Cross-Curricular Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School

Jonathan Savage

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN:
  9780415548588
• eBook ISBN:
  9781136918476
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

What is the role of the individual school 'subject' and 'subject teacher' within school? Is it to teach a set of core subject knowledge, skills and understanding in way that remains faithful to long-standing subject cultures and pedagogies? Or is there another way to consider how the curriculum, and the notion of individual subjects and teachers' pedagogy, could be constructed.

Working from the key principle that there is no curriculum development without teacher development, Cross-Curricular Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School argues for a new, skilful pedagogy which embeds an authentic, cross-curricular approach to teaching and learning in the work of the individual teacher. This approach respects and builds on individual subject cultures, embracing and exploring links between subject knowledge and subject pedagogies in an enriching way.

Drawing on examples and case studies taken from innovative practices in different schools and subject areas, as well as summarising lessons from key pieces of research evidence this book includes:

• Clear theoretical frameworks for cross-curricular processes of teaching and learning
• A lively account of key issues blended with engaging stories of current practice
• An analysis of the use of language, ICT and assessment as key components of a skilful pedagogical practice that affects how teaching is delivered and how pupils learn in cross-curricular contexts
• Practical tasks and questions for reflective practice

This timely textbook is essential reading for all students on Initial Teacher Training courses and PGCE courses as well as practising teachers looking to holistically introduce cross-curricular themes and practices in their own subjects.

CHAPTER 1
The Context for Cross-Curricular Teaching and Learning

Key objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will have:

explored key principles for teaching which will shape your thinking about cross-curricular teaching and learning;

considered the broader historical framework within which an approach to cross-curricular teaching and learning can be developed;

examined the current educational climate and the associated curriculum frameworks and reflected on the possibilities for generating new approaches to cross-curricular teaching and learning;

engaged in a range of reflective and practical tasks that will help you apply key ideas in this chapter to your own teaching practice.

Case Study 1: An opening: One teacher’s journey

Writing this book has been a challenge, personally and professionally. Like most of the readers of this book, I started my teaching career as a subject specialist (in my case, a music teacher) working in a couple of high schools in East Anglia. I taught music to the various classes throughout each school and really enjoyed the associated challenges of creating what I considered to be an interesting music curriculum that related to, and drew inspiration from, the National Curriculum. Music can be an isolated subject within schools. Most music teachers work in a

small department, often on their own or with a small team of visiting instrumental teachers. The music room is often geographically isolated (it can be noisy!) and, in terms of the educational processes and knowledge that underpin the subject, it can be something that appears distinct and separate from the work of other teachers. Music is often referred to as a ‘Cinderella’ subject; a ‘shop window’ for the school; something that can be wheeled out for special occasions (e.g. concerts, assemblies or open evenings) but otherwise is left alone to do its own thing. For all these reasons, teaching music can be a lonely experience and one that is not conducive to collaborative approaches to teaching.

As a music teacher I often wondered if my thoughts about my own subject, and its perceived isolation, were shared by other teachers as they considered their subjects. As head of department in my second school, and quite by chance, I discovered that one of my colleagues, a mathematics teacher, was also an active and very competent composer. We chatted about our teaching roles and shared musical interests (I was not quite so good at the mathematics side of things) and soon struck up a close friendship. This changed my perceptions about teaching music. Why? On reflection, it seems that two fundamental reasons have emerged. First, as a teacher I realised that I had ignored the fact that the majority of musicians work, and travel, across the boundaries of music and other areas of knowledge regularly. Sometimes their journeys are down well-travelled paths, for example film composers regularly work with images and draw their artistic inspiration from them; on occasions these journeys are more exploratory, for example investigating areas such as cognitive psychology or genetics for compositional ideas. Second, as my discussions with my mathematics colleague continued, I began to appreciate that the educational processes that underpin mathematics education were not so different from those that I was seeking to develop within my music classes.

So, for musical and educational reasons, the collaborative work with my colleague continued over two years. It resulted in a number of cross-curricular projects that will be discussed at points within this book but can be read about in full elsewhere (Savage and Challis 2001, 2002). The projects enriched my teaching in ways that I could not have predicted. They also transformed my thinking about how I should teach my subject. This was the start of my interest in cross-curricular ways of teaching and learning, which has stayed with me and developed over recent years.

Introduction

This book has begun with an extended personal narrative for an important reason. During the course of this chapter I will argue that teachers are at the heart of the process of teaching and learning. Their beliefs, aspirations and values are all important, informing elements of the design and delivery of a curriculum. The creation of an enriching pedagogy for cross-curricular teaching and learning (an important and often misunderstood term) can be achieved if teachers can reclaim some authority in curriculum development and delivery. Recent developments in the National Curriculum at Key Stage 3 present some exciting opportunities for this to happen.

However, we are getting ahead of ourselves. Before we begin to consider what an approach to cross-curricular teaching and learning might look like, three important principles that underpin this book will be introduced. Two of the principles draw on the key phrases and ideas from educationalists who, sadly, are no longer with us. The third springs from these. In choosing to start the book with these principles, it is hoped that the reader will recognise that, in several key respects, developing an approach to cross-curricular teaching and learning is embedded within good teaching per se. Obviously our concerns throughout the majority of this book will be to consider the book’s title and associated themes in some detail. But, first, a platform about the curriculum, teachers and pedagogy needs to be built. It is time to examine three foundational principles of this book.

