Module 6 - Week 7 and 8 – Designing Integrated Curriculum and the Benefits of Transdisciplinary Education

One of the buzzwords of high school re-design (reform) is trans-disciplinary education. True authentic learning is not subject based, therefore, it is important to teach our students that subjects actually overlap in the real world. Students must learn, at a young age, that today’s problems are related to all sorts of subject areas. Math, business, English and social issues are a part of almost every decision made in real life.  They are not separate or exclusive of each other.

PBL offers teachers and students a great chance to experience authentic problem-solving. As stated earlier, these problems are not subject based and require knowledge across a wide variety of subject areas. Projects should include learning in across different subject areas. My project, the Thinking Entrepreneur, is a perfect example of how different subject areas should be involved in the final product. Economics, business, language, math and societal issues are all important aspects that play a part in the learning expected through the project.

How is this possible in a school? There are many challenges that must be overcome in order for trans-disciplinary education to be successful. The first challenge is the need for strong leadership. The school’s (and board’s) admin must support this type of learning. It is essential for the whole school to be on board and develop a culture that supports trans-disciplinary education.  A second challenge is the need for trust between teachers and the need for trust between students and teachers. Subject teachers feel the subject matter taught in their area is of utmost importance. It is their area of passion. They do not want students to miss out on any of the concepts they would teach in a traditional setting. The trust it takes to use ideas of other teachers that may not necessarily be completely subject related takes a lot of courage, especially when it is new. A third challenge is time. The preparation, coordination and management of PBL projects is very time consuming, and, at times, stressful. It is hard enough for one teacher to create a project but to get teachers of all subject areas together can be very difficult.

In our school we are fortunate to have the leadership, trust and work ethic needed to make this type of education work. The admin wants us to try new things. They do not mind failure if it results in learning (or attempted learning).  The Thinking Entrepreneur project is a perfect chance to use trans-disciplinary learning, but, since both PBL and this project are new to me, I will stick to individual preparation and management this time around. As I feel more comfortable with PBL, the project is an excellent way to involve a variety of subject areas that will increase authentic learning for the students of our school.