Facilitating Interdisciplinarity

My interdisciplinary map

Andrews (1990, as cited in Berg-Weger &. Schneider, 1998) defines interdisciplinary practice this way ”when different professionals, possessing unique knowledge, skills, organisational perspectives, and personal attributes, engage in coordinated problem solving for a common purpose”.  I would argue that I am a connected educator who collaborates often rather than truly being interdisciplinary.  

I do work with staff around our common purpose of teaching students, however, the interdisciplinary connection is after the fact.  A recent example of this was an English teacher showing off a student’s visual-verbal text. The student had made an animation, which was quite captivating. I then assessed it against a visual arts standard 2.5 (Produce a resolved work that demonstrates control of skills appropriate to cultural conventions) and was able to reward the student for their innovation and hard work. This was a one-off occurrence and was not a pervasive practice in our school.

There is the potential for interdisciplinary practice though. We meet in learning teams (small groups made up of staff members that represent a variety of departments) and do occasionally share our instances of our teaching with one another. However, the discussion is usually centred around general school business and professional readings. In terms of everyday classroom practice, we operate predominantly within a culture of individualism (Stoll, 1998) with small sprinklings of balkanism (Stoll, 1998). Our classrooms are our empires and we rarely look outwards, this not uncommon in the secondary sector though “ … in practice, with the existing model of tenure, faculty often concentrate on their own stream … ” (McDonagh and Thomas, 2011). This protectionist impulse, when framed around the survival of subjects, staffing and CAPNAs is understandable, however, I believe that it is a fraught position when we consider our common purpose which is our students. 

As stated in a previous blog post I passionately believe we need to shift the way that we do things in NZ education. Our curriculum talks about innovation and creativity and even knowledge creation; however, our teaching and assessment culture is in stark contrast to this. The way the curriculum is taught and structured is designed (in my opinion) around what suits subject and teachers rather than what the learner needs.  When we package the learning into discrete bodies of knowledge and expect students to work through such a volume (At times 20 -30 credits in a subject), this inevitably places enormous amounts of stress and pressure on students. It is no wonder that stress and anxiety are on the rise for secondary students (Radio NZ, 2015). Our students are not units on a production line and their achievements are not simply government-mandated targets to reach. We need to do less and do it better.

We need to look at the whole child in the Deweyian sense. What is it that excites and engages them? What is important in their world? How can we celebrate the learner.  “ … the value of school education is the extent in which it creates a desire for continuous growth and supplies means for making the desire effective” Dewey (1916). If we are simply interested in grades and accumulating assessments then we are badly missing the mark. Bolstad and Gilbert (2008) emphasise a connected, authentic curriculum in their report ‘Rethinking the New Zealand senior secondary curriculum for the future.’. We need to move beyond the industrial model of acquiring bits of information and look to how we can form connections between our subjects to enhance to the learning for our students and expand their empathic horizons (McDonagh and Thomas, 2011)

We are currently looking at how we can build interdisciplinary connections within learning areas at my school. We have been asked to think of one learning opportunity or unit where we could work across departments to enhance the learning for our students. For instance, in the arts, we are looking at how we can plan authentic learning experiences for our students between drama and visual art as we often have common students. We are looking at set design for the common thread as students are required to consider this as a part of senior drama, and visual arts often offers 1.5 and 2.5 which require students to make resolved work which use cultural conventions. Students would explore how their art functions at such a scale, test how it would work within a working set and consult with their stakeholders (drama class) to improve their design. There is also the potential to work with the technology department to provide an authentic context for their design and implement standards. This will require us to step outside of our silos. We will need plan together to create the time and space for this to occur. We will need to plan checkpoints with our classes to ensure that we are on track and regularly meet with each other to review the teaching and learning during the unit.

Interdisciplinary pedagogy is not a new concept. As early as 1916, Dewey talked about education being a social process. The issue remains how to develop a connected and interdisciplinary practice within the classroom.

