Academics > Integrated Curriculum Manual
Carol Sandbrink, Ph.D. This manual made possible through a grant from The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation
Walsh University
Unit I: From the Beginning
Unit II: Planning Unit III: The Process of Developing an Integrated Curriculum
TABLE OF HANDOUTS/OVERHEADS
REASONS FOR AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO LEARNING
Welcome to Integrated Curricula: Practical Application in the Classroom. The authors of this project would like to thank the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation for funding this teacher training tool. Without that support and the support of Walsh University we would not have been able to move forward with this project. Throughout this work, we hope to be able to share our insights into the benefits and uses of the integrated curriculum within the classroom. This is by no means an exhaustive discussion of integrated curricula applications. Instead, it is an overview that we hope will challenge the in-service teacher to strengthen current instructional strategies and will serve as a springboard from which readers can revise and design their own innovative teaching tools and methods. We designed this guide to be very "user-friendly." Pages that have borders around the information can be easily removed to make copies or overheads. Work with the book; use it; make it work for you. We look forward to hearing of success stories from classroom teachers and are grateful for the opportunity to impact education beyond our own campus. By participating in the shift of the current teaching paradigm, we feel we make the greatest contribution educators can by sharing methods and preparing teachers that enrich the lives of children. So, let's get started!
Carol Sandbrink, Ph.D.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS Integrated curriculum: A curriculum that is organized in such a way that it cuts across subject-matter lines and brings together various aspects of the curriculum. A meaningful association focuses upon broad areas of study in a holistic way and reflects the real world, which is interactive (Shoemaker, 1989). Here are some other terms you may encounter as you develop your own integrated curricula: Advance Organizer Model: Abstract and general introduction to a new body of material presented early in instruction to provide a framework for understanding new ideas (Ausubel, 1963). Concept Attainment Model: The development of concepts through a perceptual or conceptual categorization process. Course of Study: Those standards for comprehensive program areas which have been submitted to and approved by the State Department of Education, Division of Curriculum Instruction and Professional Development, and a local school district. The Course of Study establishes goals and standards for achieving competency within the academic curriculum. Curriculum: That which is accepted as the subject matter taught within the school. Inductive Thinking Model: A series of teaching strategies designed to help develop inductive mental processes (Taba, 1966). In-service teachers: Practicing, certified school teachers. This model focuses on the in-service elementary school teacher. Integrated Thematic Instruction (ITI): Interfacing how students learn with instructional methods and strategies and the curriculum (Kovalik, 1986). Interdisciplinary curriculum: The overlapping of disciplines in the creation of sets of learning to integrate the curriculum (Jacobs, 1989); organizing the curriculum so that the various subjects are interwoven. KWL: A strategy used prior to the introduction of new material. The K requires the student to indicate that knowledge which is already known; the W asks the student to list those things which they want to discover; and the L -- used in conclusion -- requires the student to list those things that were learned. Pre-service teachers: Undergraduate college students studying to become school teachers. Rubric: A type of assessment in which a set of criteria spells out features the teacher expects to see in each response; a specific scoring guide. The Integrative Education Model: In every subject area, the cognitive is combined with feeling, the senses, and intuition (Clark, 1986). Units: A teacher-developed topical theme that integrates activities (Mansfield, 1989).
HISTORY: From where did the integrated model come?
