What Are Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and Transdisciplinary Integrations?
The Multipdisciplinary integration to curriculum keeps the separate disciplinary boundaries, but keep a connection of a common theme or issue between then. Each discipline in this integration is looked at in it's primary state. As explained in my recollection of high school, art is not connected to english, or science and geography do not interact with each other.
 |
| Retrieved from: http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/images/publications/books/drake2004_fig1.1.gif |
Educators who follow this integration would look at the standards in the curriculums of each subject and only relate a common theme between them. The image to the left shows the relationships of the different subjects to each other and to a common theme. For example: English, Science, and Geography may connect to look at the common theme of problem solution essays or presentations for the environment. With all different types of subject areas, and many themes that relate to them, we see that there are many different ways to connect subject areas to different themes. This type of integration same to be useful in all classes in education from primary to post secondary, as the topics and connections can get more specific and reflective with each level of education. It also helps to connect students to the big picture when they ask "well how does english help me if I want to be a chemist?".
 |
| Retrieved From: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ca/ 63/0e/ca630e91430536843058d68d41d8c541.jpg |
The Intradisciplinary integration as explained in Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment is a curriculum that integrates the concepts from different disciplines and blends them together in order to point out important themes and concepts. In this approach to integration the educators would organize the curriculum around the common theme, instead of looking at the separate curriculums and pulling out the common themes from them. Common learnings found in the disciplines to highlight the interdisciplinary skills and concepts that are important to learn. The disciplines become less important in this approach than in the previous approach, and themes and concepts highlight the curriculum. This integration approach is seen in schools today, the importance of technological literacy is highlighted in high schools. It is seen in all subject areas; English for multimedia studies, graphic design for art, math with excel functions, and science using different machines for experimental analysis. It is also a common concept and theme that was integrated in many of the blog posts this week as a new approach to education.
In the transdisciplinary approach to integration, the curriculum completely changes in comparison to the other two integrations as educators organize curriculum around student questions and concerns in culture, socio, political, and environmental concerns. In this integration, the students develop skills to suit life in society, and within their separate social institutions. Different from the other two integrations, students are taught lessons using real life contexts; they are given actual real life examples to work with. This integration leads to either project based learning projects, or leads to negotiating with the students of how the curriculum would run. Instead of looking at primarily the concepts and learning straight from texts that focus on the different subject areas, the transdisciplinary integration focuses on new perspectives based on previous theories and concepts, and the issues within these pre assumes notions in texts. Therefore, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches use a theme to learn about different types of disciplines, but transdisciplinary appears to look through the lenses of these different disciplines to look at the bigger picture these themes emphasize.
What are examples of transdisciplinary integration units involve topics?
Equality and inequality, the environmental, media and gender dynamics, topics of democracy, and global education.
To review the concepts:
 |
| Retrieved From: http://www.greenwichschools.org/uploaded/virtual_library/transdisciplinary/trans3.gif |
How Do The Three Integrations Connect?
When looking at all three degrees of integration, I saw no connection between them. Looking closer at the three interpretations though I began to see the relationship between the connections to subject areas and their surrounding themes. Throughout a timeline of education it seems that each subject area started off as it's own separate curriculum, and throughout time the web of connections between subject areas began to grow. As education moves toward the future, I feel that education will move further from multidisciplinary, and closer and closer towards transdisciplinary. In participating in teaching observations, it is becoming clearer to see not only the blending separate subject curriculums , but the complete removal of the subject as a singular entity- classes may consist fully of developing themes, and working on societal issues. Looking at these three integrations, I see the past, the present, and the future of education.
Retrived From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5sX7ffffxI
The video above gives great examples of the three integrations to curriculum, but looking at this video, I start to wonder...
1) Can the curriculum blend subject areas as close to transdisciplinary, without creating problems?Some people need structure when looking at subject areas as separate curriculums, will blending be beneficial to some, while risking the education of others?
2) How far can education blend the subject areas together without making them unrecognizable?
3) How will teachers who study different practices be able to teach with transdisciplinary integration into curriculum?
4) Which integration is the most beneficial to primary, secondary, and post secondary education?
Until Next Time,
Miss. Bieber
