Integrative Methods in Teaching Social Science

1 Discipline in Basic Education 1

UNIT 1: CURRICULUM INTEGRATION

1.0 Intended Learning Outcomes

a. Integrate two or more core learning areas.
b. Operate as collaborating teachers working on a common theme.
c. Employ theories supporting curriculum integration.
d. Appraise principles in integrating Big Ideas and Strategies.
e. Apply common elements of an integrated curriculum responsive to the learners’
linguistic, cultural, socio-economic and religious backgrounds

1.1. Introduction
Today, there is a focus on an integrated curriculum. An integrated curriculum is
described as one that connects different areas of study by cutting across subject-matter lines
and emphasizing unifying concepts. Integration focuses on making connections for students,
allowing them to engage in relevant, meaningful activities that can be connected to real life.
Can you imagine how an integrated curriculum can benefit your students? Understanding
the benefits and how to effectively integrate curriculum can help teachers and students
become more successful in the classroom.
This unit aims to introduce the fundamental knowledge, concepts, theories and
approaches in integrated curriculum. As teachers can integrate curriculum across content
areas by anchoring units of study in issues and themes that are determined along with
students. As innovative teachers, we are continuously seeking ways to create rigorous,
relevant and engaging curriculum.

1.2 Topics/Discussion (with Assessment/Activities)

1.2.1. Curriculum Integration

1.2.1 Integrated Curriculum?
1.2.2 Components of Integrated Curriculum
1.2.2.1 Multidisciplinary Integration
1.2.2.2 Interdisciplinary Integration
1.2.2.3 Transdisciplinary Integration
1.2.2.4 How the Three Approaches Connect w/each other
1.2.2.5 Benefits of an Integrated Curriculum
1.2.3 Theories Supporting Curriculum Integration
1.2.3.1 Experimental Learning
1.2.3.2 Multiple Intelligence
1.2.3.3 Constructivism

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1.2.4 Common Elements of an Integrated Curriculum

1.2.5 Planning Integrated Instruction

AWESOME IDEAS
Activity Title: INTEGRATING SOCIAL SCIENCE AND SCIENCE
Warm Up
History and science fit together seamlessly. Scientific innovation has been a driving
force in societal change.
To put it in perspective, imagine what life would be like without the internet, phones,
or electricity. What it would be like to look up at the stars and not know what they are?

Activity 1. Science and Society

If you’re teaching a historical time period, you can focus on scientific discoveries and
technological advances during that time.

Create a short video presentation (maximum of 3 minutes) that highlights one

scientific innovation and how it affected society (both then and now).

Rubric (Short Video)

Element Exemplary Proficient Partially Incomplete Points
Proficient
Concept 20 pts. 15 pts 10 pts. 5 pts.
/Topic Video clearly Video conveys Video Video conveys
conveys a very a concept or conveys a a general idea
specific topic and general idea and reveals
concept or shows clear and shows misconceptions
topic and understanding only or lack of
shows depth of supported by superficial knowledge of
understanding visual or knowledge. the students.
supported by audio content.
visual and
audio content
Video 20 pts. 15 pts. 10 pts. 5 pts.
Quality The video was Editing was Video was There was no
well edited and incomplete or produced, video, or video
moves poorly done. but had very was unedited
smoothly from Some poor little editing. without
scene to scene shots remain. Many poor transitions or
with proper Video is still quality shots audio support.
use of somewhat remain.
transitions. choppy. Video was
Audio was Audio and fragmented
clear and other and choppy
understandable enhancements with little to

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and other were utilized, no audio

enhancements but not for reinforcement
were well used maximum
effect.

1.2.1 What is an integrated curriculum?

It is important to understand that curriculum integration is an idea that has a strong

historical background. Disciplines were created in an attempt to organize the world around
them; sometimes this was motivated by political means. Educational reform has roots dating
as far back as the progressive era. The philosophy behind educational reform during the
progressive era centered around an emphasis on student creativity, applicable outcomes,
"natural" learning, and student experience. This belief system has been the fundamental base
for integrated curriculum. Supporters of the progressive educational reform believed that the
different disciplines prevented students from making connections between the different
subjects. Therefore, the relevance of the material decreased.