John Dewey, the philosopher, contributed much toward the theoretical rationale of the power of integrating language with other studies within the curriculum. Dewey discussed the importance of integration: We do not have a series of stratified earths, one of which is mathematical, another physical, another historical, and so on .... All studies grow out of relations in the one great common world. When the child lives in varied but concrete and active relationship to this common world, his studies are naturally unified .... Relate school to life, and all studies are of necessity correlated ... if school is related as a whole, its various sins and ideals -- culture, discipline, information, utility -- cease to be variants. (1943, p. 91) Curriculum theorist Ralph Tyler defined integration as "the horizontal relationship of curriculum experiences" and viewed it as a "must" to help students obtain a unified view of their learning. Benjamin Bloom encouraged the development of curricula based on "integrative threads," and Hilda Taba was another early advocate for the integrated rather than the segmented approach. John Goodlad reported that a major problem in schooling is the "degree of unconnectedness it often has with the reality beyond school." Tanner wrote that an integrative core curriculum requires a new recognition of the interdependence of knowledge and its relevance to the life of the learner in a free society. Current research focuses on attempts to teach both the individual elements in a network of related content and the connections among them. Students should be able to explain the information in their own words and use it appropriately in and out of school. This current research is still in its infancy (Brophy, 1992), but the contemporary scene in the elementary classroom has responded with efforts for curriculum renewal. By dividing discipline-specific facts into subject areas taught, the curriculum fundamentalism of the 1970's and 1980's reduced the curriculum to the lowest common denominator. Synthesizing the curriculum into one of cohesiveness will help students transfer knowledge across discipline areas. The integrated activities, assignments, and evaluation methods should incorporate a much greater range of tasks than the familiar workbooks and curriculum-embedded tests that require recognition and recall of facts, definitions, and fragmented skills. A growing amount of literature exists describing an integrated curriculum that addresses this holistic philosophy and approach to be used with the elementary school. Yetta Goodman discussed the whole language movement and included influences that have come from advocates of the integrated curriculum (1989). Among those influences are the integration of the curriculum and individual differences, social interaction, and collaboration. Examination of the integrated curriculum approach is occurring worldwide. England, with its British Infant School, has contributed much toward integration of the curriculum. From New Zealand comes the policy of whole language across the curriculum. Teachers there are "expected to plan language activities based on students' everyday lives, widening interests, and developmental needs" (Goodman, 1986, p. 60). In 1984, the Elementary and Secondary School Reform Act directed the State Board of Education of North Carolina to develop a statewide curriculum that reflected a course of study which stressed the mastery of integrated knowledge in the basic skill areas rather than the study of isolated disciplines. As a result, the Assistant State Superintendent for Instruction appointed an Integrated Learning Task Force to define integration, suggest processes for integration, and provide a sample unit representative of all instructional areas. Several kinds of integrated learning are described and examples of various techniques are included. Under the auspices of the Oregon School Study Council (1989) a document was written relating many models as approaches to using integration. Among these models are the Advance Organizer Model, Concept Attainment Model, Taba's Inductive Thinking, Clark's Integrative Education Model, Kovalik's Integrated Thematic Instruction, Bondi's Designing Interdisciplinary Units, and the Concept Development Approach. These models show the use of a variety of teaching strategies and accommodate diverse learning styles. The curriculum promotes major themes and concepts instead of the mastery of content knowledge. The Eugene Oregon Public Schools have developed Education 2000 Integrated Curriculum with a time line for implementation of five years. This curriculum is based on a thematic approach with six major themes, 60 concepts, and 132 core skills organized within three curriculum strands. Integrative education programs emphasize approaches to instruction for understanding and problem solving that will more adequately prepare citizens for life in the 21st century. An integrative curriculum has been indicated as a way that allows for a natural learning pathway. Past practice has been to organize a school day into fragmented subject areas with isolation occurring. An integrated curriculum can provide unity through the utilization of many pedagogical strategies: collaboration, correlation, theme approach, webbing, interdisciplinary curriculum, and a holistic approach. RATIONALE: Why the integrated curriculum? Why now? Referenced in the literature by many terms, an integrated curriculum is a curriculum organization that cuts across subject-matter lines and focuses upon comprehensive life problems or broad