This is a drawing I did a few years ago to represent the idea of a 'cosmic curriculum' based on the ideas of Maria Montessori. Montessori believed that everything was connected and that, as educators, our job was primarily to assist the child to connect... sound familiar? This is my mind-map because I think an interdisciplinary approach is like looking at the big picture, having the whole in front of you, and so much more than merely adding inquiry or project based teaching to a literacy and numeracy base. To me, it is like a tapestry, integrally woven together, seamlessly, and overlaying. It is both the child's journey, and my own, as a learner, and as a facilitator.
Here is the explanation for my picture:
Cosmic Education is a
multi-layered, multi-faceted concept. I have attempted to represent this
through layering images of galaxies with a fingerprint between them. This
acknowledges that the child is a unique part of the universe and the universe
is part of the child, and the fingerprint is also used because the hands are the
tools that we manipulate materials with,
to build our
understandings...
The fingerprint
represents the individuality and 'uniqueness' of the child - that their
understandings, experiences and needs will differ; that we need to 'follow the
child' as they are at the centre of constructing themselves.
In each space between the swirls of the galaxies is things from man-made
(culture and constructions/cities) and natural worlds, representing mathematics
which connects completely to both - structure, form, patterns, relationships, etc.
These are like pathways - a part of life's journey as we seek to understand them
and make sense. The paths widen to illustrate how knowledge widens and it
goes off the page without a frame, to allude to the fact that we still don't know
all there is to know...the possibilities are infinite (another mathematical concept!).
In the foreground is our world, our immediate environment, how tightly we
are linked to it - we are all in this together. We need to understand it
unravels if we don't connect to and care for it. The yellow spiral is both a
representation of patterns and relationships like Fibonacci (and the
golden ratio), and the life we have that is dependent on the world, and the
life force of the sun. There is also balance to remind us of how fragile,
awesome (in the true sense of the word) and mysterious our universe is.
Link to my website for more on this:
I believe a true interdisciplinary approach is like this. Things are not isolated or separate, but integral parts of the whole. Our Early Childhood curriculum Te Whariki reflects this, as does our NZ Curriculum Vision statement, which outlines the goal of confident (knowing who they are), connected (knowing where they belong), actively involved (caring), and life-long learners (engaged).
David Wiley (2001, TEDx talk), talks about connecting new ideas in collaborative ways, and he shared how customising education in an individualise approach, can have huge gains.
Jones (2009), sums it up well... " Students and their teachers will advance in critical thinking, communication,
creativity, pedagogy, and essential academia with the use interdisciplinary
techniques."
innovators, then surely we should not ignore an opportunity like this!
Jones, C. (2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI7 (26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai
References:
Ministry of Education (updated Feb 2016). Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum
Ministry of Education (n.d.). Te Whariki. Education, Govt. NZ. Retrieved from http://www.education.govt.nz/early-childhood/teaching-and-learning/ece-curriculum/te-whariki/principles-strands-goals/
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