1.1. What Is Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning?*
Interdisciplinary teaching and learning is exactly what it sounds like: students combine learning from multiple disciplines to come up with new ways to think about issues and solve problems.
Teachers looking to create these opportunities for students might ask, what is an interdisciplinary approach? Compared to traditional approaches, an interdisciplinary approach expands what students learn by allowing them to tackle problems that don’t fit neatly into one subject. It also changes how students learn by asking them to synthesize multiple perspectives, instead of taking what they’re told by a teacher at face value.
For an example of interdisciplinary learning, take this project from the theater program at Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts (TAPA) in Providence, RI. ShaLayla Simmons, theater teacher and artist in residence, led students in writing, staging, and directing plays based on their own life experiences, interests, and natural curiosities. The students also studied well known plays from across history a Greek drama, a play by Tennesse Williams, and a play by Lorraine Hansberry. This project was interdisciplinary in that it connected literature with historical perspectives, creative work, and material from students’ own lives. In doing this project, students made deep connections between their own identities and the plays they read, gaining new insights into both.
As this example from TAPA shows, much of the power of interdisciplinary learning lies in how it teaches students to think and make connections. In partnership with the National Science Foundation, The Science and Research Institute at Carleton College (SERC) identified four major cognitive skills that interdisciplinary learning teaches students, including the ability to:
• Recognize biases
• Thinking critically
• Embracing ambiguity
• Analyzing ethical concerns
These cognitive skills are crucial for high schools looking to transform learning and prepare students for success after graduation.
* Anna Sudderht, 2022, https://xqsuperschool.org/rethinktogether/author/annasudderth/
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Daniel Allen, former executive director of school renewal with the Santa Ana Unified School District, explained, The economy right now favours the weird; favours the new; favours the out of the box thinkers. Interdisciplinary learning helps students learn creatively and apply knowledge across disciplines. Interdisciplinary learning challenges these biases. It asks students to consider multiple perspectives and, in doing so, trains students to think more critically about their own identities. This approach engages students because it forces them to set aside preconceived notions, enabling them to:
• Learn more readily
• Get a deeper understanding of the material
• Be open minded to new ideas, concepts, and ways of doing things
1.2. Why Is Interdisciplinary Learning Important?
When students graduate, they should be able to evaluate complex information to come up with their own ideas and perspectives a.k.a., critical thinking. Interdisciplinary learning supports critical thinking by helping students:
• Understand multiple viewpoints
• Evaluate conflicting perspectives
• Build structural knowledge
This last bullet point, “structural knowledge”, is a term used by interdisciplinary education expert Dr. Allen Repko. As shown in the table below, it refers to the level of knowledge students need to get to a point of forming their own ideas and solutions to a given problem (*Anna Sudderht, 2022).
1.3. All Lessons Should Be Interdisciplinary
Multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary learning is a “whole” or “comprehensive” method that covers an idea, topic, or text by integrating multiple knowledge domains. It is a very powerful method of teaching that crosses the boundaries of a discipline or curriculum in order to enhance the scope and depth of learning. Each discipline sheds light on the topic like the facets of a gem.
**Jackie Gerstein, Ed.D., 2019, https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2019/01/13/all lessons should be interdisciplinary/
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Imagine being able to teach character development, basic math, and basic science concepts via a classic text. How about basic geography, writing skills, and point of view from that same text? Is it possible to also teach about comprehension, sequence, literal vs. non-literal, imagination, plot, theme, compare and contrast, opinion pieces, vocabulary, friendship, bullying, and critical thinking? The answer is yes, and the genre is legends, myths, and fables (https://www.edutopia.org/blog/a-cornucopia-ofmultidisciplinary teaching vincent mastro).
Benefits of Interdisciplinary Learning:
• Obviously, it addresses multiple content areas resulting in increased cognitive development as deeper learning occurs.
• It mimics real life learning rather than isolated educational experiences. It is authentic. When we learn something in the real world, it is interdisciplinary. For example, when learning how to bake or cook something new, one often does research for the best recipes and cooking strategies, reading of recipes and directions, and using math in the actual cooking or baking.
• It helps students increase their critical thinking and problem solving skills. Due to the nature of interdisciplinary learning which often includes the characteristics of deep and project based learning, students are asked to make their own connections and conclusions about their learning.
• It is student centric. The focus is on the student rather than on the teacher and on lower levels of Bloom’s taxonomy that often occurs when students are given drill and grill learning activities.
• It tends to be highly engaging for students. They engage because interdisciplinary activities often have at least one content area that is of great interest to the student. It highlights their strengths.
• It opens doors for students to develop interest in content areas in which they have not been typically interested as they see connections between their desirable content areas and other ones (**Jackie Gerstein, Ed.D., 2019).
