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SSNPCA 2 - Interdisciplinary learning, Humes (2013) - Repko defines…

- - - - Education Scotland (2020) o Defining and agreeing what IDL is has been a source of discussion for some time and has an impact on its implementation in practice (use this to say the ambiguity is leading to confusion)
  - - - Helmane & Briska (2017)
      - IDL teachers organise curriculum around common learning across disciplines. Usually include a problem question. Includes an integration of knowledge that focuses on personal ideas pupils develop
      - IDL is characterised by discussion, cooperative learning and group work
- - - - RSE (2023) Hurley (2001) has shown show that student achievement in science was greatest when maths was used in integration with science or to enhance science, and in maths when taught in sequence with science (i.e. planned together but taught separately). :fire:
        
        Meta anlysis, qualitative and historical data analysis
        
        Limitations: lacks concrete definition on integration (interdisciplinary) also quite an old study
    - - RSE 2023 o Poverty is a prime cause of educational disengagement and disadvantage. Many countries are trying to close the gap in educational attainment between their poorest and richest pupils, and between schools in the most and least deprived areas.
        o Improving educational attainment is now a top priority of the Scottish government. With more than one-in-five children in Scotland being recognised as living in poverty – a figure that is significantly higher than other European countries (Scottish Government 2014) – by the age of 5, children in poverty lag between 10 and 13 months behind their more affluent peers in attainment and school readiness (Sosu and Ellis 2014).
      - RSE 2023 o IDL encourages team building and other soft skills and values such as resilience, resourcefulness, reflectiveness and reciprocity that will benefit all pupils, but especially the disengaged.
      - Bell Hooks Chapter 12 - classroom say they are democratic but they are not as borgouise values still dominate blocking the possibility of confrontation. The obsession with maintaining order (from teacher) undermines attempts for constructive dialogue. IDL can help to break down these powere relations and heiorachy to make education truly democratic
        
        IDL challenges outdated thought processes (Humes, 2013/ Applebee, 2017/ Moran, 2010)
      - Also improves:
        
        Engagement (RSE, 2023/ EdScot, 2020/ Applebee, 2017)
        
        Attendance (EdScot, 2020)
        
        Motvation (Humes, 2013)
        
        Confidence when dealing with challenges (Humes, 2013)
        
        Real World context (Applebee, Humes) - gives them more motivation to learn
      - Lack of understanding leads to pick'n'mix appraoch with no thought as to how these disciplines will work together or if they even fit together. This makes learning no longer student centered and democratic, removing the benefits outlined here (Harvie, 2020)
        
        Moran (2010) human intellectual limits to interdisciplinarity (at higher levels) means that someone working individually may have gaps in their knowledge
        
        Reduces enthusiasm when not done properly (Fenwick, 2013) makign it less likely to engage students
    - - Creativity (RSE, 2023/ Robinson ,2011/ Moran, 2010)
        
        Higher order skill in Blooms Taxonomy
        
        Foundation for Innovation - the process of putting ideas into practice
      - Stimulates Curiosity (RSE 2023/ Robinson 2011)
      - Real-world contexts (Applebee, 2007/ Humes, 2013)
        
        Dewey says this is vital to maintain student interests (Dewey, 1916)
    - - Harvie (2020) o Newman’s (1873) ‘circle of knowledge’ provides an example of such a view where each discipline is seen to occupy a particular part of the circle and can only answer questions relevant to its own particular field. To gain a holistic education, Newman argued that one had to be familiar with the whole circle and that to acquire a true understanding of reality, engagement with a variety of disciplines is necessary. Integrationists believe that it is possible to use knowledge from different disciplines simultaneously to gain a deeper understanding of reality
      - Making connections between disciplines leads to:
        
        Higher order thinking (Harvie, 2020, Humes, 2013)
        
        Critical Thinking (Harvie, 2020/ Ivanitskaya, 2002/ Humes, 2013)
        
        Development of schemas (Ivanitskaya, 2002/ Thornburn,2017) - the organisation of knowledge which is just as important as quantity of knowledge as it allows for efficient information processing, ability to adapt to new information and enhances problem solving skills
      - Humes (2013) - abandoning structured knoweldge may be a mistake as it moves towards more vague and poorly understood areas of knowledge // agreed by Moran(2010) Ivanitskaya (2002)
        
        Harvie (2020) srtudent cenetered learning can be 'woolly' and result in patchy coverage of 'official knowledge' (Apple, 1993)
        
        Good IDL should draw on disciplinary knowledge foundation. They do not exist separately from one another, but actualy complement each other (RSE, 2023/ Boix-Mansilla, 2004 in Harvie/ Education Scotland, 2020) * called pillars in EdScot
    - - Harvie (2020) The centrality of IDL in the curriculum is underpinned by the premise that we now require a knowledge economy which produces workers with adaptability who are capable of responding to rapid change in the job market (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education {HMIE}, 2009).
      - Education Scotland (2020)  Increasing numbers of further and higher education institutions are creating interdisciplinary courses that hope to develop more ‘T-shaped’ people (Heikkinen, 2018; Saviano et al 2016). The vertical bar of the letter T represents the depth in a single subject or discipline, with the horizontal bar expressing the ability to collaborate across disciplines
    - - Vygotsky:
        
