{"id":36,"date":"2014-04-24T13:19:38","date_gmt":"2014-04-24T13:19:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/alanmacinnis\/?p=36"},"modified":"2014-04-25T14:54:20","modified_gmt":"2014-04-25T14:54:20","slug":"musings-on-interdisciplinary-assessments-and-englishs-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/alanmacinnis\/2014\/04\/24\/musings-on-interdisciplinary-assessments-and-englishs-role\/","title":{"rendered":"Musings on interdisciplinary assessments and English’s role"},"content":{"rendered":"

I like that word musings<\/em>, especially when it\u2019s all by itself. No articles, definite or otherwise, to suggest how many will follow. And it certainly doesn\u2019t posses the authority of Action Plan<\/em>, whether it be an<\/em> or the<\/em>\u2026 Maybe my musings will one day lead to my action plan, but I\u2019m not there yet.<\/p>\n

But I think I\u2019m somewhere\u2026 Here\u2019s a link to the requisite \u201cslides\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Musing the first\u2026<\/h3>\n

When I talk about interdisciplinary assessments, I really\u00a0mean assessment. One. (And possibly more of an of<\/em> learning than an\u00a0as<\/em>.) Not a multitude of units or projects loosely united by a theme, but a whole. A thing. A deliverable, to borrow a term from bizspeak.<\/p>\n

Sure, there can be parts, and maybe they can be ongoing assessments as<\/em>\u00a0learning. But if they\u2019re pieces, I want to see them put together, the greater-than-the-sum. And I don\u2019t want to see the seams.<\/p>\n

I want to see answers to questions that matter; solutions to wicked problems; innovation; action plans.<\/p>\n

Why? you may ask. Perhaps it\u2019s the sense of accomplishment and the tangibleness of a thing that can be shared, showcased, disseminated, and, most importantly, consumed.<\/p>\n

Musing the second\u2026<\/h3>\n

When I first questioned if students of English had more to bring to the cross-curricular table than communication skills alone, I did so anticipating the answer of, Of course we do.<\/p>\n

Of course we do. But instead of issuing an impassioned apologia, I\u2019ll link to one instead: Inspiring Apple Commercial<\/a>. And for those of you who are partial to the source material: Clip from The Dead Poet\u2019s Society<\/a>. Those about cover it.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why we still study Shakespeare; and that\u2019s why we shouldn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n

But how would this fit on a rubric?<\/p>\n

Sublime transcendence: thorough; considerable; some; limited.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I do believe students of English and the arts can bring this concept of humanity to the wicked problems or questions that matter, but I wouldn\u2019t want to have to mark it. Perhaps someone more capable than I can create that rubric.<\/p>\n

So maybe I need to rephrase the answer: Of course we have more to bring to cross-curricular projects than communication skills, but we won\u2019t. Let us be the custodians of communication, and we\u2019ll be happy.<\/p>\n

Let us be the custodians of communication, and we\u2019ll be\u00a0happy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As the only discipline with an entirely skills-based curriculum, it makes sense that we leave the content to our colleagues in other subjects. Just leave the communication to us.<\/p>\n

Musing the third\u2026<\/h3>\n

The job sharing I muse about above may seem simple, but I think it provides an integral first step towards truly meaningful (dare I say, authentic) interdisciplinary projects. No more creating a project on flowers in biology then writing a poem about a lily\u00a0in English. Instead, why not have the English teacher assess how well the student presents his or her final product, whether it be spoken, written, filmed, or all of the above. (More on this a little later.)<\/p>\n

No more creating a project on flowers in biology then writing a poem about a\u00a0lily\u00a0in English.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Easy, right? Yep. And scalable, too. Simply add as many teachers who are willing and who also have direct curricular links to the content being studied. (Of course timing and co-ordinating one of these wicked-problem projects would be tough and require total buy-in from all involved, but wouldn\u2019t it be nice if the curricular connections were one less worry?)<\/p>\n

But what if there aren\u2019t enough curricular connections? What then?<\/p>\n

Musing the fourth\u2026<\/h3>\n

I wrote earlier<\/a> about how disheartening it was to tell grades eleven and twelve students they couldn\u2019t work on a particular topic because they didn\u2019t fit nicely into the curricula of the courses they were taking at the time. \u00a0The first-step I muse about above went a long way to salvaging a fabulous initiative, but I think we can go even further.<\/p>\n

If we assess the skills and thinking that a discipline fosters, we\u2019ll open up a trove of authentic learning opportunities for our students.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I initially thought that merely making a semantic switch would work (from cross-curricular to interdisciplinary), but I realize we won\u2019t get far if we stray away from the curriculum. But let\u2019s entertain that difference for a movement.\u00a0If we focus too much on the content in the curriculum itself, we\u2019ll constrict the learning opportunities for our students. Is DNA grade 11 or 12 Bio? But if we focus on the thinking and skills fostered by the discipline, those constrictions all but vanish. The question, then, becomes, How would a biologist approach this topic? How would an historian? An economist?<\/p>\n

