How an integrated curriculum can benefit your learners

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​“When will I ever use this?” Hearing these words can rattle the nerves of any teacher who has dedicated significant time and energy preparing and delivering a lesson. Yet didn’t many of us mumble this very question to ourselves as youngsters while we sat at desks listening to our teachers? 

Today’s classroom may look different with 1:1 devices, gamified learning to captivate students and research-backed strategies. Concerned educators, like the teachers we once had, may wonder whether their effort will make the critical difference when their students must fend for themselves as adults.

Subject matter taught in a disconnected manner, can limit students, especially if this is the only type of learning they encounter. It can lead students to rightfully question how their assignments relate to life outside the classroom. An integrated curriculum fosters meaningful learning that’s ideal in our rapidly changing world. 

The keys to an integrated curriculum

What is an integrated curriculum?

An integrated curriculum refers to learning that is synthesized across traditional subject areas. Simply speaking, an integrated curriculum allows students to pursue learning without being limited by traditional subject matter boundaries.

Why integrate the curriculum?

The reasoning behind an integrated curriculum goes beyond keeping students from complaining or being bored. It is not a new concept. In 1911, John Muir wrote, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” Integration acknowledges and builds upon the interrelatedness of the world we live in. Practically speaking, this manner of learning promotes students’ ability to transfer knowledge and skills to alternate settings and contexts. 

The benefits of curriculum integration

Learners and educators have much to gain from an integrated curriculum immediately in the classroom. Benefits compound over time as learners move on to post secondary education and into careers. 

Promotes future success

The world does not operate in neat compartments of science, social studies, art, language and math as presented in a traditional school curriculum. By cutting across subject matter lines and emphasizing unifying concepts, the integrated curriculum model connects classroom learning with the real-world applications. 

Develops life skills and aptitudes

Integrated learning addresses the core concern of effectively preparing learners for an uncertain future. Flexible thinking, problem solving, interrelating with new ideas and effective collaboration all build skills and abilities that are necessary to solving real-life problems. When taught together, topics are mutually reemphasized, helping learners make critical connections and develop higher levels of critical thinking.

Motivates learners

Since the value of what they are learning is clear, students tend to be more engaged. Learners often interact with each other to research and come up with solutions together. Furthermore, instead of memorizing facts and information, integrating the curriculum encourages learners to discover how aspects of several subjects interrelate. This builds motivation and flexible thinking patterns in learners. 

Enlivens the classroom 

A common response from educators when their school implements an integrated curriculum is feeling reinvigorated. Students enthusiastic for learning experiences that authentically fascinate them, matched with educators who feel creative and empowered create a dynamic environment for deeper learning.

Getting started with an integrated curriculum

Fortunately, numerous ways to integrate the curriculum allow administrators to fulfill their state and school district standards. Categories for understanding different levels of integration were created to help educators find the best fit for their learner when designing a curriculum. 

Within these approaches, social, thinking and content skills can be nested within one subject, shared or threaded throughout several disciplines. Each category has a different organizing center and is influenced by its particular view of how learners best acquire knowledge.

Three basic approaches to integrated learning

Multidisciplinary features a common theme that runs across several subjects. 

Example: Learners are assigned a project on corn and employ economics and geography to research corn used as food, feed and fuel; apply culinary skills to make recipes; and incorporate social studies and history to explore corn’s use culturally and historically throughout the Americas.

Interdisciplinary centers around common learnings that span two or more disciplines. 

Example: Learners explore and practice deeper concepts such as mutual responsibility and respect as part of their civics class where a Tennessee teacher uses literature that intersects the disciplines of government, social studies and history. 

In a transdisciplinary approach, a real-life problem or student question is the organizing center, and it emerges from learners rather than the teacher. 

Example: Tackling local pollution guides, learners explore science and social studies. One learner may end up organizing a community cleanup, while another integrates art by designing and collaborating on a wall mural. 

Overcoming resistance

One challenge may be getting buy-in from educators who may be concerned about meeting standards or having to work in an unfamiliar way. Try shifting the mindset from viewing an integrated curriculum as a barrier to meeting standards to a roadmap that reveals exciting ways to integrate the curriculum. Additionally, make sure each educator has an opportunity to voice concerns and ideas.

Steps for integrating the curriculum

1. Establish clear learning outcomes specific to students you serve
2. Decide on the level of integration desired 
3. Train the teaching team 
4. Create working groups with clearly defined responsibilities
5. Put comprehensive assessment methods in place
6. Maintain ongoing communication between learners and educators
7. Prepare to revise and re-evaluate your plan.

Incorporating an integrated curriculum with technology

Technology tools can effectively support you throughout the development stages to facilitate communication, collaboration and training. 

Once the program is up and running, educators can lean on tools such as Google Workspace for Education. They can team these with Hāpara or their school’s current learning management system. Use these to provide a streamlined class experience for learners with these best practices.   

• Communicate expectations and learning outcomes clearly with students at the onset of the project. Hāpara Workspace allows educators to make learning goals visible to students.
• Support learners in developing agency and organization skills by managing their workload with a tool like Hāpara Student Dashboard. 
• Differentiate instruction and organize groups to boost the success of all learners. Use Hāpara Highlights to monitor how learners and groups are progressing online.
• Provide learners choices for resources that relate to their interests or the option to upload their own resources through Hāpara Workspace. 
• Measure learning to match this way of teaching by choosing assessment methods designed to demonstrate the depth of learning comprehension and aptitudes while encompassing subjects covered.