Learning Outcome 8: Integrate curriculum among disciplines, and balance historical and contemporary research, theory, and practice
It is easy to get tunnel vision when you become immersed in anything of interests. This statement can be true when talking about a favorite hobby, tv show and what you cover in your classroom. It is easy to overlook that students have schedules that are jam packed with all different subjects that pull their mind in all directions. That mental stretch and strain can cause students to burn out and not see the bigger picture. This is where I believe that English Language Arts can step in and break the cycle. Nothing is created in a vacuum. Writing, painting, reading, scientific discoveries and mathematical understandings all came from somewhere- and can often be connected to other areas that seem illogical. In our ELA classrooms we can give students the tools to uncover the connections and understand why they are connected.
One way I attempted to do this was in my high school placement when I introduced both the Harlem Renaissance poetry unit and the Great Gatsby unit. I chose to front load the unit with readings, images, and music to help set the social and historical context. In both of those units it was important to lay the ground work of that was happening historically before during and after. Why were these two cultural events that were happening simultaneously but almost completely separately from each other? How can the racial activity that is so prominent in the poetry be almost nonexistent in Fitzgerald’s work? By learning about these two events separately, and then bringing them together after deep analysis students began to see the connections and understand why these works of literature were important. I believe that this type of study can be done across all subjects. It is impossible for one person to possess all of the in depth knowledge needed to teach all of these things in one class for forty minutes. However if teachers of several subjects came together and planned a curriculum , students would gain a better understanding of what they were learning and it would create a passion in students.
I found that this mix of ELA skills with other subject areas to create genuine, engaging learning happened during a wrap up to a slavery lesson. Students have been exposed to slavery of the American South since elementary school. They have a general understanding of the events that surrounded that time period of history. To expand upon this understanding and to challenge it, I asked students if they believed that slavery still existed in the world, and even more restricted focus- in America today. They were then asked to gather their thoughts, and then enter into the discussion. Each student was given the chance to express their views and why they had them. Then I showed them videos, images and text blurbs that more often than not showed them that slavery was still alive in America. This caused quite the excited commotion from students. They wanted to prove me and the evidence that I showed wrong, and they were given the chance to do just that. What transpired was some of the most exciting and interesting discussions with students that I witnessed. Students that would normally be reserved became impassioned, all students wanted to express their thoughts and what they read from both the written and visual texts. I found that by giving the students a chance to react to questions based first on their previous learning, then on the evidence I present and on the evidence that they present, students are active in their learning. It creates teaching opportunities that make the classroom exciting and a place where students want to explore.
Both of these lessons used images and video as a way to spark conversations between students. Often they were able to use these discussions as anchors to the texts we were working with. This also helped students make deeper connections to the texts because they were often able to understand them on multiple levels.