There are many links between the subjects that students are taught in school, both in terms of the content and skills. Some of these links are obvious, however often there are many connections that we are unaware of. As a result, we often end up teaching students’ similar content or skills multiple times in different subjects without necessarily being aware of this.
Many of us have probably been in a lesson when we know that our students have learned similar content or skills in other subjects, however they find it difficult to apply this in other settings. For example, we know that students have learnt to structure a paragraph in their English lessons, however when it comes to writing an extended answer in Geography, they may not be applying this knowledge. Similarly, if students have learned about factors that make a good location for a settlement in Geography, they may not consider this knowledge when learning about Roman settlements in History. Through developing cross curricular links between subjects, and making students aware of this, we can help them to be able to apply this knowledge and skills across subjects which can have many benefits for the students, including increasing their understanding and progress.
In my session at Pedagoo Hampshire, we will explore the benefits of developing cross curricular links for both teachers and students as well as looking at strategies to develop these links further.
Key Takeaways:
1. Developing cross curricular links can have many benefits for our students, including:
Helping students see connections across subjects and therefore being able to apply knowledge and skills from different subjects when relevant
Ensuring consistency in terms of what students are learning
Students see that we value their learning in general and not just our own subject
2. Developing cross curricular links can have many benefits for teachers, including:
Saving time in lessons
Gaining more in-depth knowledge of a topic and seeing this through different viewpoints
Understanding the differences between concepts in different subjects
Informs our planning
Raising the profile of our subject
3. There are a number of strategies that can be used to develop cross curricular links, including:
Discussing subject content with teachers from other subjects
Collaborate with each other
Raise awareness of the similarities and differences
Inform our teaching practice and planning
Over the past year, I have been working to develop cross curricular links further within the Humanities Department in my school. This process has been very beneficial for me. I found many more links between subjects than I was previously aware of and the process of discussing the content of our subjects, and collaborating with other teachers, has been fantastic. This session will explore the key takeaways above in more detail and will give ideas for how this can be achieved in schools. We can learn so much from other subjects and there is a huge amount of potential in terms of developing links between subjects in school.
Emily is a Geography Teacher at an international school in Düsseldorf, Germany, and winner of the Royal Geographical Society’s Rex Walford Award in 2020. Emily is currently in charge of developing cross curricular links within the Humanities department and also contributes to the whole school development of Teaching and Learning in her school.
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