If we assess the skills and thinking that a discipline fosters, we\u2019ll open up a trove of authentic learning opportunities for our students. And with a focus on the demonstration of skills, which particular\u00a0content a student choses to showcase those skills is immaterial.<\/p>\n

Musing the fifth\u2026<\/h3>\n

Look\u2026 There\u2019s nothing revolutionary now about saying skills, critical thinking, and habits of mind are more important than content. No one talks about 21st Century \u201ccontent musts\u201d. And, almost as equally obvious, of course <\/em>content is essential\u2013you need something to think critically about. So I guess I\u2019m musing about removing some of the obstacles to true interdisciplinary learning\u2013curricular ones.<\/p>\n

The Ontario Science Curriculum for 11 and 12 has three overarching goals (page 6):<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
    \n
  • to understand the basic concepts of science<\/li>\n
  • to develop the skills, strategies, and habits of mind required for scientific inquiry<\/li>\n
  • to relate science to technology, society, and the environment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Or, in a nutshell, to think like a scientist.<\/p>\n

    The Canadian and World Studies Curriculum for 11 and 12 includes these among its overarching goals (3):<\/p>\n

      \n
    • develop practical skills (such as critical-thinking, research, and communication skills), some of which are particular to a given subject in Canadian and world studies and some of which are common to all the subjects in the discipline;<\/li>\n
    • apply the knowledge and skills they acquire in Canadian and world studies courses to better understand their interactions with the natural environment; the political, economic, and cultural interactions among groups of people; the relationship between technology and society; and the factors contributing to society\u2019s continual evolution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Many math teachers stress the benefits of gap analysis, a tool that lends itself to all problems, even ones without numbers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      The curriculum for 11 and 12 math doesn\u2019t have an easily-copyable-and-pastable bullet on problem-solving skills, but perhaps that\u2019s because their importance permeates the strands and learning objectives.\u00a0Many math teachers stress the benefits of gap analysis, a tool that lends itself to all problems, even ones without numbers.<\/p>\n

      Yes, I focus on the senior grades, not just because I teach them but also because students are less likely to take similar courses the older they are.<\/p>\n

      Musing the sixth\u2026<\/h3>\n

      So what would a rubric look like for one of these El Dorado-esque projects? Who would assess what? Good questions\u2026<\/p>\n

      Let\u2019s concede communication skills to the English, if only because it\u2019s the one course that all students have to take.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      For the former, just like any other but with (potentially) one major difference: the Knowledge and Understanding category would likely bow out if the content is not directly a topic of study for a given curriculum. Of course, if the content is related, then back in it comes.<\/p>\n

      For the latter, and for simplicity\u2019s sake, let\u2019s concede communication skills to the English, if only because it\u2019s the one course that all students have to take. Check.<\/p>\n

      The rest, then, would depend on the disciplines involved and the nature of the projects. All relevant teachers would simply\u00a0divvy up\u00a0Thinking & Inquiry and Application or even divide them, depending on what they need to assess for their own courses.<\/p>\n

      I first envisioned only a two-category rubric\u2013Inquiry and Communication\u2013but what could be a better way of assessing\u00a0skills and methodologies than by applying them to new content not covered in class by the teacher? Maybe Application is the assessment saviour here.<\/p>\n

      Musing the last\u2026<\/h3>\n

      If the English teacher, at least for these interdisciplinary projects, will be the custodian of communication, must we require the students to work within a prescribed medium? If you want. But why not let them choose? For my students this year, they can choose whatever medium they like: report, video, presentation, short-doc, multi-media\u2013anything, really. And I\u2019ll assess them on how well they communicate their thinking and methodologies.<\/p>\n

      And if you need to flesh out a particular strand, then do so.<\/p>\n

      Happy collaborating!<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      I like that word musings, especially when it\u2019s all by itself. No articles, definite or otherwise, to suggest how many will follow. And it certainly doesn\u2019t posses the authority of Action Plan, whether it be an or the\u2026 Maybe my musings will one day lead to my action plan, but I\u2019m not there yet. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12,11,8,10],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-action-plan","tag-assessment-criteria","tag-communication-skills","tag-cross-curricular","tag-interdisciplinary","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/alanmacinnis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/alanmacinnis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/alanmacinnis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/alanmacinnis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/alanmacinnis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/alanmacinnis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/alanmacinnis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/alanmacinnis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/alanmacinnis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}