In this article, Novadene Miller and Laura Domenge look at the benefits, and challenges of interdisciplinary learning, in the hope of leading to dialogue on this subject to build bridges in schools across disciplines
The curriculum in our schools covers a wide spectrum of courses that are interdependent and fundamental as a pivot in the way students develop their critical thinking skills for the demands of today's world. As educators we play a crucial role in creating an environment that nurtures and builds the way students perceive the world and by extension transfer skills from one domain to another.
We can ask ourselves how we can get and give fresh insight both from within and outside our areas of speciality in a way that is both cohesive and catalyst within while meeting the demands of our curriculums in vertical and lateral learning.
An example of an interdisciplinary project
As teachers of humanities and English Language and Literature, we collaborated to plan an interdisciplinary project between Geography and English Language.
This project set out to approach each discipline through the lens of the other while transferring units of analysis from each discipline that enhance understanding of each and by extension learning from each perspective. Students learned to use and transfer skills of sociocultural construction of space, the value and importance of geographical symbols of landscape such as rivers, mountains and forest and the representation of space within the historical context of the setting evidenced by language, characters, storyline and themes unlocked with the geosymbols of the space. The English classes used this geographical lens to revisit the book they were studying to better understand the link between the characters and the place settings.
The specific task involved creating a fictional story based in a real location, allowing the students to interact with the setting and see how geographical and cultural factors influenced their characters. The students then took this story to their Geography class and used it as a basis to create a fictional map of the same space, taking into account the social construction of that space represented in language from the stories they studied.
Having completed the interdisciplinary unit, both teachers reflected on the experience and gave feedback. Here are our accounts:
Teacher of English Language and Literature, Laura Domenge, Year 9.
“Giving the students free rein to choose the region and time period they wanted to write about, their enthusiasm was obvious - some students wanted to explore major historical events such as the American War of Independence or the Industrial Revolution, and others wanted to learn more about their own home countries, taking their characters to South Africa, Spain, or China. This project helped students understand that fiction is rooted in real situations and real places and that it is relevant outside the classroom. It helped them develop their storytelling skills - it was a pleasure to read stories where the setting was integral rather than an afterthought or even entirely absent - and the whole project was all the more effective because the students had agency and could follow their own interests.”
Teacher of Geography, Novadene Miller, Year 9
“A fresh appreciation of the lens of geography was gained seeing the field from outside geography, and the value added to a story's meaning when the intrinsic and functional value of a territory is understood in the context of a story. The creative skills illustrated during this journey to create the fictional maps were a reminder of how we can capture a multifaceted view of space and not limit the scope of geography while allowing students to add their own interpretation of space. This unit also reminds me to expand the horizons of what themes can be analyzed and to revise the language used in communicating ideas on the geographic space and by extension the communities involved and the documentation of these ideas in ethnography, written and oral language of primary data.”
What did this approach contribute to the understanding of students and to the approach of the teacher?
From the perspective of English, the interdisciplinary unit helped the students connect characters meaningfully to their settings and improved their story writing. In Geography, it helped bring life to the maps on their pages and helped understand the social and cultural elements of mapmaking.
Challenges for students and what can students gain from this?
It was certainly a challenging project - for many students, it was the first time they had actively combined skills from their Geography and English classes, and it required more scaffolding than initially planned. Nevertheless, it yielded some wonderful results, with stories of characters that were better understood in relation to the settings with greater attention to details in the story, capturing the intricacies and relevance of the settings in a way that mirrors the realistic context of the story. Students used their creative skills in geography, and places gained new life and meaning.
What did students gain from this experience and what practical tools can be added? Students build transfer, reflective, organization, research, and creative skills when engaging in interdisciplinary learning.
Why should interdisciplinary units be pursued?
International schools benefit from having a tapestry of students from a variety of continents, each with their own stories linked to geographical symbols, expressed in poems, literature, song, and art to mention a few. Putting in place activities that allow the students to make a link with their countries of origin and the books read brings the classes to life while complementing the fabric of our international community.
What can a teacher take from this experience?
Teachers can continue to apply the interdisciplinary approach to other subjects. The English teacher continued to apply the lessons learned from this project by engaging in a project with the Mathematics department for the same group’s study of H.G. Wells’s science fiction novel The Time Machine, students enjoyed a lecture and Q&A session with an IB Mathematics teacher on the principles of time travel explored in the novel. Taking time to think about the non-literary aspects of the text deepened the understanding and appreciation of the text of students and teachers alike.
Cross-curricular work does take time, a resource that is scant for all of us, but by working it into the curriculum we can harness the students’ interest at the same time as building their skill sets. We can escape the silo mentality and make all subjects engaging and relevant.
Interdisciplinary skills are vital for all stages of vertical and horizontal learning and will nurture key skills fundamental for examinations that are obligatory to complete school diplomas as well as provide vital skills needed outside the classroom to survive in today’s competitive world.
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