Interdisciplinary Connections

Interdisciplinary Connections

Andrews (1990) defines interdisciplinary collaboration as occurring "when different professionals, possessing unique knowledge, skills, organizational perspectives, and personal attributes, engage in coordinated problem solving for a common purpose" (cited in Berg-Weger &. Schneider, 1998).,

 Innovation in action-  New ideas from interdisciplinary connections-The Medici Effect.

This is nothing recent! During the 14-Century, a wealthy Italian banking family brought together a range of artists who shaped “one of the most innovative eras in history”.

Author Frans Johanssen covers this occurrence as "the Medici effect". His book explains how these individuals connected and collaborated, by relating their individual disciplines, and more importantly made connections and created new ideas at the intersection of their respective fields. Put simply, the book reinforces the notion that innovative thinkers connect fields, problems, or ideas that others find unrelated. Interestingly the Medici family did not intend the Renaissance, but contributed to it by bringing together creators from a wide range of disciplines - sculptors, scientists, poets, philosophers, painters, and architects. 

Given that the interdisciplinary approach facilitates the understanding of new areas and promotes the empathetic horizon of others, how does my current practice stretch out across the range of specialist subjects in a secondary school?

Potential areas of development.

From my interdisciplinary map the main areas of potential development are around the Project Based Learning initiatives and the new build of my current high school. The most significant aspect of this is the newly titled Innovation Block which houses the manufacturing/technology/science and arts block. The accommodation in this respect will drive the curriculum and more importantly consider these opportunities.

Challenges.

In designing this building I  have advocated for accommodation which is sufficiently flexible to facilitate different forms of curriculum delivery, e.g. immersive experiences of design and technology (such as half-day or whole-day blocks), themes, ‘Technology weeks’ etc. The intention is to provide an involvement far much more like that experienced by professional designers rather than the traditional school timetable.

Additionally accommodation should allow pupils to experience both working as an individual and as part of a team. Designing is often a collaborative activity, in which the views of others must be welcomed, listened to and respected. The challenge is to provide real life problem solving to ensure that their experiences are authentic and can promote innovation.

Silo -isolate (one system, process, department, etc.) from others.

An often used expression when describing secondary school areas is the the word “silo”. Retorize (www.rotize.com) identifies "By far the greatest driver of silo thinking is the behavior of leadership and leadership teams". Siloing often occurs in schools because of the specialisation of teacher training and physical layout of departments.  However my areas of expertise allow me to contextualise my teaching and foster interdisciplinary links. An example of this is using my Engineering background and the mathematics curriculum to engage a group of students solving speeds and feeds for a machining operation. However I am somewhat of an exception as it is often rare to teach outside of your subject area due to timetable constraints and to see an opportunity or to have an awareness/understanding around other subjects examination requirements. 

Project planning and culturally responsive pedagogy.

It is vital that students focus on their areas of interest however Mathison,S.. & Freeman, M.(1997) identified the role of teachers "to facilitate discussions, provide resources, and guide inquiry; but they also have the responsibility to encourage and make sure that students pursue inquiry in fields in which they have little knowledge or interest". This promotes also the Maori principle of “Ako” where the students and teachers roles can be reversed and student becomes the expert or leader. 

Benefits

The benefits of interdisciplinary activity in my practice are the improvements in the relationships with other staff members in the physical space we will share. Discussion and problem solving/sharing will become far more effective and facilitate the sharing of new innovative practice and activities.

For students it will enable them to make new connections and pathways by looking at interdisciplinary content through a new lens. This will provide opportunities to be creative and innovative at the boundaries of these fields. Just like the artists in the 14th Century!

References:Berg-Weger, M., &. Schneider, F. D. (1998). Interdisciplinary collaboration in social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 34, 97-107

Johansson, Frans; (2004):The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts, and Cultures; Harvard Business School Press;

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 http://www.albany.edu/cela/reports/mathisonlogic12004.pdf:

Parker J.(2008). Modernising the D&T environment, Design & Technology Education. retrieved from
https://dandtfordandt.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/modernising-dt-environment.pdf