1.2.2 Components of Integrated Curriculum

• Focuses on basic skills, content and higher level thinking

• Encourages lifelong learning
• Structures learning around themes, big ideas and meaningful concepts
• Provides connections among various curricular disciplines
• Provides learners opportunities to apply skills they have learned
• Encourages active participation in relevant real-life experiences
• Captivates, motivates, and challenges learners
• Provides a deeper understanding of content
• Offers opportunities for more small group and industrialized instruction
• Accommodates a variety of learning styles/theories (i.e., social learning theory,
cooperative learning, intrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy) and multiple intelligences

An integrated curriculum is described as one that connects different areas of study by

cutting across subject-matter lines and emphasizing unifying concepts. Integration focuses
on making connections for students, allowing them to engage in relevant, meaningful
activities that can be connected to real life. An integrated curriculum aims to connect the
theory learned in the classroom, with practical, real-life knowledge and experiences. The
practical and experiential learning aspect of an integrated curriculum is facilitated through
service-learning.
There has been extensive research done on integrated curriculums and what they look
like in the learning and teaching space. From this research, three particular integrated
curriculum paradigms were identified, each of them having overlapped and aligned
elements. These include:

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1.2.2.1 Multidisciplinary integration

Focuses primarily on the disciplines. This approach relates different subject around a
common theme. In this approach, teachers fuse skills, knowledge, or even attitudes into
the regular school curriculum. In some schools, for example, students learn respect for
the environment in every subject area.

Figure 1. Multidisciplinary Integration

Multidisciplinary approaches focus primarily on the disciplines. Teachers who use

this approach organize standards from the disciplines around a theme. Figure 1 shows
the relationship of different subjects to each other and to a common theme. There are
many different ways to create multidisciplinary curriculum, and they tend to differ in
the level of intensity of the integration effort. The following descriptions outline different
approaches to the multidisciplinary perspective.

Intradisciplinary Approach. When teachers integrate the subdisciplines within a subject

area, they are using an intradisciplinary approach. Integrating reading, writing, and oral
communication in language arts is a common example. Teachers often integrate history,
geography, economics, and government in an intradisciplinary social studies program.
Integrated science integrates the perspectives of subdisciplines such as biology,
chemistry, physics, and earth/space science.
Fusion. In this multidisciplinary approach, teachers fuse skills, knowledge, or even
attitudes into the regular school curriculum. In some schools, for example, students learn
respect for the environment in every subject area
Service Learning. Service learning that involves community projects that occur during
class time falls under the category of multidisciplinary integration
Learning Centers/Parallel Disciplines. A popular way to integrate the curriculum is to
address a topic or theme through the lenses of several different subject areas. In an
elementary classroom, students often experience this approach at learning centers. For
example, for a theme such as “patterns,” each learning center has an activity that
allows the students to explore patterns from the perspective of one discipline—math,

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language, science, or social studies. As students move through the learning centers to
complete the activities, they learn about the concept of patterns through the lenses of
various disciplines.
In the higher grades, students usually study a topic or theme in different classrooms.
This may take the form of parallel disciplines; teachers sequence their content to match
the content in other classrooms. Students often experience American literature and
American history as parallel disciplines. They study a particular period of history and
read literature from that period. For example, students read The Red Badge of Courage in
English while studying the Civil War in history. Students usually must make the
connections themselves.
Theme-Based Units. Some educators go beyond sequencing content and plan
collaboratively for a multidisciplinary unit. Educators define this more intensive way
of working with a theme as “theme-based.” Often three or more subject areas are
involved in the study, and the unit ends with an integrated culminating activity. Units
of several weeks' duration may emerge from this process, and the whole school may be
involved.