Principle 1: No curriculum development without teacher development

Fifty years ago, the Crowther Report stated that ‘everything in education depends ultimately on the teacher’ (Central Advisory Council for Education 1959). It is a sentiment that one of the greatest educational thinkers of recent decades, Lawrence Stenhouse, would have undoubtedly agreed with. Stenhouse was a firm advocate for the teacher. It was fitting that the teachers with whom he worked across East Anglia contributed a plaque in his memory. On it, they inscribed Stenhouse’s own words: ‘It is the teachers who in the end will change the world of the school by understanding it’ (Stenhouse 1975, p. 208).

Stenhouse was well known for his belief that teachers could enhance their professional understanding by engaging in processes of educational research. His notion of the ‘teacher as researcher’ has done much to shape current thinking about professional development, reflective practice and action research. He was an outspoken critic of what he saw as the deprofessionalisation of the teacher through ‘objective’ based curriculum models. These, he said:

Rest on an acceptance of the teacher as a kind of intellectual navvy. An objectives based curriculum is like a site-plan, simplified so that people know exactly where to dig their trenches without having to know why.

(Stenhouse 1980a, p. 85)

For Stenhouse, such curriculum models were a symbol of distrust of the teacher. He worked hard to challenge such approaches. More than that, he developed alternative ideas that reasserted the teachers’ role in curriculum planning and development. If, as he wrote, ‘it seems odd to minimise the use of the most expensive resource in the school’ (Stenhouse 1975, p. 24), it would be better to ‘reinvest in the teacher and to construct the curriculum in ways that would enhance teachers’ understanding and capability’ (Ruddock 1995, p. 5).

It is this background that led Stenhouse to make one of his most famous statements: ‘No curriculum development without teacher development’ (Stenhouse 1975, p. 142). As Silbeck comments:

His theory of education is essentially a theory of teacher professionalism, autonomy and development…. It is the teacher, purposive and free, informed by knowledge and understanding, with clearly articulated values, and a repertoire of practical skills, that he [Stenhouse] saw as the central agent in the educational enterprise.

(Silbeck 1983, p. 12)

These are powerful arguments that have much resonance with current thinking about curriculum design and development. As we will go on to see, recent pieces of curriculum reform have placed a greater degree of ownership and responsibility on schools. The greatest asset of every school is its teaching staff. The ‘localisation’ of the National Curriculum presents an opportunity for teachers to respond to the challenge of developing themselves and the curriculum they offer to their pupils in tandem.

Practical Task 1

Think through a recent piece of curriculum planning that you have undertaken. This might be a single lesson plan or a scheme of work. Consider the following questions:

To what extent was this an opportunity for your professional development as well as a piece of curriculum development?

In regard to the content of the piece of planning, how did you recycle existing subject knowledge that you might have had?

In respect of how you chose to organise the teaching and learning opportunities, how did you consider new teaching strategies – perhaps even those drawn from outside your particular subject area?

Finally, given the opportunity to undertake another piece of curriculum planning, how could you extend your original approach to develop it more closely with Stenhouse’s mantra of no curriculum development without teacher development?

Principle 2: Subjectivity is like a garment that cannot be removed

Alan Peshkin’s work on subjectivity is important for anyone engaged in research activities (Peshkin 1988). As the second key principle for this book, the above phrase is drawn from the following paragraph of his seminal paper on the topic of subjectivity and its influence on the research process:

Subjectivity is not a badge of honor, something earned like a merit badge and paraded around on special occasions for all to see. Whatever the substance of one’s persuasions at a given point, one’s subjectivity is like a garment that cannot be removed. It is insistently present in both the research and nonresearch aspects of our life…. By remaining conventional wisdom, our subjectivity lies inert, unexamined when it counts, that is, beyond our control while actively engaged in the research process.

(Peshkin 1988, p. 17)

For our discussion, subjectivity can have a double meaning. In the sense that Peshkin is talking about, it refers to our personal qualities that affect the results of our work. It could include aspects related to our values, knowledge and understanding about a whole range of issues (both educational or, probably, more generally). These, Peshkin argues, cannot be removed. They are like a garment through which our gaze is mediated. They influence the way we feel, think and act. Our subjectivities need to be examined and understood in order for us to engage meaningfully with each ot...

Table of contents

• Cross-Curricular Teaching and Learning in …
• Contents
• Illustrations
• CHAPTER 1 The Context for Cross-Curricular Teaching and Learning
• Chapter 2 The Principles and Purposes for Cross-Curricular Teaching and Learning
• Chapter 3 The Pedagogy of Cross-Curricular Teaching and Learning
• Chapter 4 The Language and Literacy of Cross-Curricular Teaching and Learning
• Chapter 5 ICT as a Mediating Tool for Cross-Curricular Teaching and Learning
• Chapter 6 Assessment and Evaluation within Cross-Curricular Teaching and Learning
• Chapter 7 Metaphors for a Cross-Curricular Future
• Links to Other Books in this Series
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index