areas of study. These help to bring together the various portions of the curriculum into meaningful association. Integration means to inter-relate the subjects within the curriculum; to blur their distinctiveness; to collaborate and to correlate. Integration means a holistic approach through interdisciplinary means. The effectiveness of following an integrated curriculum has been studied by the National Association for Core Curriculum, NACC (1984). This study found that in most instances students from interdisciplinary settings scored as well or better on standardized achievement tests as those students who came from a traditional subject-isolated setting. A descriptive case study examined a class of fifth and sixth graders to see how an integrated unit was perceived (Mansfield, 1989). This study used a constant comparative methodology to analyze the collected data and record emergent categories. The results showed that the students had a high level of commitment to the unit. Recent brain research indicates that people learn by searching for patterns and interconnections to make meaning (Caine & Caine, 1991). The study of the brain and intelligence has dramatically changed how we should teach. It makes sense to teach through connections. Until 1983, little has been found in the literature relating to integration of content in the teacher pre-service training institutions. The idea of integration was endorsed, but, beyond providing brief episodes of integration in the actual pre-service classroom, little specific instruction was provided. Because teachers tend to teach as they have been taught, integrated teaching pedagogies need to be encouraged and learned. An elementary integrated curriculum adds meaning to learning, emphasizes understanding of major themes instead of mastery of content knowledge, encourages problem solving, and transfers knowledge across discipline areas. The nature of teaching implies the need for change, to keep pace with what has been determined best practice in terms of meeting learner needs. Changing styles require the contribution and cooperation of all disciplines and the application of new teaching approaches. REASONS FOR AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO LEARNING:
In addition to that which has already been discussed, there are many reasons for an integrated approach to learning:
Effective instruction demands proper planning. Planning must create and connect the content to the objectives. Ralph Tyler wrote that adequate instruction is integrated and consistent (1950), and good planning will bring this premise to fruition. Many strategies may be utilized in the actual teaching, but this unit will focus on the following:
Again, it must be emphasized that these concepts are not the only ones to be considered; however, review of these ideas may lead to a smoother curriculum design process and easier, more effective implementation.
Gaining support of the administration...
Checklist for success: gaining administrative support
__ Do I, as the teacher, understand the administration's expectations?
Parental support is imperative to ensuring the success of the integrated approach. Teachers should consider holding a parent meeting to explain the philosophy, goals, procedures, and assessment of teaching in the integrated curriculum. Open houses and parent-teacher conferences can be vehicles to educate as well as illustrate. Notes, phone calls, and newsletters are also effective communication tools. One method you might consider as you plan your integrated curriculum is team teaching. The movement from individual teaching to team teaching is a major element of school reform currently advocated in journal articles, inservice meetings, and the education media. Teachers and administrators are being required to rethink the one teacher in his/her closed-door classroom model. The alternative model calls for a team of professionals planning, teaching, and evaluating within and across open-door classrooms. Educators have come to the realization that integration of curriculum across subject areas cannot be achieved effectively within an isolated, individualized teaching model. Furthermore, team teaching can act as a model for students who will need to develop abilities to work in cooperative teams as they enter the world of the 21st century. An added benefit of using the team approach in combination with the integrated framework is that it has proven highly effective when working with children with special needs. The inclusion model allows for team teaching and the classroom consultation model, where therapists and other support staff work together with the teachers to provide specialized intervention or offer ideas for adaptations. Rather than remove the student from the classroom to implement the specialized instruction, the services are "integrated" within the ongoing classroom activities. A team approach is also crucial to allowing brainstorming of alternative strategies for information to be presented or for student participation.
Rationale for using a team teaching approach:
By anticipating possible concerns and potential barriers when proposing a team teaching situation, you may make it easier to implement such an arrangement.
Potential teacher concerns when contemplating a team teaching arrangement:
Potential problem areas for teaching teams:
How to build team skills and trust...
QUESTIONS FOR TEAM MEMBERS:
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT:
PLANNING:
GRADING:
PARENT COMMUNICATION:
CLASSROOM SUBSTITUTES: Elements for team teaching success...
