Transdisicplinary Teaching: Like Making a Pot of Stew

Recently this year, I have become introduced to the various forms of disciplines that can be integrated into the classrooms.  These disciplines use specific modes of inquiry and processes which cater to different teaching methods.  Through transdisicplinary teaching, educators are going beyond the traditional methods of teaching and erasing lines and boundaries to which they can teach.

Transdisciplinary teaching connects education with social justice issues that affect students on a daily basis (L. Lane, personal communications, February 10 2016).  It is the assessment of real-life contexts, and allows students to relate their learning to real world occurrences.  This can become vital to a student's engagement in the curriculum, and creates a sense of agency within their lives.

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The transdisciplinary approach is focused on collaboration and de-compartmentalizing learning so that it is more fluid and interwoven.  It is here that students are aware of their relevance of their learning and are encouraged by educators to remain engaged.  To say that this approach interconnects separate subjects and blends them together with a strong connection, makes me think of creating a pot of stew.  First, you need all the ingredients: carrots, celery, beef, mushrooms, etc.  Each ingredient is unique and independent, and can function on it's own.  However, once you combine all of these ingredients together, they create a completely new meal which serves a different purpose.  If we imagine that each ingredient in our stew is a lesson, and we add in student collaboration in the classroom... we ultimately get our final product: transdisicplinary learning!

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To learn more about transdisciplinary teaching and learning, watch this great video as it illustrates the overall expectations and goals within the discipline:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G35IBmEngO8

Classroom learning stations become a great way teachers can integrate this discipline into the classroom.  Teachers can start by creating stations within their classes which foster collaboration and cooperation amongst their students.  Each station will be comprised of specific aspects within the overall lesson, for example: if students are learning about habitats and communities, each station can be dedicated to different learning expectations within the lesson.  Through student-centerer learning, students can begin co-constructing their learning of the new information, rather than the typical teacher-centerer method.  This allows students to critically analyze their learning and question their current assumptions. 

Although transdisciplinary learning may be difficult to teach and harder to assess, it has been proven that this form of learning has students more engaged in their education, and creates a sense of agency as they continue their schooling.