Elementary students will be counting the days this school year as part of a new rotating six-day schedule. Under the new schedule, specialist times – which include art, tech, music, library, French/ELL, Malagasy and physical education – will be assigned a number rather than a day of the week. This is done to ensure equitability of meeting times for each class, as short Wednesdays, and holidays have effected our schedule in the past.
You will notice the blank spaces on this schedule. This does not mean that your students will be taking a break for most of the day, but rather that there will not be individual subjects taught this year. While I will be teaching Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies, I will be doing this in a transdisciplinary way.
At the heart of the PYP curriculum is transdisciplinary teaching and learning. Transdisciplinary teaching and learning operates from the belief that there is knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and actions that transcend subject area boundaries and forge the curriculum into a coherent transdisciplinary whole that is engaging, relevant, challenging and significant. The importance of the traditional subject areas is acknowledged. However, it is also recognized that educating students in a set of isolated subject areas, while necessary, is not sufficient. Of equal importance is the need to acquire skills in context, and to explore content that is relevant to students and that transcends the boundaries of the traditional subjects. To be truly educated, a student must also make connections across the disciplines, discover ways to integrate the separate subjects, and ultimately relate what they learn to life. (Boyer 1995).
These white spaces are where I will be teaching our transdisciplinary program.