Professional Context - Crossing Boundaries and my Interdisciplinary Connections

Professional Context - Crossing Boundaries and my Interdisciplinary Connections

Mathison and Freeman (1997) state that the notion of combining two or more disciplines, pedagogical approaches, groups of people, or skills is not new, rather in fact, it has been around (to some degree) for years. 

"Whereas interdisciplinary seeks to combine disciplines to enhance the learning in one or more of the disciplines, or to apply discipline-based methods to real life situations, integration seeks to transcend the disciplines toward a more interconnected vision of the universe."

They argue that to obtain knowledge, we need to connect our learning to cover different themes, ideas, experiences and problems. Below is my interdisciplinary connections map. When putting this together, I became even more aware of the importance of relationships in schools, helping to combine these experiences and ideas for our students. 

While it is all important, from classroom to BOT, to whanau to my personal life and friends and family who contribute to help me be the teacher I am, there is one part of my map that continues to be a focus for me as I am on a journey of collaboration. My teaching Team in the Kowhai Room is a vital part of how my practice is shaped. There are 58 children and 3 teachers in our learning space, each one of us bringing very different skills, experiences, teaching styles and passions to the classroom. This is why it works for us. While we share the same expectations and work ethic, where I may need further development, one of my team members can step up and offer professional development within the classroom setting. We can offer so many experiences and opportunities for our children when mixing our skills and experiences - prompting me to think about the positive effects of an interdisciplinary approach. 

Something I know I need to work on, as a result of this course and putting my connections map together - is my online presence. I am not great at using Facebook, blogs (this is my first one) or other online tools. I am aware now of the information that is available to us to help us inform our practice and offer more opportunities for our children to learn online; I need to utilise these more - something I plan to do in the future, it is clear that the online community part of my map is a little bare, watch this space! 

References:

Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI7 (26), 76-81. Retrieved from https://app.themindlab.com/media/32982/view

Mathison,S.. & Freeman, M.(1997). The logic of interdisciplinary studies. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, 1997. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4730/862feb910e121e60dd31b175e059e3abf5e3.pdf