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Interdisciplinary Teaching Promotes Significant Learning Significant Learning (Fink, 2003) takes place when meaningful and lasting classroom experiences occur. According to Fink when teachers impart students with a range of skills, and insights about the educational process that students will see as meaningful and salient to them they promote student engagement in the learning process and greater learning occurs. Fink identifies 6 elements of the educational process that lead to significant learning and each of these is a common feature of interdisciplinary forms of instruction. •
•
•
edu/econ/interdisciplinary/why html).
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Integration the capacity to connect ideas
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Foundational Knowledge acquiring information and understanding
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How to Learn obtaining insights into the process of learning (https://serc carleton
Subject (Geography, Art, Literature, History)
Literature & Art
Age of the students 14 15 years old
Goals of the lessons At the end of the lesson, students will be able to: Understand the characteristics of Symbolism in Literature & Art. Identify the correspondences between Literature and Art in Symbolism. ∙ Describe, analyse , and interpret poems and paintings. ∙ Reflect on art and literature works.
Venue
The Museum of Romanian Literature, The Poetry Museum from Iaşi, Romania Results
Knowledge: Identify the characteristics of Symbolism in Literature & Art. Skills: Describe, analyse, and interpret poems and paintings. Competence: Collaborate with peers to create an original short video with images of Symbolist paintings for representing a Symbolist poem at their choice. Resources 2 3 poems of the Romanian Symbolist poet, George Bacovia or other international Symbolist poet (Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Artur Rimbaud, see exhaustive list in further reading), at teacher’s choice
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Odilon
Handouts with
A symbolist
may
the lesson : Richard Wagner, Claude Debussy Further readings : https ://joannegrowney .com/BacoviaLeadofWinter2012 .pdf https ://en .wikipedia .org/wiki/Category :Symbolist_poets https ://www .theartstory .org/movement/symbolism/history and concepts/#nav https ://www .britannica .com/art/Symbolism literary and artistic movement https ://en .wikipedia .org/wiki/Impressionism https ://www .identifythisart.com/art movements styles/modern art/symbolism art movement/ https://www.the art world.com/blog/2021/03/02/symbolist painters are inspired by emotions and dreamlike images/ Duration 1 hour and 40 minutes 2.1. Symbolism Movement in Literature & Art 2. INTERDISCIPLINARY LESSONS PLANS The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein 8
5 printed images in A 3 format of paintings from Symbolist artists, at teacher’s choice . For example :
Edvard Munch, The Scream
Gustav Klimt, Death and Life
Gustav Klimt, The Kiss
Gustave Moreau, Oedipus and the Sphinx
Redon, Profil bleu
the poems written by George Bacovia, to be read
classic music composer
be heard in the background during
Exercises/labs examples
Symbolism was an artistic and literary movement of the late 19th century, which opposed Romanticism, Naturalism/ Impressionism and Parnassianism and according to which the value of every object and phenomenon in the surrounding world can be expressed and described using symbols.
Unlike Impressionism that focus on the natural world, Symbolists choses subjects based on visions, dreams, and mythology. In addition, Symbolism has an emphasis on spirituality and religious iconography, leaving aesthetics in the second plan.
In the Symbolist manifesto, published in Le Figaro, in 1886, Jean Moréas stated that every person, natural element, and object should be used as a representation of a deeper thought or emotion. Artists should convey it through symbol, rather than imitating reality.
Symbolism was an artistic and literary movement of the late 19th century, which opposed Romanticism, Naturalism/ Impressionism and Parnassianism and according to which the value of every object and phenomenon in the surrounding world can be expressed and described using symbols.
Unlike Impressionism that focus on the natural world, Symbolists choses subjects based on visions, dreams, and mythology. In addition, Symbolism has an emphasis on spirituality and religious iconography, leaving aesthetics in the second plan.
In the Symbolist manifesto, published in Le Figaro, in 1886, Jean Moréas stated that every person, natural element, and object should be used as a representation of a deeper thought or emotion. Artists should convey it through symbol, rather than imitating reality.
Representatives of Symbolic Movement in Literature: Jean Moréas , Stéphane Mallarmé , Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Valéry, Gustave Kahn etc. In Romania, Ion Minulescu and George Bacovia are considered Symbolists poets.
Representatives of Symbolic Movement in Art: Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch, Paul Gauguin etc.
Activity 1 Introduction: At the beginning, museum guide shortly presents the writers and exhibition related to literature from the museum. When presenting details about The Poetry Museum, museum guide introduce the idea of correspondences between art and literature/ poetry. Also, he/ she makes a short introduction about life and opera of a Romanian representative poet for Symbolism Movement, George Bacovia (15 minutes).
