. Each country may interpret the goals of
character education differently, but perhaps Singapore sums it
up well with the slogan, “Do good and be good.”
Character education can be addressed separately or woven
through each course in an integrated way. Socio-emotional
learning (SEL) is learning that includes self-awareness, self-
management, social awareness, relationship skills with others
and responsible decision-making (Vega, 2012a). SEL
programs help students develop these traits. Popular evidence-
based SEL programs such as Responsive Classroom Approach,
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 52

Second Step, Meditation, Service Learning, and School-wide

Positive Behavior Report demonstrate a strong link between
enhanced social-emotional skills and academic performance
(Vega, 2012a; Vega, 2012b). The CASEL Program Guides
(http://www.casel.org/guide/) offer a systematic way to
evaluate evidence-based social and emotional programs for all
age levels.
Metacognition and self-direction are also qualities associated
with school success. Metacognition is the ability to think about
one’s thinking. Metacognitive strategies can be taught
specifically as the following standard for reading suggests:

explain which of a variety of strategies they [students]

found most helpful before, during, and after reading,
then evaluate their strengths and weaknesses as
readers to help identify the steps they can take to
improve their skills (e.g., record their reflections about
how often and how proficiently they use various
strategies; set targets for improving their use of
particular strategies; confer with the teacher to
develop new strategies for understanding more
challenging texts.
(The Ontario Curriculum Grades 11 and 12, English,
2007, p. 49)
Recently qualities such as intellectual curiosity, grit, and
wellbeing are receiving increased attention. Teachers can
address these characteristics through specific programs or in a
teachable moment. The assessment for learning (AfL)
movement is focused on building a growth mindset in students
53 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

through feedback (Dweck, 2006). Growth mindset rests on the

premise of brain plasticity rather than fixed abilities; the brain
can continuously grow and develop given the proper
environment. For learning, this environment is reflected in
teacher feedback that focuses on perseverance and effort, and
metacognitive reflection rather than on innate talent.
Perhaps one of the best ways that we have seen of giving
proper attention to the Be is through the International
Baccalaureate (IB) schools. There are over 4000 such schools
around the world, both public and private. The goal of all IB
schools is that students be internationally-minded, active,
responsible citizens. In the unifying framework for the IB
schools for all grade levels there is a Learner Profile
(http://www.ibo.org/ benefits/learner-profile/). This Learner
Profile describes students as open-minded, reflective,
principled, caring, balanced, communicator, risk-taker,
inquirers, knowledgeable, and thinkers. In schools that we
have been to and/or done research in, the learner profile
permeates the culture. There are visual representations of the
characteristics sprinkled liberally around the school and the
classrooms. Assignments ask students to be reflective and
often zero in on a specific quality such as risk-taking and how
a student is demonstrating it.

Assessment. A benefit of curriculum integration is that

assessment can be more efficient because more than one
subject can be assessed in one task, and capabilities can be
assessed in more than one subject. This is particularly true
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 54

when there is feedback only, not grades, as is recommended in

assessment for learning (AfL). But when a grade is required,
assessment can be a challenge. This is why it is so important to
have operational definitions of the capabilities and
accompanying rubrics that identify criteria and levels of
performance. Since some of the criteria for competencies could
be difficult to assess, it is important to triangulate the data for
assessment (Hendriksen, Mishra, & Fisser, 2016). There are
resources now that focus on how to assess 21st Century
competencies (see, for example, Brookhart, 2010 and
Greenstein, 2012).
On the other hand, a requirement to grade the capabilities
will make them more important. In Ontario, the 21st Century
competencies will replace the learning skills on future report
cards, thus giving the competencies more prominence.
Recently OECD (2017), known for testing literacy, math, and
science, released results for collaborative problem-solving.
This was the first large-scale test of its kind and may
foreshadow a future where the competencies become as
important as core subject areas. This follows the old adage that
what is assessed is what is valued, and vice versa.
Students can and should become participants in the
assessment process. They can co-create their assessment tasks
and marking criteria with their teacher. This provides all the
more reason why the criteria for competencies need to be clear
and transparent. Students can gather evidence of, and reflect on
their learning progress through a portfolio of artefacts such as
work products, photographs, video and audio recordings. This
55 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

