Cross-curricular learning and how it impacts on education

During this blog post, the term ‘cross-curricular’ will be defined along with a debate on whether learning should be divided into single subject categories or not, there will be an explanation of why cross-curricular pedagogy is used and how it impacts on education with regards to the teachers and the students. I will support my views with evidence from theorists and other educational experts as well as integrating the literacy, numeracy and digital competency framework.

‘Cross-curricular’ is a term that is used to describe the way in which the curriculum is designed to ensure that both the teacher and the student are making the most out of their learning. Cross-curricular learning by Savage’s (2010) point of view is “characterised by sensitivity towards, and a synthesis of, knowledge, skills and understandings from various subject areas. These inform an enriched pedagogy that promotes an approach to learning which embraces and explores this wider sensitivity through various methods”. Donaldson (2015, p.36) has a similar way of defining it, as he suggests that it has been an international trend over the years “using ‘areas of learning’ as curriculum organisers, sometimes combining disciplinary learning and wider capabilities or capacities”.

There are three cross-curricular responsibilities; literacy, numeracy and digital competency, the digital competency framework; “focuses on developing digital skills which can be applied to a wide range of subjects and scenarios” (Learning Wales, 2017). Project based learning is a huge part of cross curricular pedagogy as it allows the students to display many skills simultaneously; creativity, digital competency, literacy and numeracy, although these skills are not the main objectives of the project, they are still being developed, whilst allowing the students to expand their knowledge on the chosen topic. Education Scotland (2008) suggests that project based learning is beneficial to students and teachers since “interdisciplinary learning enables teachers and learners to make connections in their learning through exploring clear and relevant links across the curriculum...learning beyond subject boundaries provides learners with the opportunity to experience deep challenging and relevant learning”.  

“Tell me and I will forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I will understand”

(Wooten et al., 2010)

Many educationalists agree that learning should not be divided into single subject categories and that teachers should now teach in a cross-curricular manner, the Plowden Report proposes that “throughout our discussion of curriculum we stress that children’s learning does not fit into subject categories” (Plowden, 1967, p555). “Cross curricular learning helps to develop metacognitive learners, as metacognitive learners can adapt their learning to new situations” (Shannon, 2008). The vision of many modern curricular designers is that teaching a single subject at a time does not give the students a sense of how the real-world works, as each real- life situation is seen from multiple perspectives and therefore students should be taught the same way. Some other advantages of cross-curricula learning are that it “makes learning more relevant” as it engages the child due to learning topics that they enjoy and will be beneficial to the rest of their life, whilst also putting “key concepts into context”, rather than learning unnecessary subjects that they are aware they will not need once they step out of the classroom (Dean, 2001; Barnes, 2007) because curricula design should not begin from the content but from the learner (Nunan, 1988; Savery and Duffy, 1996).

“At the heart of the educational process lies the child”

(Plowden, 1967, p.9)

Alternatively, there are disadvantages and challenges that come with altering the curriculum and how it is taught, one challenge being that cross curricular learning would not be possible once the student has gone to high school. The reason being that “school timetables are subject based, so parallel pigeonholing of people is convenient” (Kerry, 2015, p.7). Teachers are fixated on content rather than how they can provide their students with authentic knowledge that they can use when they leave school, the reason for this is the high demand of acceptable exam results. Kerry (2015, p.10) makes a statement that “The whole education system designed around ‘tests of content learning reduced to league tables that are de-contextualised to make judgements about schools”, this suggests that the teachers are only teaching their students fixed facts to allow them to pass tests rather than preparing them for their futures. Decent exam results would not be possible whilst learning with a cross curricular method, the lessons would not be able to be structured in a way that would allow the student to acquire enough knowledge to enable them to pass their exams and ultimately, that is the main objective for secondary students. A few other challenges of this curriculum reform are; teachers fearing change after teaching a certain way for so long, needing specialist staff to teach specialist subjects through projects and lastly, the difficulty of tracking progress through assessments.

Cross-curricular assessments can make it very difficult for the teachers; from planning each lesson with objectives to tracking the students’ progress using marking criteria which may be problematic to create, this is due to judging project based assessments rather than written ones. Dean (2001) was concerned that subject teaching would be watered down so excessively, that it may cause progression to lack and may result in superficial, repetitive teaching. However, it can essentially improve grades due to the authenticity of the tasks, the children will be enjoying themselves as well as feeling motivated and ultimately, that is the most important thing.   

To conclude, this blog post has given detailed definitions of what ‘cross-curricular’ means, it has also touched upon the fact that literacy, numeracy and digital competency are the three main responsibilities of the new curriculum reform. Although these responsibilities are not the main objectives, they are still being developed through project based assessments. There are many advantages as well as disadvantages of this new method of teaching, one advantage being that it gives students a sense of authenticity within their learning and allows them to be creative as this way of learning is less restrictive. One disadvantage of cross-curricular pedagogy is that it makes it difficult for teachers to assess learning and track progress, having said this, cross-curricular teaching seems to be the way forward and has many benefits for both the students and the teachers.

(Kent and Cameron, 2017)

 References

Barnes, J., Shirley, I. (2007). Strangely familiar: cross curricular and creative thinking in teacher education, Improving schools, vol. 10. No. 2. p./ 289-306.

Dean, J. (2001). Organising Learning in the Primary Classroom (3rd edn). London: Routledge.

Department of Education (2008) A framework for learning and teaching. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.Available at: https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/btc3.pdf (Accessed: 29/11/2017).

Donaldson, G., (2015). Successful futures: Independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. Welsh Government.

Duffy, T. M., & Cunningham, D. J. (1996). Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. In D. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research for educational communications and technology. New York: Macmillan.

Katz, L. and Chard, S.C., (2000). Engaging children's minds: The project approach. Greenwood Publishing Group.

Kent, J., Cameron, M. (2017) 'Pioneer Schools, the new Curriculum and Professional Learning', EAS Wales, 17th February. Available at: https://sewales.org.uk/Pioneer-Schools/James-Kent-Blog/17-February-2017.aspx (Accessed: 30/11/2017).

Kerry, T. ed., (2015). Cross-curricular teaching in the primary school: Planning and facilitating imaginative lessons (pp.7-10). Routledge.

Learning Wales (2017) Digital Competence Framework. Available at: http://learning.gov.wales/resources/browse-all/digital-competence-framework/?lang=en (Accessed: 29/11/2017).

Nunan, D., (1988). The learner-centred curriculum: A study in second language teaching. Cambridge University Press.

Plowden, Lady Bridget. (1967). Children and Their Primary schools: A report of the Central Advisory Council for Education, Volume 1. London: HMSO, pp.9.

Plowden, Lady Bridget. (1967). Children and Their Primary schools: A report of the Central Advisory Council for Education, Volume 1. London: HMSO, pp.555.

Savage, J., (2010). Cross-curricular teaching and learning in secondary education. Routledge.

Savery, J.R. and Duffy, T.M., (1995). Problem based learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework. Educational technology, 35(5), pp.31-38.

Shannon, S.V., (2008). Using metacognitive strategies and learning styles to create self-directed learners. Institute for Learning Styles Journal, 1(1), pp.14-28.

Wooten, D., Mack, K. and Azzam, A., (2010), June. TELL ME AND I WILL FORGET; SHOW ME AND I MAY REMEMBER; INVOLVE ME AND I WILL UNDERSTAND: TRACKING INQUIRY IN A PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING CURRICULUM. In JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE (Vol. 25, pp. 451-451). 233 SPRING ST, NEW YORK, NY 10013 USA: SPRINGER.