7. The Curriculum Continuum 3 Separate Subject Separate topics Traditional Separate subjects share a common theme. Multi-Disciplinary Inter-Disciplinary Team chooses common theme with some overlap of subjects No separate subjects, theme selected by teacher Integrated Integrative Beyond? No separate subject, students determine themes Interactive, Independent, Technology-based?
Discuss readings, Share key understandings, teachers jot key words or ideas and put up The process of experiencing and understanding connections and, because of this, seeing things whole. Students take problems and concerns real to the student and real in the community as the essential building blocks (topics for study) of the curriculum. Students and teachers work together to select the specific topic of interest to them and together they plan how, when, where and why they will pursue it. The focus is on active student participation and decision making. Together with their teacher and individually, the students explore or investigate the issue in order to understand it better and to perhaps propose a solution, suggest a new direction and report their results to a significant audience.
Teachers, as enablers and facilitators, focus on helping students to develop essential skills intrinsic to their study and learning. Key skills may be formulating questions, creating hypotheses, working out ways to collect data, and reporting on what has been learned. Subject content and knowledge comes into play after, rather than before, deciding what is to be studied and how.
Are based on topics of substance and significance; Place an emphasis on students seeing connections in and purposes for learning; Develop big ideas that excite the imagination of students and teachers alike; Develop desire for the learning process to be active and participatory; Develop skills and knowledge in contexts real to the students; Build on and extend a student’s personal knowledge and experience; and develop sustained programmes or work in contrast to one-off, unrelated lessons.
Curriculum Integration is about students making connections and seeing real purposes for their learning. Programmes of work are based in topics of substance and significance. Programmes of work are linked to problems and issues that are of personal and social concern to students. Learning experiences develop big ideas that excite and challenge the imagination of students and teachers alike. Students are actively involved in negotiating the content and direction of their learning within a framework developed with the teacher. Knowledge, skills, values and attitudes are all integrated within authentic contexts.
Learning builds, extends and expands a student's personal knowledge and experience. Learning experiences are open-ended and provide for a range of learning styles. The process of learning is as equally valued as the product of learning. Reflection is built into programmes of work, so that learners are encouraged to continually discuss and develop their thinking and planning. Curriculum Integration builds sustained programmes of work in contrast to one-off unrelated lessons. There are a range of possible approaches to Curriculum Integration, stretching from 'correlation between subjects' to 'student centred inquiry and problem solving'.
Discuss where individual teachers sit along the continuum
Teachers, as enablers and facilitators, focus on helping students to develop essential skills intrinsic to their study and learning. Key skills may be formulating questions, creating hypotheses, working out ways to collect data, and reporting on what has been learned. Subject content and knowledge comes into play after, rather than before, deciding what is to be studied and how.
Teachers follow model using context of (using context of ‘using Earth’s resources wisely’) NOTE: We do not follow this and cannot as the school determines the context DO WE INCLUDE??
Where do teachers sit on continuum?
Students brainstorm as many ideas as they can for the given learning context. This can be done as a whole class, group or independent exercise. Students generate open questions under each of the following headings: personal, family, community, national, international, cultural. Students test each of their questions to see if they are: Connected, Rich, Charged, Practical, Open, Undermining Students select the best question for their personal study using tournament prioritiser or venn diagrams or other graphic organisers.
Students complete the template in which they create and plan sub-questions using Bloom’s taxonomy. For each sub-question they think about different ways in which they can present their learning using different multiple intelligences. These become their learning experiences. Students carry out their research Students write their conclusion where they aim to answer their fertile question or take action on their ‘so what’ and reflect upon their learning. Paragraphs could be written about: Why I chose this study, what I wanted to find out, what I found out for each sub-question, what I did well, things I could improve on, my goals for next time etc.