A properly prepared classroom environment invites students to explore, discover, and learn. The environment is planned long before the first student passes through the door. An integrated classroom must be orderly and systematic so that its real value is in developing the how of learning. The environment is designed to provide opportunities for movement, interaction, exploration, and manipulation. These student-centered settings tend to be natural, casual, relaxed, and spontaneous, allowing individual or small group work. The outdoor environment needs to be addressed as well when planning to integrate curricula. Taking the classroom out of doors provides unique movement, exploration, and social opportunities. STORAGE: The blending of materials translates into a need for organized storage space. Plan where and by what system storage and removal of materials will happen. TEACHER SPACE: Will you continue to use desks (one or two)? If yes, experiment with desk arrangements that allow teacher observation of class activities. What other work space is needed, and can or will it be incorporated into the classroom environment? STUDENT SPACE: A combination of individual desks as well as tables allows flexibility for individual and group work. Examine locker and desk space and decide on arrangements for storage of student belongings and materials. DIVIDERS: Are room partitions available? Draw sample floor plans and experiment with arrangements. If two classrooms are being shared, are the children able to move freely from classroom to classroom or is a system such as passes needed? CENTERS: If you are currently using centers, this method may be useful in the transition. If you have not tried learning centers, this technique may be helpful for organizational purposes. Centers may include library, writing, listening, art, science, social studies, math, drama, and computers. BULLETIN BOARDS: Decide how bulletin boards will be used and who will be responsible for their creation. RESTORATION: Students as well as teachers must take responsibility for restoring the environment throughout the day. Make specific assignments. What needs to be completed at the end of each day, each week? What are the custodian's duties regarding individual classrooms? RESTRUCTURING: Terms to know when adapting to the individual needs of learners
Least Restrictive Environment
IEP
Inclusion The commitment to educate each child, to the maximum extent appropriate, in the school and the classroom he or she would otherwise attend. It involves bringing support services to the child and requires only that the child will benefit from being in the classroom. Inclusion may represent a combination of environments and services with the goal that the child is with typically developing children of the same age range throughout the school day. It is a means to provide the "least restrictive environment" for each child as determined by IEP.
Full inclusion
Mainstreaming
Regular Education Initiative (REI)
Support Services Formal and informal supports may be used. Informal supports: peer supports, friendship circles, planned student groupings, cooperative learning assignments Formal supports: special education instructional services, adapted curriculum, behavioral contracts, alternative grading systems, parent-teacher communication, technological adaptations, related services (therapies) RESTRUCTURING/MEETING THE NEEDS OF CHILDREN It is the central task of restructuring to organize the learning environment so that ... differences are not just overcome, but celebrated; and without the need and cost, both human and financial, of labeling, separating, and discriminating. (Vermont Department of Education, 1992, p. 2) As found in most areas of the United States today, the educational atmosphere of Vermont has been one of reform. This state has developed an action plan that involves both curricular and instructional changes through systematic reform efforts called the Green Mountain Challenge, named for the rural and often difficult to access Green Mountain range running down the middle of the state. It is a model for types of educational restructuring that are occurring nationwide and exemplifies goals that will enable all children to receive an appropriate and relevant education. School curriculum and instructional approaches are being restructured to assure that teachers are able to provide relevant instruction to all children through new models of teaching, and, in particular, it has led to a wide educational reform for those students needing specialized services or assistance in their learning. One such new model which is being implemented through teacher training and currently being evaluated through data collection is the Vermont Assessment Program, a portfolio-based assessment program that is directly linked to an integrated and hands-on curriculum: Classroom learning is becoming more interactive and interdisciplinary; students are increasingly focusing on problem-solving and real-life applications of learning; they are demonstrating what they are learning instead of simply recording their learning on paper. Teachers say the Vermont Assessment Program has forced them to reflect on how they teach and to alter instruction to emphasize active and hands-on learning. (U.S. Department of Education, 1992) The utilization of an integrated curriculum model as part of educational restructuring is apparent in other national and state restructuring projects and publications. These curriculum guides present the use of an integrated curricular approach for the primary elementary grades to promote meaningful and relevant learning for all