HOW COULD CROSS CURRICULAR LEARNING IMPACT PRIMARY EDUCATION? Beth Gibbs

4^th Blog!

The importance of cross curricular learning is going to be explored as well as what impact it has on education.  

Education within primary schools is moving away from rigidly teaching children just one subject at a time. Plowden (1967), believes that children do not think or learn just one thing at a time. So teaching this way is ineffective, we need to have a more holistic approach to teaching children as they naturally think in a natural way. This is why Donaldson (2015) has put such an emphasis on cross-curricular learning. Cross-curricular is a way of making sure that when children take part in a learning exercise they are receiving multiple learning outcomes. An example of this is by adapting a digital competency activity to also help develop other skills such as numeracy. This could be using tablets and computers to research Roman Numerals and then answering mathematical equations by writing it in text book, which would also help develop their literacy and fine motor skills. Already, this one activity, could be linked to four learning outcomes. According to Barnes (2011), children experience the world in different ways and cross curricular approaches will extend this further. Children will no longer have rigid, one lesson, subjects so their learning experiences will never be exactly alike. This approach could also promote more independent thinkers.

Education is constantly changing because so are we, there are new pieces of research and technology coming to light and being developed, every day. However we do not know what will happen 10 or 20 years from now (Barnes, 2011), so we must prepare learners for an uncertain future. The only thing we can be certain of is that technology is going to continue to develop so Donaldson, putting an emphasis on digital competence was a good idea. It is not just children that need to develop digital competency but teachers need to constantly adapt and update their pedagogy so that what we teach children is still relevant. Another good reason to stay current with technology is because we could potentially use them as tools to help extend children’s knowledge and learning.

‘Schools need to embrace cross curricular learning, and move away from reform that positions subjects in ways that hark back to some imagined past, rather than forwards to more globalised times’ (Power, 2002, p. 103).

I agree with Power (2002) because as technology develops, it may cause a lack of jobs for ‘humans’ in the future and favour AI’s and robots. So teachers may need to be able to show learners how to fix or develop the technology themselves because just knowing how to use something may not be enough anymore or at least in the future. I am in favour of Donaldson’s cross curricular approach to education because it encourages group, experiential learning. This then gives children the opportunity to collaborate with their group and to think creatively so they can solve problems and tasks. Kerry (2015), suggests that children need an enabling environment to explore areas of learning as it will be more challenging and engaging, According to Meggitt and Bruce (2015), when children are engaged and having fun they are more likely to retain information and have a more effective learning experience.

Surely, the benefits of having a cross curricula teaching and learning approach outweighs the standardised and rigid curriculum, where you as a teacher and student have very little autonomy over your pedagogy. So why are we not already utilising this approach already? I imagine in secondary school it is more difficult to take a step back from separate subjects as there may be timetabling issues. Also, some schools have specialist staff who work with children that have special educational needs, where they are taken out of class to do reading. This may be less disruptive if they are only missing 10 minutes of one subject. However, if we were following Donaldson’s cross-curricular approach then that child may miss ten minutes of several learning outcomes!

Reference List:

Barnes, J. (2011). Cross-curricular learning 3-14 (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, [Calif.] ; London: SAGE.

Donaldson, G. (2015) Successful Futures: Independent Review of Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements in Wales. London: Crown Copyright.

Kerry, T. (2015). Cross-curricular Teaching in the Primary School : Planning and facilitating imaginative lessons (Second ed.). London; New York: Routledge.

Meggitt, C. and Bruce, T. (2015). Childcare and Education: Early Years Educator. London: Hodder Education

Plowden, Lady Bridget. (1967). Children and Their Primary schools: A report of the Central Advisory Council for Education, Volume 1. London: HMSO.