        Builds on previous learning (ZPD) (Vygotsky, 1978)
        
        collaboration leads to more learning (through social)(Vygotsky, 1962)
  - - - Harvie (2020) - Interdisciplinary learning (IDL) features heavily within Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence and is promoted as a way to develop skills building and conceptual creativity in students, factors which are now seen as crucial for the twenty-first century education system (Khadri, 2014; Kolmos, 2016
      - OECD(2015) - Interdisciplinary learning is indeed regarded as a “learning context” of which there are three others: the ethos and life of the school as a community; curriculum areas and subjects; and opportunities for personal achievement. In addition to the other curricular dimensions, therefore, CfE formally recognises four different “contexts for learning” (Building the Curriculum 3)
      - OECD(2015) The three inter-disciplinary curriculum areas - “Health and wellbeing across learning”, “Literacy across learning”, and “Numeracy across learning” - are regarded as the responsibility of all teachers and practitioners, not only those with specific teaching responsibilities aligned to these curriculum areas
    - - Harvie (2020)- Recent studies suggest, however, that although teachers welcome the idea of IDL in principle, there is a serious policy implementation gap (Harvie, 2018, Graham, 2019)
      - Education Scotland (2020)- Despite being at the heart of Scotland’s Curriculum of Excellence (CfE), interdisciplinary learning (IDL) has not yet become a habitual learning approach in all of Scotland’s schools. It exists, and it is a way of thinking and learning that can have a significant impact on improving student engagement and performance, but its application and quality is inconsistent.
      - OECD (2015)- The main study of implementation of CfE is a 2011 investigation, using an online survey and in-depth interviews in one of the 32 local authorities (by Mark Priestley and colleagues). Primary schools had made more progress with whole-school, topic-based and project-based interdisciplinary approaches than secondary schools where the curriculum remained too often conventionally subject-based. A range of new practices was being embraced by teachers, and their adoption was being enhanced by a move towards collaborative and collegial working”, but the researchers were not convinced that teachers were engaging deeply with CfE’s underpinning ideas in their work together (also Priestley, 2013). :fire:
    - - Poor Understanding of IDL
        
        Harive (2020) Lenoirand colleagues (2000) found that when teachers had a poor understanding and education in the area of interdisciplinarity, it resulted in what they called an ‘eclectic approach’ to IDL being adopted. This describes a ‘pick and mix’ attitude to teaching IDL, with no clear perception of how well certain disciplines fit together and how best links can be made.
        
        Harvie (2020) - - However, Harvie (2018) concluded that primary teachers were also unclear about what IDL actually involves and what is referred to, as interdisciplinary practice is often a form of topic work using a theme as a context for teaching the discrete disciplines. Indeed, it was acknowledged by Graham (2019) that IDL has been poorly articulated, poorly exemplified and often poorly understood by teachers even though it is at the heart of the Scottish Curriculum (Shelley, 2019) (agreed by Education Scotland ,2020)
        
        Harvie (202) Lack of conceptual clarity in the policy too(Harvie 2018). For example: * factors such as providing relevant contexts and developing knowledge and skills, can pertain as much to teaching and learning within discrete disciplines as they do to IDL, so these themes can often make it difficult to determine what is unique about interdisciplinary tasks
        
        Harvie (2020) * To add to this complexity various prefixes to disciplinary are frequently used (e.g., trans-, multi-, cross- and supra-) giving rise to what Graff (2016), refers to as a ‘storm of semantics’ with regards to the blurring of disciplinary boundaries
      - Lack of Training
        
        Humes (2013) - - What these potential practical problems suggest is that goodwill on its own may not be enough to advance the cause of interdisciplinary learning. Unless skilfully promoted, with political backing, a clear strategy and persuasive leadership
        
        RSE (2023) success is strongly reliant on teacher skills. They need good understandign of disciplines. Require a high level of CPD and ITE (otherword, change must be systemic)
      - Lack of Time and Resources
        
        Harvie(2020) lack of teacher time to plan effective IDL. Should ideally be planned after students prior knowledge has been considered but this isnt always practical (Murdoch and Wilson, 2004). Supported by Nariman and Chrispeels (2016) and Ward and Lee(2002)
        
        Applebee (2007) requries tiem and resources that are often not there (agreed by Ed Scto, 2020)
        
        Fenwick (2013)* Limited time and resources for planning and implementing integrated approaches have also been highlighted as barriers to successful enactment of such initiatives (Applebee et al., 2007; Harris & Ratcliffe, 2005)
      - Secondary School Structure
        
        Thornburn (2017) * However, as Bryce and Humes (2013, p. 58) note, to date ‘one would have to admit to a mixed picture across secondary schools … as … very many school departments hang on to their subject territories, often resorting to timetable rotations rather than finding ways of bringing about integration meaningfully’ - Need change in not only culte but school structures too (grouping of learners, how time is used in a day etc.)
        
        Humes (2013) - IDL requires longer periods of time that would require secondary schools to change their timetables
        
        Humes (2013) - Rigidity of CfE in secondary schools make IDl harder to implement due to conservative values of teachers (benefits teachers not learners)
        
        Education Scotland(2020) common misconception that IDL should happen after the 'serious work'
- - - - Note how these were not included in lesson plan