students. In Ohio, concepts such as inclusion, multi-age grouping, team-teaching, hands-on active learning, independence building, teamwork, and social skills are central to these state documents: Ohio Early Childhood Curriculum Guide, Ohio Department of Education, 1991; Ohio Employability Skills Project, Ohio Department of Education, 1987; Project Prepare: Modules for Competency-Based Personnel Preparation in Early Childhood Education, Ohio Department of Education, 1991. Restructuring educational practice today may include several curricular and instructional concepts. The utilization of the integrated curriculum is not only compatible but becomes a valuable educational tool that can be implemented successfully if the following related educational concepts are considered. Students with special needs are becoming members of regular elementary classrooms more and more frequently due to national educational movements such as the Regular Education Initiative and its various models of inclusion. Inclusion models are developed to provide a continuum of options that can best meet the needs of each individual student who has a disability or special learning need and, simultaneously, the typically developing classmates, and the educational staff. These students may be assigned to typical classrooms for specific subject areas or activities during the school day or may be true and consistent members of the elementary classroom in the traditional sense that their non-disabled peers are members. Various inclusion plans may involve a continuum of arrangements where elementary and special education teachers work in various ways together with small groups of children or the entire classroom in a team teaching model. Another arrangement may have the elementary teacher as the primary instructor who receives assistance and support from special education teachers and supplemental staff, such as speech, physical, or occupational therapists. This assistance and support may be in the form of scheduled classroom visits in which these personnel work with small groups of children or individual students or may be only in a consultant role, through planning and meetings outside of the daily classroom environment. Why the integrated curriculum for children with special needs?
Current trends in special education focus on two critical goals. The integrated curriculum is a vehicle to effectively meet these two goals:
The integrated or thematic approach is not only appropriate but highly effective when used with students who have difficulty learning new skills and retaining what was previously learned. It has been well-documented that children who have cognitive difficulties require opportunities for repeated practice of skills to make them part of the child's repertoire, or knowledge base (Lerner, 1995; Snell, 1994, etc.) This may include children with mild or severe learning disabilities, mental retardation, or language disorders. Most traditional approaches to teaching are skill-based, dependent upon movement from level to level of skill acquisition. Often, the skills required of one level are different from those required at a higher level, and the student with learning difficulties may have trouble progressing with only limited time for practice. The traditional methods may also teach specific skills in isolation, which, as studies show, has a temporary rather than permanent effect on learning. Therefore, students with learning difficulties often need to have a "pre-organized structure" (Lewis, 1993) from which to apply certain knowledge or skills presented in the classroom. They may not recognize the purpose or the way in which the information is to be used, causing the learning to seem irrelevant or meaningless. Even when there is a natural connection between certain skills taught, some students may not comprehend the connection or be able to apply what is being learned in these contexts or other situations or tasks. The thematic or integrated approach provides a "connection" of skills across several content areas and requires the student to repeatedly practice certain skills or apply knowledge in a variety of ways. Therefore, the student is able to generalize or transfer a skill or knowledge to other learning contexts, such as various academic subject areas or daily living situations in which the application is appropriate or necessary for life skills. The natural use of the presented skills throughout the day or week, as provided for in the integrated model, facilitates relevant and meaningful learning situations. Often, both the elementary and special education teachers may need to examine many complex instructional and curricular considerations in order to meet the individual needs of a given student and to allow for a successful educational experience for all students in their environments. Understanding the relationship between curriculum and instruction
Bigge (1988) writes:
EDUCATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS TO MAXIMIZE LEARNING IN SUCCESSFUL INCLUSION SETTINGS
For many years the concept of tracking students, or separating them according to ability levels, has been an acceptable and widely used strategy for organizing students and their instruction. Today, in many schools across the nation, students are purposely placed in classroom settings without differentiation of abilities but rather for heterogeneity -- to place diverse learners together using a systematic and untracked system. The Harvard Education Letter (1992) reviewed several school systems that were replacing their tracked systems with heterogeneous groupings and reported some interesting observations.