There are many benefits to interdisciplinary practice, such as an expanded empathic horizon. (Mc Donagh and Thomas, 2011) That is learners are able to see through others eyes and gain insights into how others think. Students are able to make perceptive connections between ideas and have a richer and more informed perspective as a result. This has parallels for me with knowledge building communities and the principle of ‘Diversity of Ideas’ (reference) a community is enriched by the diversity and varying expertise of its’ members. What’s more a tuakana teina framework can be fostered  “We stick together and work together” (Boyer and Bishop, 2004, p.6)

There are many challenges to implementing interdisciplinary practice. Shann (1977, as cited by Mathison and Freeman, 1997) identified a problem around teachers using integrated techniques rather than as a driving force in their programmes. Often when teachers are cynical about an initiative or don’t understand it they will revert to what they know and understand. Another challenge is what Jacobs (1989, as cited by Mathison and Freeman 1997) identify as the Pot-pouri problem, a sampling of learning areas without any particular learning direction. The learning focus should be meaningful and authentic, making “progress towards significant educational goals, not merely because it cuts across subject-matter lines" (Brophy & Alleman 1991) Interdisciplinartity with no purpose or direction does not add value to the learning experience.

Another challenge is resourcing. In the Ross Spiral curriculum (201) teachers learning is framed contextually, however teachers are thought of as learners and are incredibly well supported. The are given up 150 hours of professional development over the year. I can’t even comprehend this kind of support! If we want to develop and sustain interdisciplinary practice within our school we need to develop ‘workplace conditions’ that support collaboration. Our meeting structures need to move away from general school administration  in order to create the time and mental space to genuine collaboration and communication across subject disciplines. Mulligan and Kugan ’s (2015)  model for successful interdisciplinary collaboration emphasises the importance of common goals, conducive workplace conditions and the qualities/attiudes of team members. They assert that sustain collaboration with one of these factors missing, whilst possible, will be very difficult. 

(Mulligan & Kugan, 2015, Conceptual Model for Collaboration)

It is so important for schools to support their staff in this by prioritising collaboration in their structures and procedures. If we want to develop a culture of creativity, as defined by Sir Ken Robinson (2014) “The process of having original ideas that have value” there needs to be a pedagogical shift and ia prioritising of professional development to support teachers to make this shift. “if you want a culture of innovation, you have to give people the skills, the tools, the processes, to actually do what’s required of them” It won’t just happen. Interdisciplinary practice will require time, support and investment.

Berg-Weger, M., &. Schneider, F. D. (1998). Interdisciplinary collaboration in social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 34, 97-107.

Bolstad, R., & Gilbert, J. (2008). Disciplining and drafting, or 21st century learning? Rethinking the New Zealand senior secondary curriculum for the future. Retrieved from http://slideplayer.com/slide/6903335/

Boyer & Bishop, 2004. “Young Adolescent Voices: Students' Perceptions of Interdisciplinary Teaming,”RMLE, v.1. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/3e/a6/ef.pdf.

Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg. p62

Brophy, J. & Alleman, J. (1991). A caveat: Curriculum integration isn't always a good idea. Educational Leadership, 49(2), 66.

Mathison, S., & Freeman, M. (1997). THE LOGIC OF INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES. Chicago.

Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association

McDonagh and Thomas, 2011 https://youtu.be/kDdNzftkIpA)

Mulligan, L. M., & Kuban, A. J. . (2015). A Conceptual Model for Interdisciplinary Collaboration. Retrieved from http://acrlog.org/2015/05/14/a-conceptual-model-for-interdisciplinary-collaboration

Robinson, K. , (2014, August 30). Can Creativity Be Taught?  Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://youtu.be/vlBpDggX3iE

Is over-assessment to blame for rising anxiety and stress [Julia Davidson and Stephanie Greaney]. (2015, March 20). Retrieved November 9, 2017, from http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20171708/is-over-asssessment-to-blame-for-rising-anxiety-and-stress

From Nine To Noon, 9:24 am on 20 March 2015

Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture