Curriculum integration in the junior secondary school

Abstract

Abstract The integration of curriculum has been of interest to educators since before the start of the 30th century. Today, an increasing number of New Zealand schools are embracing a variety of approaches to curriculum integration. At the same time, educational discourse continues concerning the constructivist approaches developed during the 1980s and early 1990s. This article (1) describes a Junior secondary curriculum integration programme, designed around constructivist principles, that has been running at Kuranui College in Greytown since 2000. Introduction There is a strong belief among those who support curriculum integration that schools must look at secondary education as a process for developing abilities required for life in the 31st century, rather than as discrete, departmentalised subject matter. In the debate about schooling in the 21st century, curriculum integration sits alongside a growing number of hot topics. When educators consider the full range of these approaches, the magnitude of the challenge becomes apparent. How does a traditional secondary school begin to restructure its Years 9 and 10 programme to accommodate all of these: authentic interdisciplinary contexts, extended periods of study, a range of learning styles, the development of information and digital literacies, the fostering of autonomous learners, attention to learning through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), and more? The Base 6 programme at Kuranui College in Greytown was designed to incorporate, to some extent, all of these pedagogical approaches and at the same time implement some organisational and structural changes to the junior college programme. At the time of writing, the Base 6 programme operates at the Years 9 and 10 levels, with two classes of students at each level. The programme combines the English, social studies, science, and health curricula in eight extended studies spread over the year. Students carry out these extended individual or collaborative inquiry-based projects driven largely by their own questions and interests. The student-directed learning is complemented by lessons based on relevant content from the associated curriculum areas. The programme takes place during daily block-timetabled periods of up to three hours' duration, with the remaining time used for the other junior college options and programmes. Base 6 is named after the six key features of the programme: active learning through inquiry, independent student-centred learning, authentic contexts, collaborative learning, ICT-enhanced learning, and the building of connections to family and community. There is a strong emphasis on students developing information literacy and the competencies required for independent inquiry. Students are able to use ICT in their classrooms throughout the programme. The teachers in Base 6 work as a team to provide a flexible and integrated approach to teaching and learning, using a systematic process of planning and review to improve student learning. Curriculum integration Discussions by the Kuranui Collcgc teachers with teachers in integrated studies programmes at other New Zealand secondary schools, and research into curriculum integration undertaken during the programme development, identified several key theorists and practitioners. James Beane of the National College of Education at National-Louis University is an important figure in the field of curriculum integration, and has written many articles and books on the subject. His book, Curriculum Integration: Designing the Core of Democratic Education (Beane, 1997), provides a history and complete theory of curriculum integration, and was used extensively during the programme planning period. In New Zealand, Pat Nolan and Mark Brown (from Massey University) have published material related to curriculum integration since the late 80s, and have had a long-standing research relationship with Freyberg High School (Nolan & Brown, 2001, 2002). …