Interdisciplinary Connections

Week 31

My Interdisciplinary connections.

What makes me who I am today comes from many different places. Putting together my map emphasised this and reinforced the need to keep up the connections I have. The knowledge and experience I bring to my teaching comes from the many relationships I have formed throughout my life, even the not so positive ones we learn from. This makes me feel unique and special, and I need to remember that what I have to offer is small in comparison to what I can learn from others.

The biggest learning for me over the past year has been the realisation that my connections do not exist only near me - within my school and community. Through online connections my students and I can connect anywhere in the world at any time. We have been slowly developing this through sites such as Edmodo, and for me through Mind Lab (blogging, Google+, etc.).

I see myself as striving to keep up to date with changes and innovations in Education, challenging me to keep learning. To be able to learn, and provide the best programmes possible for my students, connections are vital, and I have learned so much the past 32 weeks through Mind Lab. This has led to the start of positive changes to the way I teach, the way students learn, and how they learn. My challenge is to keep my connections live, and make the most out of other connections that I have not yet developed (LinkedIn). As educators I think we acknowledge the globalisation of society and the “overlapping nature of most occupations.”(ACRLog, 2015). We need to give students the opportunity to experience this within their learning to fully prepare them for their future. Modelling this through our own connections, and introducing students to this, is an essential part of 21^st Century learning.

One blog I read spoke about the need to connect through different subjects within schools and through connections with other schools and people. I can see this as being more and more beneficial to students and I am pleased to say my school has already started in this direction. Our Technology and Arts teachers are integrated into our Inquiry learning, providing a different perspective, and skills, that a classroom teacher would find difficult to include into a busy timetable. This Interdisciplinary approach encourages students to see life through more  perspectives than is maybe possible in a normal classroom Inquiry. They can see the world more holistically (Thomas, McDonagh Group, 2011).

My future goal is to develop connections within the community to continue growing opportunities for my students, and me, in our wider learning.  This will be achieved through helping students connect with the community and world through online media. I have seen and heard of so many examples that have given students such rich learning opportunities beyond the classroom, and are so relevant to their future as global citizens.

References:

ACRLog. (2015). A Conceptual Model for Interdisciplinary Collaboration. Retrieved from http://acrlog.org/2015/05/14/a-conceptual-model-for-interdisciplinary-collaboration

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