1.2.2.2 Interdisciplinary integration

In this approach to integration, teachers organize the curriculum around common
learnings across disciplines. They chunk together the common learnings embedded in
the disciplines to emphasize interdisciplinary skills and concepts.

Figure 2 Interdisciplinary Integration

In this approach to integration, teachers organize the curriculum around common

learnings across disciplines. They chunk together the common learnings embedded in
the disciplines to emphasize interdisciplinary skills and concepts. The disciplines are

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identifiable, but they assume less importance than in the multidisciplinary approach.
Figure 2 illustrates the interdisciplinary approach.

1.2.2.3 Transdisciplinary Integration

In the transdisciplinary approach to integration, teachers organize the curriculum
around student questions and concerns. Students develop life skills as they apply
interdisciplinary and disciplinary skills in a real-life context.

Figure 3 Transdisciplinary Integration

.
The transdisciplinary approach to integration, teachers organize curriculum around
student questions and concerns Students develop life skills as they apply
interdisciplinary and disciplinary skills in a real-life context. Two routes lead to
transdisciplinary integration: project-based learning and negotiating the curriculum.

Project-Based Learning. In project-based learning, students tackle a local problem. Some

schools call this problem-based learning or place-based learning. Planning project-based
curriculum involves three steps:
1. Teachers and students select a topic of study based on student interests, curriculum
standards, and local resources.
2. The teacher finds out what the students already know and helps them generate
questions to explore. The teacher also provides resources for students and opportunities
to work in the field.
3. Students share their work with others in a culminating activity. Students display the
results of their exploration and review and evaluate the project.
Studies of project-based programs show that students go far beyond the minimum
effort, make connections among different subject areas to answer open-ended questions,

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retain what they have learned, apply learning to real-life problems, have fewer discipline
problems, and have lower absenteeism.

Negotiating the Curriculum. In this version of the transdisciplinary approach, student

questions form the basis for curriculum. Example, Mark Springer of Radnor,
Pennsylvania, negotiated an integrated curriculum with students. Springer led the
nationally known Watershed program for 11 years. His current curricular program is
Soundings. In Soundings, 8th grade students develop their own curriculum, teaching
methods, and assessments around areas of interest to them. Themes that students have
developed include Violence in Our Culture, Medical Issues Affecting Our Lives, and
Surviving Alien Environments.

1.2.2.4 How the Three Approaches Connect with Each Other

Figure 1.4 shows the relationships among the three different approaches. Some
differences in intent are apparent. We found, however, that the educators who actually
implement integrated approaches are the same educators who are interested in the most
effective ways to teach. They are the ones who constantly ask, “How can I engage all of
my students in this learning?” They also are the ones who use the most effective planning
strategies, such as a backward design process, and are concerned with authentic
assessment practices. Therefore, despite some differences in the degree and the intent of
integration, the three approaches share many similarities. The centrality of standards and
the need for accountability bring the three approaches closer together in practice.

Figure 1.4. Comparing and Contrasting the Three Approaches to Integration

Multidisciplinary Interdisciplinary Transdisciplinary

Interdisciplinary skills
Standards of the • Real-life context
Organizing and concepts embedded
disciplines organized
Center in • Student questions
disciplinary
around a theme
standards
• Disciplines connected• All knowledge
• Knowledge best
by common concepts interconnected and
learned through the
Conception and skills interdependent
structure of the
of disciplines • Knowledge considered • Many right answers
Knowledge• to be socially
• Knowledge considered
A right answer
constructed to be indeterminate and
• One truth
• Many right answers ambiguous

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• Procedures of
discipline considered
most important Disciplines identified if
Role of Interdisciplinary skills
desired, but real-life
Disciplines• Distinct skills and and concepts stressed
concepts of discipline context emphasized
taught

• Coplanner
Role of • Facilitator • Facilitator
• Colearner
Teacher • Specialist • Specialist/generalist
• Generalist/specialist