Lesson development:
Activity 2: Museum guide or teacher reads 2 3 poems written by George Bacovia , together with students. Students receive handouts with the poems. In order to analyse and interpret the poems and their meanings, as well to understand the characteristics of Symbolism, teacher guides the students asking the following questions for each poem (25 minutes):
1. How did you feel about this poem?
2. What is the theme of poetry?
Content
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Exercises/labs examples
3. What elements of painting surprise them?
4. What is happening in this painting? What do they see that supports their ideas?
5. What word comes to their mind when viewing the painting?
6. What symbols can they identify?
7. What do you think is the topic of the painting?
8. What emotions do they think are represented in the painting?
The second task is to observe the painting and read again the 2 3 poems from Activity 1, and to answer the following questions:
1. What common elements do you notice between poetries and the painting?
2. What topics do you find in both works?
3. What are the common emotions, feelings, ideas represented by the authors?
4. What are the common messages that the authors want to convey?
5. In your opinion, what are the characteristics of symbolism?
Total: 20 minutes
Each group share for 5 minutes their conclusions and answers to the questions (Total: 25 minutes).
Conclusions (15 minutes):
The teacher summarizes the aspects presented by the students, emphasizing the important features and details about Symbolism in Art and Literature. The teacher also explains homework and answers the questions of students.
Evaluation/ Homework:
Students are asked to group 5 or 6 people each for a joint creative project. They must choose a poem by a Symbolist poet, from Romania or abroad and represent it by creating a short video with images of Symbolist paintings.
Handouts with the poems written by
Moisture [Moină ]
Autumn and winter
Both are descending; It's raining and snowing It's snowing and raining.
The night is falling Dirty and cool Sick kids are coming Back from their school.
The walls are moist I'm feeling cold I think of the dead I'm growing old.
Autumn and winter
Both are descending; It's raining and snowing It's snowing and raining.
George Bacovia
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Autumn vexation [Nervi de toamnă ]
It’s autumn, it’s rustle, it’s sleep... The trees softly sigh in the lanes; It’s cough, it’s weeping, it’s steep... And it’s cold and it rains.
Sad lovers on roads, in great number, Make all kinds of gestures and fret, While leaves in perpetual slumber Fall heavy and wet.
I stay, and I go, and return, All these lovers make me feel bad Would be pointless to laugh in my turn, And it’s cold and I’m sad.
Regret [Regret]
I've known two poplars for so long I still can see them on my way It pleases me to watch them grow But I get sad and go away.
Because I seem to hear a voice That tells me I am gonna die And thus they'll never be admired By any other passer by.
Source: https:// joannegrowney.com /BacoviaLeadofWinter2012.pdf
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2.2. World Tree. The Baltic symbols have been reborn in the casting: heaven, earth, dungeon
Subject (Geography, Art, Literature, History)
Literature (folklore). Menai. History (Paganism)
Age of the students Students 9 11 years old
Goals of the lessons To acquaint students with the concept of the world tree, Baltic symbols, to teach them to recognize them both in the visual arts, in literature and in the living environment
Venue Class / Ethnocultural Center (https://www.etnocentras.lt/) / Curonian Spit
Results Pupils will be able to explain the meanings of Baltic symbols, reflect them in castings, and recognize the living environment (e.g. excursion in Nida)
Resources Paper, watercolor, brushes, black pen, cards with Baltic symbols, visual material
Duration 2 3 hours
Activity content Introduction. Students are invited to observe the drawing on a slide (containing the Tree of the World) and identify the details of what is depicted in the drawing in front of their eyes.
The main part. Students are presented with material about the World Tree ( https://www.vydija.lt/kurejai_kuryba/Egle/medis.htm ; https://www.puoskislietu viskai.lt/lietuviskas pasaulio medis/; https://www.patogupirkti.lt/knyga/gyvybes medis lietuviu mene ir tautosakoje.html ). They are invited to complete the task. A tree drawn on a piece of paper is hung on the board, and the children choose ready made character cards and stick them on the sheet to an area of heaven, earth, or dungeon. We then discuss the meanings of the characters, check to see if the characters have been guessed and assigned to the correct sphere. Students are invited to listen to S. Geda's song "White Checkered" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeU9KC_43yk&ab_channel=vdemon1962 ) and draw three characters in the casting (the interface between the lyrics and the Baltic characters).
Concluding remarks. The lesson is summarized in an exhibition of students' works, students share their impressions (mood at the beginning of the lesson, the fact where the acquired knowledge will be used).
NOTE. The castings are prepared by the students together with the teacher during the lessons. Technique: moisten a sheet of paper for drawing (it is recommended to prepare squares 20 * 20 cm), pour various colors on it with a brush, leave the paper to dry).
Continuation. A trip to the Curonian Spit, where students will observe the old architecture, visit the Fisherman's Museum, discover the Baltic symbols in architecture and everyday life
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