Andrews (1990) defines interdisciplinary collaboration as occurring "when different professionals, possessing unique knowledge, skills, organizational perspectives, and personal attributes, engage in coordinated problem solving for a common purpose" (cited in Berg-Weger &. Schneider, 1998).
Dr Heidi Hayes Jacobs ( principal and expert for teaching curriculum) explains interdisciplinary learning/ curriculum...
Interdisciplinary collaboration intends professionals to cross boundaries and work together to achieve a common goal. Sometimes these professionals may be part of the same community of practice (note community of practice blog reflection) The following image shows the professionals I may cross boundaries with...
 |
| My Professional Interdisciplinary Collaborative Network |
I would even go as far as stating that the astronauts #teacheronboard are part of the indisciplinary collaboration because I can collaborate with them through technology (twitter account) to provide information that will enhance my students learning (note social media blog reflection).
Just last week I explored the expertise of primary teaching colleagues to learn how to further utilise the 'Seesaw' App effectively in the classroom. 'PD in your PJ's' is a website that encourages teachers worldwide to gain information that can be used in the classroom through the knowledge (Kete) of other experienced teachers. The website/ youtube links encourage teachers to participate by asking questions or share their own knowledge.
My aim is to implement their ideas within the classroom as they use Seesaw to enhance their Daily 5 (literacy) programme.
As suggested at the beginning of my blog interdisciplinary thinking incorporates many facets. This makes sense when teachers are increasingly required to teach a myriad of curriculum areas in the same 6 hour day. An interdisciplinary mindset thinks in teaching themes or by integrating learning.
I remember a colleague being flabbergasted when trying to teach her students that reading, writing, maths and science are/ can be connected. Her Year 4 students could not understand or make the links that we read writing. Her theory was that 'teachers are teaching curriculum areas in isolation' and not integrating or 'crossing boundaries' to assist learners to make the links. I recently asked my students if scientists need to know maths when measuring half a cup of water in a test tube. They all emphatically answered 'NO!' I said, 'Do they need to know maths to measure the water? Answer - 'No'. Me: 'The test tube has measuring lines on it just like a ruler.' The answer was still, 'No'. I thought, 'Oh no! Even my students are struggling with the concept of linking their learning'.
Interdisciplinary teaching, learning and collaboration, then, needs to explicitly taught to learners. I like what Dr Deana McDonagh, an Associate Professor of the University of Illinois, argues ' when you bring other people into a space in an interdisciplinary way, cross pollination takes place, so previously unconnected connections are made' and Joyce Thomas, Visiting Associate Professor of University of Illinois, states, 'We need a shared language that allows us to communicate between disciplines'.
My goal is to collaborate with Kiwi Expert, Bridget Palmer, to teach our school about becoming ambassadors for our national icon the Kiwi bird. Learners will learn to link curriculum areas to help them understand how to care for our environment through sustainable practices. They will learn how to link science, maths, writing, reading, technology and 21st century skills, with the help of an expert who would network our school community with the expertise of others (note mindmap above). While being ambassadors for kiwis may seem like a narrow focus, learning would actually include sustainable practices across a number of relevant, authentic topics, assist learners in caring for their immediate environment and transfer their learning to global issues.
References
Berg-Weger, M., &. Schneider, F. D. (1998). Interdisciplinary collaboration in social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 34, 97-107.Heidi Hayes Jacobs. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/b0Qp3wfzL5k
PD in PJs. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/L9eoX8h87us
Ross School Youtube clip. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/hHZhkB0FJik
The benefits of implementing interdisciplinary collaboration in education. Source: ThomasMcDonaghGroup. ( 2011, May 13). Interdisciplinarity and Innovation Education.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDdNzftkIpA
No comments:
Post a Comment