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Forging Links from Within and Without
Social studies is inherently interdisciplinary. Within the field, the various disciplines that comprise social studies link and intertwine. It's difficult to imagine studying historical content without examining the roles of persons (sociology), their motivations (psychology), where they lived (geography), the influences of spiritual beliefs (religion), rules that govern behavior (political science and anthropology), or how people negotiate for their needs and wants (economics). Outside the field of social studies, vital connections can also be made to language arts, mathematics, science and the arts that yield a deeper understanding of concepts and ideas.
But what exactly does it mean to teach through an "interdisciplinary" approach? Does it mean to integrate and correlate subjects, create thematic units, or plan a parallel curriculum? The articles in this journal illustrate that an interdisciplinary approach can take many forms. The idea of creating interdisciplinary curriculum is not new; however, as you read the articles within, we hope they will provide you with some methods for extending such an approach in your classroom.
There is good reason to do so! Brain research suggests that knowledge is learned more quickly and remembered longer when constructed in a meaningful context in which connections among ideas are made. Authors Arthur K. Ellis, and Jeffrey T. Fouts , in their article, Interdisciplinary Curriculum: The Research Base, note the following benefits:
* Improved higher-level thinking skills;
* Reduced curricular fragmentation resulting in a unified sense of process and content;
* Stronger real-world applications yielding increased opportunities for the transfer of learning;
* Greater mastery of content;
* Heightened sense of initiative and autonomy;
* Improved ability to adopt multiple points of view;
* Enhanced motivation to learn.
This issue of Social Studies Review begins with an article by Laurie Mosier, History-Social Science Coordinator for the San Diego County Office of Education and Karen Wagner, Elementary Language Arts Coordinator for the San...