Disciplinary • Student questions and

Starting • Interdisciplinary bridge
standards and- concerns
Place • KNOW/DO/BE
procedures • Real-world context

Degree of
Moderate Medium/intense Paradigm shift
Integration
Interdisciplinary Interdisciplinary
Assessment Discipline-based
skills/concepts stressed skills/concepts stressed
Concepts and
Concepts and essential Concepts and essential
essential
KNOW? understandings across understandings across
understandings
disciplines disciplines
across disciplines
• Disciplinary skills as
• Interdisciplinary skills Interdisciplinary skills
the focal point as the focal point and disciplinary skills
DO?
• Interdisciplinary • Disciplinary skills also applied in a real-life
skills also included included context
• Democratic values
• Character education
BE?
• Habits of mind
• Life skills (e.g., teamwork, self-responsibility)

• Backward design
Planning • Standards-based
Process
• Alignment of instruction, standards, and assessment

• Constructivist approach
• Inquiry
Instruction
• Experiential learning
• Personal relevance

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• Student choice
• Differentiated instruction

• Balance of traditional and authentic assessments

Assessment
• Culminating activity that integrates disciplines taught

1.2.2.5 Benefits

Do you wonder why it is important to integrate curriculum? Think about how much
you could learn in a classroom where you learn math, science and reading all in one lesson
or teaching a theme-based unit that focuses on cultural diversity and incorporates core
content area topics. When I taught through an integrated curriculum, my students
showed higher signs of retention at an increased rate than when an integrated curriculum
was not implemented. The reason for this is because they were able to more closely relate
to content and make real-world connections in integrated curriculum approaches.
Students not only connect and create more real world connections in integrated
classrooms, but they are also more actively engaged. Creating an integrated curriculum
means that teachers are charged with having to create challenging, fun, meaningful tasks
that help students connect to information. Creating a solar system unit that also requires
oral language development and practice, reading comprehension skills and mathematics,
can engage students far more than just a lesson on the solar system alone. Integration
helps to achieve retention and engagement in classrooms, which yields higher mastery of
content standards.
One final key benefit of an integrated curriculum is the ability for students to see skills
multiple times. Instead of teaching comprehension strategies in just reading, teaching
those strategies across multiple disciplines can give students an opportunity to see and
implement it more often. The repetition of the skills being taught creates a higher level of
understanding and retention of information for students in the classroom.

1.2.3 Theories Supporting Curriculum Integration

1.2.3.1 The Experiential Learning

As the name suggests, experiential learning

involves learning from experience. The
theory was proposed by psychologist David
Kolb who was influenced by the work of
other theorists including John Dewey, Kurt
Lewin, and Jean Piaget.

According to Kolb, this type of learning can

be defined as "the process whereby
knowledge is created through the

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transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combinations of grasping

and transforming the experience."1

Experiential learning theory differs from cognitive and behavioral theories in

that cognitive theories emphasize the role of mental processes while behavioral
theories ignore the possible role of subjective experience in the learning process.

The experiential theory proposed by Kolb takes a more holistic approach and
emphasizes how experiences, including cognition, environmental factors, and
emotions, influence the learning process.
1.2.3.2 Multiple Intelligences Theory

Howard Gardner's theory of multiple

intelligences proposes that people are not born
with all of the intelligence they will ever have.

This theory challenged the traditional notion

that there is one single type of intelligence,
sometimes known as “g” for general
intelligence, that only focuses on cognitive
abilities.

To broaden this notion of intelligence, Gardner introduced eight different types

of intelligences consisting of: Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical, Spatial, Bodily-
Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist.

Gardner notes that the linguistic and logical-mathematical modalities are most
typed valued in school and society.

Gardner also suggests that there may other “candidate” intelligences—such as

spiritual intelligence, existential intelligence, and moral intelligence—but does not
believe these meet his original inclusion criteria

1.2.3.3 Constructivism

Constructivism is the theory that says learners construct knowledge rather than
just passively take in information. As
people experience the world and reflect
upon those experiences, they build their
own representations and incorporate
new information into their pre-existing
knowledge (schemas).