When classrooms are heterogeneous either because of the presence of children with varied ability levels or learning styles, with specific sensory motor deficits, or in mixed age groupings, it is especially important that one of the primary goals in these environments is for students to develop understanding and respect for one another's differences. Teachers must identify successful methods and strategies to develop an atmosphere in which these students can support and encourage each other's learning. A classroom that is designed to be competitive, where students must attempt to prove to themselves and their teachers that they are either the brightest or most competent at a specific skill is in conflict with this goal. The promotion of competition through tasks that require a "winner" in various activities can turn students inward and against each other (Sapir-Shevin, 1990). Stainbach and Stainbach (1992) demonstrated the effectiveness of cooperative learning strategies to provide this support in such settings.
MULTIAGE GROUPINGS
COOPERATIVE LEARNING
The use of an integrated curriculum allows all students of varying abilities and needs to be included in the learning process. The nature of this model encourages students to work cooperatively and reinforces students for individual as well as group success. When students are absorbed in an interesting theme and subsequent activities, the focus can be directed on learning as may be defined for the "typical child" in that age range (for example: in 2nd and 3rd graders, there are expected competencies within that range) and simultaneously for individual goals or expected performance skill levels for individual students who do not function academically in that range.
EXAMPLE
DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING STYLES
ADAPTING TO LEARNER NEEDS All students may display strengths and weaknesses in certain learning styles, while the students who have specific learning difficulties may display a greater than average discrepancy in their uses of certain modalities to learn. The following pages contain characteristics and ways to enhance three more commonly preferred learning styles.
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNERS WHO MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY/DEFICITS IN THE VISUAL MODALITY
TO ENHANCE VISUAL LEARNING: For the student who has difficulty learning in this modality or for students who learn visually and require added cues
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNERS WHO MAY HAVE DIFFICULTIES/DEFICITS IN THE AUDITORY MODALITY
TO ENHANCE AUDITORY LEARNING: For students who have difficulty learning in this modality or for students who learn auditorally and require added cues
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNERS WHO MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY/DEFICITS IN THE TACTILE/KINESTHETIC MODALITIES
TO ENHANCE TACTILE/KINESTHETIC LEARNING: For the student who has difficulty learning in these modalities or for students who learn through these modalities and require added cues
UNIT III: THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING AN INTEGRATED CURRICULUM Much has been written and presented about HOW to develop integrated activities (Bondi, 1988; Clark, 1986; Drake, 1993; Fredericks, Meinback & Rothlein, 1993; North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 1987; Pappas, Kiefer & Levstik, 1990; Shoemaker, 1989). The goal of this program is to simplify the process and to make the development of an integrated program a DO-able practice.
STEP ONE:
STEP TWO: Read the list of considerations that follows. When planning for integration, famous artwork, renowned musicians, the newspaper, the community, and family are but a few of the resources to be utilized. Speakers, tapes, demonstrations, experiments, field trips, and drama can all help to provide enrichment and remediation while accomplishing the goals. Opportunities for creativity, divergent thinking, problem-solving, group and individual activities are necessary. Diversity and multicultural aspects should be examined and included as adaptations are made for the individual learner.
STEP THREE:
Look at the Course of Study and grade level textbooks.
Pencil in a tentative theme at the top of the TREE chart.
Re-examine the Course of Study. Having selected an overall theme, decide which disciplines (subjects) would be appropriate to include.
Pencil in tentative subjects on the TREE chart.
Refer to the Course of Study. Identify goals that need to be taught and that would appear to fit with the selected theme.
Pencil in tentative goals on the TREE chart.
Be creative, inventive imaginative! Conceive ideas for activities that would naturally meet the goals that have been identified.
Pencil in tentative activities on the TREE chart. THEME
Subject
Subject
Subject
Subject
Subject
Like a tree, the TREE chart symbolizes a strong, purposeful entity. Rooted in the curriculum, the main trunk or theme bolsters the various branches (goals) supporting the vibrant leaves (activities). These leaves should produ |
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