Collaboration in the Middle: Teachers in Interdisciplinary Planning

Abstract

With increased focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and STEAM, educators are looking for ways to integrate disciplines. Planning content around a common theme is an avenue for an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning in the middle grades. Middle grade educators must find ways to relate content to their students in meaningful ways. Cross-curricular integration of content areas is one way to do that. Providing opportunities for students to explore topics connected across content areas strengthens students' understanding and investigation of real-life applications. Middle-level students require ongoing, concrete, experiential learning in order to develop intellectually (AMLE, 2010) and an integrated curriculum that is more compatible with the way their brains work (Vars, 2001). Over 60 years of studies provide evidence that middle-level students perform better with an interdisciplinary or integrated curriculum than with departmentalized programs