Integrative curriculum Kevin stands knee-deep in the middle of a creek on a sunny October morning. Looking toward the creek bank, he holds up a wet, rusty object. What do you think it is? he shouts to Hector, who is kneeling in the sand filling test tubes with water samples. Kevin and Hector are engaged in an eightweek unit on the water cycle and stream ecology. They and their classmates had been concerned about the polluted conditions of a local creek, so with their teachers they developed an inquiry-based, integrative unit of study that combined class work, field study, and a service-learning component. Integrative/lnterdisciplinary curriculum You should start a new paragraph here, Mr. Ramsey advises. Thanks, Taylor replies to his geography teacher, as he works on his team's written report on orangutans. One of Taylor's teammates designs a poster display across the hall in the science classroom, while another diligently works in the computer lab, trying to finish a PowerPoint presentation on orangutans before lunchtime. Taylor's teachers have designed an integrated unit on endangered species that includes a trip to the local zoo and culminates with team reports and presentations on an endangered animal. Correlated curriculum Okay, Look at the chart on page 231 that shows monthly rainfall in Brazil. Can anyone tell me what the average monthly rainfall in Brazil is? For the first time in weeks, Shannon's hand shoots up to answer the question, along with a dozen other hands. I know this, Shannon thinks. We're learning averages in Mr. Hooper's math class. Shannon's math and social studies teachers have decided to correlate the curriculum standards for their subjects and reinforce the same skills and concepts in both of their classes. Conventional curriculum The sound of the bell startles Kendall. The highpitched drone signals the end of social studies class, and she is somewhat relieved. The bell also reminds her that math class is next. And what are we supposed to be doing in math today? Kendall wonders, as she tucks the half-finished social studies worksheet into her binder. Unfortunately, Kendall's experience typifies the conventional approach to curriculum in middle school classrooms throughout the United States. The vignettes in this article represent various approaches to middle level curriculum design, each of which we have experienced as students, teachers, and teacher educators in middle school classrooms. Arnold (1997, adapting Brazee & Cappeluti, 1995) located these approaches on a continuum with conventional curriculum and integrative curriculum at opposite ends.1 Kendall is experiencing a conventional school curriculum, in which clear boundaries exist between subject areas, and teachers make no effort to bring coherence to the curriculum. In contrast, some of Shannon's teachers are implementing a correlated curriculum, in which certain vocabulary, concepts, and skills are reinforced in multiple subjects. For Taylor and his classmates, the curricular boundaries between different subjects are blurred. They are experiencing a curriculum that may be considered interdisciplinary or integrated. Kevin and Hector's teachers joined with their students to develop an integrative learning experience. Curriculum at this level of integration will: * Explicitly involve questions and concerns from the young people who actually carry out the unit. * Involve widely shared, larger world concerns that are clear and compelling. * Engage a wide range of knowledge, skills, and resources. * Pose opportunities for in-depth and extended work. * Present possibilities for a wide variety of activities. * Present possibilities for personal and social action, both in school and outside school, (from Beane, 1993, p. 75) Does Kendall not deserve the same kind of engaging, integrative learning experience that Kevin and Hector are enjoying? …