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Related to this are the processes of assimilation and accommodation.

Assimilation refers to the process of taking new information and fitting it into
an existing schema.
Accommodation refers to using newly acquired information to revise and redevelop
an existing schema.

For example, if I believe that friends are always nice, and meet a new person
who is always nice to me I may call this person a friend, assimilating them into my
schema. Perhaps, however, I meet a different person who sometimes pushes me to try
harder and is not always nice. I may decide to change my schema to accommodate
this person by deciding a friend doesn’t always need to be nice if they have my best
interests in mind. Further, this may make me reconsider whether the first person still
fits into my friend schema.

Consequences of constructivist theory are that:

o Students learn best when engaged in learning experiences rather passively

receiving information.
o Learning is inherently a social process because it is embedded within a social
context as students and teachers work together to build knowledge.
o Because knowledge cannot be directly imparted to students, the goal of
teaching is to provide experiences that facilitate the construction of
knowledge.

1.2.4 There are 6 key elements to an integrated curriculum:

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1. Your curriculum must be aligned to both state and national standards.

This makes it so that everything has a purpose while you are teaching it. You must
make sure that the curriculum overlaps in the subject areas that you are
integrating.
2. You must have a focus for your curriculum and you must determine what topics
or areas of study will be included in your instruction.
By doing this, you are allowing for blended content among differing areas of study
and making your units revolve around a common theme.
3. You must know that basic reading and math skills are linked with social studies
and science.
It is not very hard to see that basic reading is needed among all subject areas.
However, students must also be able to pull basic reading skills such as
recognizing cause and effect, analyzing documents, and sequencing events or
ideas in other disciplines too.

For example, in order to fully understand the Constitution of the United States of
America, a student must be able to do a variety of things such as read and analyze
the constitutional amendments, recognize the cause and effect relationship
between the events of the time and the inclusions of different amendments, as well
as be able to sequence events such as the creation of the Articles of Confederation
and the Declaration of Independence.

4. You must make planning a team effort when attempting to implement an

integrated curriculum.
This is done in all grade levels, and by doing this teachers are sharing ideas
revolving around different themes. If your school has a different teacher for each
subject, those teachers can get together and share ideas from their disciplines in
order to help other teachers create ways to integrate the content in their own
classrooms.
5. You must include both informal and formal assessments throughout your unit.
This can include a variety of different means of assessment from simple teacher
observation to things such as daily quizzes, homework, worksheets, unit testing,
as well as standardized teaching such as end-of-grade (EOG) and end-of-course
(EOC) testing.
6. You must differentiate instruction for your students within the unit.
You can use a variety of strategies such as flexible grouping, tiered assignments,
assignment contracts, or even independent study to get this done.
For example, if you use assignment contracts, you can create contracts in which

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students must complete one assignment from each level of Bloom's taxonomy that
is appropriate to their current level and/or ability of understanding, which allows
you to assess the student while also allowing the student a variety of means to get
the assignments done and display their understanding of a topic to cater to the
differences in how students learn and understand content.
• Integrated instruction is a method for organizing instruction to synthesize more
than one subject area, rather than separating instruction by subject area.

