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Principles of integration in curriculum
Integration is important in curriculum planning
Integration is important in curriculum planning
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Curriculum Integration
Contrary to popular belief, curriculum integration entails more than simply linking lessons together along a common theme. It is more than just "rearranging existing lesson plans", it is an attempt to organize "curriculum around significant problems and issues…without regard for subject-area boundaries" (Beane, 1997). The goal of curriculum integration is to have students gain a deeper level of understanding across subject areas through interrelated thematic study. Themes are drawn from life "as it is being lived and experienced" with knowledge based around problem solving rather than rote skill acquisition (Beane, 1997).
Rather than seeing curriculum integration as this unified and connected series of higher order thinking skills, many people (including teachers) confuse integration with a multidisciplinary approach. Multidisciplinary attempts at teaching thematic units relate individual subjects to singular topic without making connections. For example, during a unit on fish, a teacher could have his or her students read literature about fish and do fish word problems; however, unless the connections of synthesis, analysis, and evaluation are made, true integration is not being achieved. The students are learning a great deal about fish, math, and literature separately, but are not encouraged to see the relationships between each of these subject areas.
In order to help foster an understanding across curriculum areas, integration needs to unify the subject matter in the students’ minds through making connections between subject areas and exploring how these relate to their everyday lives. Integration of content is important and potentially very effective because the brain processes information through connections. If teachers help their students create connections between subject-area material, then they will potentially increase the amount of long-term knowledge retained by the students (Beane, 1997). Integration is also important due to the fact that there is a growing emphasis on application of knowledge rather than rote memorization and due to the fact that knowledge is not fixed (Beane, 1997). Integration allows students to look at things from different angles and to explore the grey areas that may be a part of the various concepts.
Evidence from both educational journals and personal interviews suggest several different possible approaches to successful science integration. Many of the lesson plans dealt with integrating science with technology or with mathematics. For example, a fifth-grade teacher had his class record weather observations for an entire year and then used their data to teach graphing concepts including bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, as well as concepts such as mean and mode (Chia, 1998).
'Making cognitive connections, within subjects and between subjects...' ( Piaget 1977, Cockburn and Haylock 2008,Rose 2009) is an aspect of cross-curricular learning. Generally speaking, cross-curricular learning is when skills, knowledge and attitudes of a number of disciplines which are applied to a single experience, problem, question, theme or idea. In simple terms, it's also known as a thematic approach. From this point, I'd be exploring the reasons why a thematic approach should be adopted in the classroom and this approach could deliver the four core subjects in the National Curriculum in Key Stage 1. On top of that I'd be exploring the issues raised of adopting a cross-curricular approach and the implications of using a theme-based unit of integrating various subjects within a theme.
Steen, Lynn Arthur . "Integrating School Science and Mathematics: Fad or Folly?." St. Olaf College. (1999): n. page. Web. 12 Dec. 2013..
...to follow Dewey’s philosophies. In choosing, to show how a unit could be taught throughout the curriculum in a number of different disciplines, we emphasized Dewey’s premise that curriculum topics should be integrated.
Once practices such as mainstreaming and inclusion were set into place, pressure was on teachers to create a curriculum that would encompasses the various learning needs for all the students in their classroom. Teachers began to retro-fit the current curriculum in ways that would meet individual students’ needs (Udvari-Solner et al., 2002); not an easy task considering education is generally taught in a teacher-directed way, to the “average” student. This type of instruction is what stu...
Replacing the classical pedagogical tools of lectures and textbook, integral education looks at psychological tools to Man,Know Thyself.
Content area literacy, as with all learning, should directly relate to the students’ lives. When students can relate to a subject, they retain the information better and are more excited to learn. Relating subjects to students’ lives provides them with the desire to participate in the lesson and make connections with previous experiences. Lee (2014) wrote that “culture is the primary medium through which humans learn” (p. 10). Connecting the readings to students’ lives helps them activate their prior knowledge of culture and experience and allows them to transfer it to their learning.
The Integrated Curriculum Model has three main dimensions advanced content, process/product, and issues/themes. The first dimension, advanced content, is content that it at a higher level. In English Language Arts the readings are usually two grade levels above. Within advanced content, diagnostic-prescriptive approaches are used to promote new learning. Teachers are to continually pre-assess students before teaching content to make sure they are teaching at the appropriate level for the gifted students. In the second facet of the model it ensures that the students are thinking and processing information at higher complex levels. The third dimension of the Integrated Curriculum Model centers gifted and talented students learning around major issues and themes. To connect the themes and issues to real world applications is creating a deeper understanding of the material.
across the curriculum. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. Eleventh Edition. Longman, 2011. 250-260. Print.
Music integration into a general subject area "provides solid links for learning" (Cane, 2012, p. 34). Students are more capable of linking subjects, such as music and science, together. Also, music integration has been found to improve students' achievement and motivation within the classroom. Sale and Osborn (2013) say, "Students can learn through their visual sense, applying pictures and architecture to the music they are studying" (p. 54). Teachers can integrate music with other disciplines, such as history or mathematics, but also with other arts, such as drama or art. Examples of drama in music are easy to see, and teachers can use art to inspire even a young student in achieving a beautiful sound.
Researchers realized this by comparing higher level students to lower level students. The higher level students understood the deeper concepts. Largely, assessments are not only to be systematic, researchers think it’s important that students refer to prior knowledge or infer the answers. It is important that conceptually rich problems are not only addressed through assessment it must also be a part of the instructional process. Assignments and assessments must both challenge the students understand of conceptually rich ideas as well as scientific reasoning while maintaining consistency with both. Research shows that teaching this way promotes the retention of real learning goals and improves learning overall. There are contemporary theories of learning that say how knowledge is organized in the mind and how participation in the communities of practice shape understanding. These theories tie into the knowledge base guides for learning how to teach for understanding.
Two decades of research on the integration of ICT in education has shown that although changes are taking place to integrate ICT effectively into teaching and learning, the changes are not substantial enough to bring about the required change at the required pace (Cowie & Jones, 2005; Darling-Hammond, 2005; Ehman et al., 2005; Jimoyiannis & Komis, 2007). Furthermore, the prospects of using ICT in education has been debated, researched and speculated on. The debate has changed a little, namely that ICT has an important role to play in education in terms of enhancing excellence in teaching and learning. However, the factors that hinder the integration of ICT in education seem to be basically the same as twenty years ago: inappropriate integration strategies, resistance to change, resources, training and time to integrate ICT effectively (Demiraslan & Usluel, 2008; Guru & Percy, 2005).
The understandings I have gained from this course have completely revamped my way of teaching. I have been using the unit plan and curriculum map I created in this course for the past two years, and my students enjoy it more and more each year. Learning the importance of using big ideas and essential questions in the classroom have made me a better educator and has assisted my students in learning content and skills that they can transfer to all academic areas and into their everyday lives. I now use big idea and essential questions in every ...
Curriculum is important being it’s the underlying factor that plays a role in determining ones growth, achievement and success. The majority of curriculum con...
Since then, Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction has been a standard reference for anyone working with curriculum development. Although not a strict how-to guide, the book shows how educators can critically approach curriculum planning, studying progress and retooling when needed. Its four sections focus on setting objectives, selecting learning experiences, organizing instruction, and evaluating progress. Readers will come away with a firm understanding of how to formulate educational objectives and how to analyze and adjust their plans so that students meet the objectives. Tyler also explains that curriculum planning is a continuous, cyclical process, an instrument of education that needs to be fine-tuned.
Starr, L. (2011, June 14). Education World. Retrieved 11 2, 2013, from Technology Integration/ Ideas That Work: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech176.shtml