Transdisciplinary education

Venn diagrams to help illustrate the differences
(Image from : magellanschool.org)

Having graduated from a Mathematics and Economics combined degree as well as a postgraduate diploma to teach Mathematics and English language some time back, I have always believed in multidisciplinary thinking as well as interdisciplinary work. Recently, I have been exposed to the idea of transdisciplinary teaching and learning which is of a whole new level.

Upskilling through Problem-Based Learning
(Image from: susand22014.wordpress.com) 

After doing some research, I learnt that transdisciplinary teaching and learning requires a more coordinated effort to weave multiple subjects into the curriculum. It is an attempt to build different subject literacies while covering a syllabus with an overarching theme or topic. For example, an English language teacher could tell a story of how a mathematician eventually discovered some of his findings. This lesson could then be followed up with a Mathematics class where another teacher would go into detail on the Mathematical concepts introduced by the mathematician. Another class, possibly a Science or even Arts class, could then include practical applications of the mathematician's theories. In music lessons, perhaps songs and dance of the era could be brought in. For physical education, moves done in the dances could be explored further. These would probably excite and engage the students as it builds on their relational understanding (Skemp,1989). They can then also see how different subjects are relevant or applicable in the real world context. They can pick up numeracy and literacy skills together with other subject disciplinary knowledge and skills in a more seamless manner. This approach would also not mean that other soft skills are discounted. The pedagogies which involve collaborative and cooperative learning could still be applied when students are encouraged to discuss and be engaged in discourses which will then develop their intra-relationship skills and abilities like critical thinking and inter-relationship skills such as communication skills and diversity management. Skills development is especially important in the Singapore context where we have a government agency called SkillsFuture Singapore which reinforces lifelong learning and upskilling as a national movement. Thus, transdisciplinary teaching and learning could be the new way forward that I alluded to when I wrote that we should move away from the "if it's not broken why fix it" mindset or model in an Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) op-ed I wrote several years ago. The best part is that transdisciplinary teaching and learning is not just about academic knowledge or skills, it helps inculcate values too which is an essential part of life and living harmoniously.

As the stories are woven and curated by educators, the narratives shared could actually include values as well as teachable moments. Although included in the stories explicitly by the lesson designers, the learning of the values could be more implicit for the learners. This is because when it comes to morals and values, they are often more effective when caught and not taught. Lessons could revolve around character development and active citizenry if religious ideals are too controversial especially in a cosmopolitan and multi-racial country like Singapore.

An illustration of the Finnish model
(Image from: https://www.janetlordeducation.com/blog) 

This transdisciplinary exploration reminds me of something the Finns in Finland are looking at which is called phenomenon-based learning. According to the study that I read. Phenomenon-based learning involves the teaching of various subjects within the Humanities  and even languages or Sciences through the study of events. So, a term of school could look at the World War II for example. History lessons would be about the international relations at that point in time. Literature class could look at the texts which were written about life during or after the wars. Maths and Science class could go into the technical details behind the war equipment and even other relevant statistics. Language lessons might be used to look at how language was used for propaganda materials too. With all these already happening in some of their classrooms, I can see why Finland is renowned for their progressive education system.

Made learning more Relevant, Appealing and Personal (RAP)
With the Algebra Story app for Sec1 Maths students

Looking back in hindsight, some of the android apps that I have published using Ren'Py which could also be hosted as HTML5 using renpyweb to be hosted in Singapore's Student Learning Space (SLS) had the same big idea underpinning them. Although I developed them as Choose-your-own-adventure (CYOA) visual novels, my motive was to bring multiple disciplines into a story about mathematicians before introducing the concept in my Mathematics class. I did so because I wanted to improve my students' literacy skills and numeracy skills at the same time as I noticed that students often question who invented a Mathematical concept, when would it be relevant or applicable in life and more and more of my students tend to be weaker at mathematical problems in real world context. They get stumped when a Mathematics paper includes a full page question on how Maths is applied in real life. The words or text of the question confuses them as the important details are embedded in paragraphs of words. My hope with stories like Mystery Story of R.D., Trigo Stars and Algebra Story were to address some of these issues I observed in my students. They liked the interactivity of the lesson resource and are more motivated to learn based on the surveys I got them to do. Their curiosity was piqued and they got into discussions about the decisions they made as well as the choices or options they took. They were also more appreciative for the effort that I put in for them too. In a sense, it was a win-win scenario because I got to relearn and practise my rusty tech knowledge to innovate and create the lesson resource and it engaged my students so much that it made it easier for me to them them the related mathematical concepts later. It is important to note here that as Michael Fullan (a prominent Canadian educational thought leader) once said "Pedagogy is the driver and technology is an accelerator." Disclaimer: What I did may not exactly be considered transdisciplinary teaching and learning as I did not really synchronise and coordinate with the other subject teachers which I feel is important for this approach to work well. 

Here in Singapore, from my own knowledge, this style of teaching and learning is not that widely practised. There are some schools which are exploring it in their own accord given their autonomy to tweak their schemes of work to cover the syllabus but it is not a concerted national effort. It may or may not be the best way forward but I personally like this idea of transdisciplinary learning and I think it could be piloted and experimented on more. I may be biased as I honestly feel that this approach could really accentuate the joy of learning which is aligned with the national movement of deemphasising exams and grades. However, I must admit that logistically and administratively it could be a nightmare as lesson designers would need to connect with each other and communicate well to curate and create lesson resources which could then suit this approach. It will therefore require a lot of CHANGE; maybe even a reform of sorts. Nonetheless, a shift to this way of thinking and doing or teaching and learning would then show that subjects need not be learnt in silos as they are not necessarily distinct or separate. Cross-pollination of ideas across disciplines could also potentially lead to more creative inventions and innovations which might propel Singapore's economy further in the future. Perhaps someday this transdisciplinary teaching and learning may be a reality.