collection is “pedagogical documentation” (Ontario Ministry

of Education, 2015). Originating in early primary as a way to
capture student learning, pedagogical documentation is useful
technique for students of all ages.
Aviva Dunsiger of Ontario is a teacher who teaches the
capabilities within an integrated curriculum. She also embeds
her assessment into the instructional activities using AfL and
pedagogical documentation. Here is one example from her
classroom. Students completed a project on organ systems.
First, they researched various organ systems and then used
design thinking to create a working model of one of the organs
they were studying. The models were constructed from objects
found in the outside environment and home. Students also
created audio recordings to explain to a viewer how their organ
actually worked, and a video of themselves to explain the
application of the stages for design thinking. They transformed
the classroom into a human body where all the systems were
present and working together. For the final performance task,
teachers and students from other classes visited and asked
questions. Students demonstrated scientific knowledge,
literacy skills, inquiry, design thinking, creativity, and
communication skills. Aviva’s adventures can be found on her
blog Avivaloca at https://adunsiger.com/.

Conclusion

Currently, capabilities are acknowledged as necessary for

successful 21st Century living and should be a central focus of
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 56

curriculum. Teachers think the competencies are important,

and think that they already develop them in their classroom
(van de Oudeweetering & Voogt, 2017). At the same time,
many teachers feel overwhelmed by the scale and pace of
educational reforms (Loewus, 2017). So how can we
encourage educators to give competencies the attention they
deserve?
We offer recommendations that we believe will help move
forward the implementation of teaching the capabilities for
21st Century learning and teaching. First, we agree with Voogt
and Roblin (2012) who recommend beginning with operational
definitions of the competencies. Clarification would include
describing what competencies look like at progressive levels of
development for students at different age levels. These
definitions will help determine a pedagogical continuum for
teaching and assessing competencies across age levels and
subjects (Voogt, Shin, Mishra, Koehler, Schmidt, Baran,
Thompson, Wang, Alayyar, Fisser, Agyei, Ormel, Velthuis,
Tondeur, & Gibson, 2011). Voogt and Roblin also correctly
call for the identification of connections between core subjects
and 21st Century capabilities.
Australia has begun this process by developing definitions
and performance criteria for general capabilities. The
performance criteria could serve as an evaluation rubric. For
example, a rubric for critical and creative thinking could
include the following categories based on the definition:
1. Inquiry- identifying, exploring and organizing information
2. Generating ideas - possibilities and actions
57 Integrated Curriculum as an Effective Way to Teach 36st Century Capabilities

3. Analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating reasoning and

procedures
4. Reflecting on thinking and processes
(https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-
curriculum/general-capabilities/critical-and-creative-
thinking/).

Second, we recommend that curriculum planners begin with

a unifying framework that provides the big picture and
presents the capabilities as a backdrop for lesson or unit plans.
This process recognizes the KDB and insures that the
competencies are at the forefront.
Third, we urge educators to consider using an integrated
approach to curriculum, if not all the time, at appropriate
times. Again, we agree with Voogt and Roblin (2012) that
working with dynamic and relevant interdisciplinary themes is
important and reinforces our premise that teaching integrated
skills with an integrated curriculum is effective pedagogy.
Finally, as a forward-looking action, we recommend that
there be more direct teaching about competencies in teacher
preparation programs and more ongoing professional
development for practicing educators. We suggest that
materials be developed that illustrate what the capabilities look
like in action. In Ontario, for example, video clips have been
created by MISA London that offer the criteria for a learning
skill and then show situations in which the skill is being
developed; these videos act as exemplars
(http://misalondon.ca/assessment-evaluation/learning-skills/).
 Susan M. Drake⋅Joanne L. Reid 58

This type of tool can be expanded to demonstrate what

capabilities look like in practice and provide levels of
performance.
The emerging importance of the capabilities and their actual
implementation depend upon many factors. Certainly,
challenges lie ahead, but we believe that adopting curriculum
integration to some extent can ease the implementation
process. Easy or not, the need to address 21st Century
competencies in our classrooms is pressing.

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Article History
Received on December 23, 2017 / Revised on January 29,
2018 / Accepted on January 30, 2018

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