CURRICULUM

INTEGRATION
 Integrated Curriculum
a. An integrated curriculum refers to a single course that contains one or
more disciplines. It consists of one set of objective and assessment
that covers a number of related disciplines (Johnson and Johnson,
1998)
b. An integrated curriculum is an educational approach that cuts across
and draws on multiple subject areas for learning and instructions. Its
purpose is to realistically link various disciplines into the study and
exploration of certain aspects of the world (Beane, 1992)
c. An integrated curriculum refers to both a way of teaching and a way of
planning in organizing the instructional program. This enables the
discrete discipline of subject matter related to one another in a design
that matches the developmental needs of the learners to connect their
learnings in ways that are meaningful to their current and past
experiences. This is an antithesis of the traditional, disparate, subject-
matter oriented teaching and curriculum designation(Kellough, 2003)
 Spectrum of Integrated Curriculum
Kellough (1996) advocates to teachers five levels of curriculum integration:

Level 1: Curriculum Integration. This is the traditional organization of

curriculum and classroom instruction. In this level the teachers plan and
arrange the subject through a specific scope and sequence which uses a topic
outline format. Usually the lessons in this level is done by a solo teacher.

Level 2: Curriculum Integration. In this level of integration, the themes in one

discipline are not necessarily planned to correspond with the themes in
another. Neither are the teachers expected to teach them simultaneously. This
is thematic teaching done by a solo teacher.

Level 3: Curriculum Integration. It is at this level of integration, when the

class is studying two or more core learning areas or subjects around a common
theme. This is the multidisciplinary level of integration.
• Level 4. Curriculum Integration. Teachers teaching different
subjects collaborate on a common theme and its content. It is at this
level when discipline boundaries begin to disappear as teachers
address a common theme either teaching alone or with other
teachers. This is the interdisciplinary level of integration.
• Level 5. Curriculum Integration. A common theme is likewise
chosen by a team of teachers. In this level of integration the content
and discipline boundaries are blurred during the teaching-learning
process. Simply put, the boundaries between or among disciplines
are totally dissolved. Thus, the common theme is used in building
bridges across disciplines or subjects. This is the integrated
curriculum.
 Theories Supporting Curriculum Integration
• Three theories of learning support curriculum integration. These are experiential
learning, multiple intelligences, and constructivism.
1. Experiential Learning. Carl Rogers, the proponent of this theory believes that
all individuals have a natural propensity to learn. This theory has a common
place in the classroom when teachers address the needs and wants of the
learners particularly in planning instructions.
2. Multiple Intelligences. Howard Gardner, the proponent of this theory, affirms
that there are more kinds of intelligences than what we thought before.
3. Constructivism. This theory expounds that development and learning occur
through constructive processes and that knowledge is constructed from
experience.
Principles In Integrating Big Ideas And Strategies
• To ensure effective instruction, Beane(1992) expounds the significance of the
following principles in integrating big ideas and strategies.
1. Integrate several ideas and strategies.
2. Match content with strategies.
3. Integrate relevant concepts.
4. Integrate big ideas across multiple contents of instructions.
5. Provide opportunities to establish connections.

These principles provide direction to teachers in making connections or

establishing linkages between two or more disciplines or learning areas.
Common elements of an integrated curriculum
• Listed below are the common elements of an integrated curriculum as
expounded by Lake (2000).
1. A combination of subjects of learning areas
2. An emphasis on projects
3. Relationships among concepts
4. Thematic units as organizing principles
5. Sources that go beyond textbooks
6. Flexible schedules
7. Flexibles student grouping
Planning Integrated Instruction
• The following sequential steps in planning integrated instructions can greatly
helps teachers particularly in basic education in preparing units of study.
1. Draw content of instruction in basic education from the learning
competencies.
2. Identify a theme drawn from a core discipline.
3. Identify the related disciplines or learning areas that can help unfold the
chosen theme into instruction.
4. Collaborate with the teachers teaching the identified learning area
addressing the chosen theme.
5. Look for appropriate reading materials.
6. Use an approach to instruction that will facilitate integrative teaching –
learning in the classroom.
Assignment
• Answer the following questions:
1. What is an Integrated Curriculum?
2. What are the three approaches to Integration?
3. How is Integration Beneficial?

• Give examples for each of the nine categories of multiple

intelligences of Howard Gardner.