1.2.5 When planning for integrated instruction, keep these points in mind:

• Select a Theme. Themes should be interesting to students and be meaningful and

substantive. A theme such as "Challenges" enables students to learn about people who
have struggled and won. A theme on the environment helps students understand the
importance of preserving and protecting the Earth. Themes like these offer the
opportunity to explore important ideas that challenge students to seek information
beyond what they already know.
• Choose a Key Concept to Guide Instruction .Once themes are determined, the goal
is to select tasks that encourage students to investigate, wonder, problem-solve, and
ask questions that enable them to explore other topics more fully. Key concepts for a
theme should provide a clear focus for all instruction and learning. For instance, the
key concept for a theme on the environment might be: "We should respect and
preserve the natural world because our lives are linked to it." This key concept guides
all activities and lessons. It is expected that, by the end of the theme, all students will
begin to internalize, build upon, and transfer this key concept to their own lives
• Identify Skills and Strategies to Be Taught. Within integrated instruction, skills and
strategies become the means for developing children’s understanding of key concepts,
rather than the end result of a lesson. For example, comparing and contrasting is not
taught in isolation but through activities such as structured and carefully planned
reading lessons, hands-on math and science activities, or purposeful play—all
intended to enhance students’ grasp of key concepts.
• Identify a Range of Appropriate Resources. Integrated instruction requires
thoughtful and extensive planning. See the New York State Prekindergarten
Foundation for the Common Core
(http://www.earlychildhoodnyc.org/pdfs/PreK%20Common%20Core%202013-10-
28.pdf) for sample instructional unit planning templates. While planning, establish
connections among the domains and identify a variety of purposeful materials and
contextually-embedded activities.

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• Be Reflective. Integrated instruction can help to maximize instructional time by

addressing standards across content areas, but this should not be interpreted as
“saving time.” The length of time spent on a theme will vary based on teacher and
student interests, individual strengths and needs, and quality of instructional
planning. Along with teacher-directed activities and purposeful play, children should
have opportunities and supports to inquire about related topics, extend activities, and
test theories. Evaluate students’ progress and engagement with the theme to
determine next steps.

1.2.5 Assessment
A. Approaches to Integration. Direction: Identify what approach is being emphasized. Write
only the letter of the correct answer.
a. Multidisciplinary Approach b. Interdisciplinary Approach
c. Transdisciplinary Approach
_____1. Disciplines are identified if desired, but real-life context emphasized.
_____2. Disciplines connected by common concepts and skills.
_____3. Standards of the disciplines organized around a theme.
_____4. Teachers act as co-planner, co-learner.
_____5. Skills and concepts embedded in disciplinary standards.
_____6. Knowledge best learned through the structure of the disciplines.
_____7. Knowledge considered to be socially constructed. Many right answers.
_____8. Procedures of discipline considered most important.
_____9. Knowledge considered to be indeterminate.
_____10. Real-life context.
B. Discussion.
1. Why should curriculum integration be implemented?
2. How does curriculum integration change the role of teachers?
3. How does the student’s role change in curriculum interaction?
Criteria:
Content 8 points
Cleanliness 3 points
Organization of thoughts 4 points
_____________________________________
Total 15 points

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C. Develop a learning plan incorporating two or more learning areas and theory/theories
supporting curriculum integration.

The learning plan contains 6 parts:

1. Class Description.
2. Learning Materials.
3. Learning Goals
4. Learning Activities
5. Methods of Evaluation
6. Estimated Hour

Learning Plan Rubric

1.3 References
Blackshields, D. (2014). Integrative learning: International research and practice . Routledge,
1st Edition.
Jacobs, H. H. (Ed.) (2009). Interdisciplinary curriculum: Design and implementation.
Alexandria. VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Kain, D. L. (2008). Cabbages and kings: research directions in integrated/interdisciplinary
curriculum. The Journal of Educational Thought.

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Onyeachu, J.A.E. (2008). Curriculum implementation at the primary education level

challenges for the 21 st century in Multidisciplinary Journal of Research Development.
Principles of Teaching: Different Methods and Approaches (n.d.) Retrieved from:
https://www.slideshare.net/justindoliente/principles-of-teaching-33070911.
Retrieved: January 2020.
Susan M. Drake and Rebecca C. Burns. Meeting Standards Through Integrated Curriculum
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/103011/chapters/What-Is-Integrated-
Curriculum%C2%A2.aspx. Retrieved February 2021.

1.4 Acknowledgment
The images, tables, figures and information contained in this module were
taken from the references cited above.

C. M. D. Hamo-ay