Professional Context - Crossing Boundaries Week 31

Activity 7

Week 31 - PRACTICE - Professional Context - Crossing Boundaries

This is a map of my current and possible interdisciplinary collaborations. The ones I am using are in green, and the ones I'm not, but could be using are in pink. The interdisciplinary connection I am choosing as a future goal is team teaching in Ako. I found this week’s readings very relevant to issues with my current teaching practice as I am finding interdisciplinary collaboration to deliver interdisciplinary teaching challenging.

Three years ago my interdisciplinary connection to co construct planning, decision-making and goal setting was with three teachers, team teaching 67 students with an integrated curriculum. It was hard work but the children were highly engaged and there was pockets of innovation happening. We integrated all the subjects well except for Maths. To integrate maths well takes lots of planning and expertise. I find teachers afraid of coverage more so in maths than other subjects.

I spent time researching team teaching but not enough to prepare me for leading a team that has encountered new challenges, that being lack of space and large role growth. Twelve months later we have 86 students and three teachers. It has got harder to maintain high standards to put conditions in place to achieve innovation.  I was relieved to read Jones (2009) discussing the advantages and disadvantages of team teaching in this week’s reading. He highlights the fact that interdisciplinary curricula is time consuming and takes collaborative teamwork to create, which can make it hard and exhausting. It is reassuring to know that we are not alone in finding challenges, and worthwhile persevering as “in the end, the interdisciplinary approach favours skills that are sought by future colleges and employers. Students and their teachers will advance in critical thinking, communication, creativity, pedagogy, and essential academia with the use of interdisciplinary techniques” (Jones, 2009).

It is timely for me going into the third term to read about A Conceptual Model for Interdisciplinary Collaboration to modify and improve how we collaboratively plan, make decisions, and set goals.  “As we read others’ stories and studies and noticed patterns in what led to successful collaboration”. (ACRLog, 2015).

As a result of their research they have identified three elements that come together to achieve successful collaboration. “Two of these elements can be controlled: (a) favorable attitudes and personality qualities toward interdisciplinary engagement and (b) common goals determined between the involved parties. The third element—(c) workplace conditions—is largely out of the collaborators’ control but still impacts the partnership.” (ACRLog, 2015).

Qualities/Attitudes: there is no question that all the teachers in Ako strive to have a cooperative and compromising attitude. We all have diverse strengths and are willing to take risks and learn from each other and the students.

Common Goals: we share a common goal to engage our students with an integrated curriculum, creativity and innovative practice.

Workplace Conditions: “In the event that one facet is absent or lacking, we believe that collaboration can still function but may be difficult to sustain.” (ACRLog, 2015). This sounds very like where we are at. We can’t control the fact that we have too many students in a space that isn’t designed for interdisciplinary teaching and learning. We got away with it when we had 67 students but not 87. We do not have the fluid flow that is needed to team teach effectively. To build on each others expertise as we co construct a lesson. There is not adequate space and noise level. The children cannot work independently on their projects.
We do however meet often to communicate which is essential for us to collaborate, we have a principal who embraces our collaborative endeavours that “without, the interdisciplinary collaboration would likely end, as it too high-risk to continue”  (ACRLog, 2015).

I will preserve and strive to find a way to sustain our practice as I have seen the cross pollination that is talked about in the Interdisciplinary and Innovation Education video. Last year we were astounded by the connections the children were making with each other and their learning as a result of interdisciplinary pedagogy. The children were developing a self belief and growth in themselves that I have never seen before. Likewise working this closely with other teachers helps us to learn new ways of pedagogy to inform our practice. My understanding of caring for Maori children as Maori has developed ten fold as one of my interdisciplinary collaborators is an expert in this field.

References

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

Jones, Casey (2009) "Interdisciplinary Approach - Advantages, Disadvantages, and the Future Benefits of Interdisciplinary Studies,"ESSAI: Vol. 7, Article 26.Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol7/iss1/26

ThomasMcDonaghGroup. ( 2011, May 13). Interdisciplinarity and Innovation Education.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDdNzftkIpA