Science Learning Area - Case Studies - Leonora District High School

Science
Updated: Feb 2000

Teaching & Learning | Case Studies of Integrated Teaching | Leonora District High School |
Advantages of Integration

Case Studies - Leonora District High School
Advantages of Integration

There were advantages for the teachers as well as for the students as a result of the integrated, thematic approach.

Advantages for Teachers
Additional Advantages for Students

Advantages for Teachers

The experience of teachers from traditionally different subject areas working together was thought to be positive because the communication resulted in teachers knowing what the students would be studying in other subjects. This facilitated a change in focus, from teaching a subject to teaching students.

We knew basically what sort of outcomes each area would be looking towards in terms of what they were going to be producing or what the assignments would be about.

On several occasions, communication between teachers led to a consensus on how concepts/skills common to more than one learning areas were taught.

One example was graphing. The teacher of Mathematics was able to explain to teachers in the other learning areas how and when she would be doing graphs with the students. The other teachers were then able to reinforce a similar approach to graphing in the context of their learning area.

The Mathematics teacher also commented that this practice facilitated the contextualisation of mathematics skills and concepts such as using graphs.

By breaking down the traditional boundaries for each of the subjects, teachers perceived the timetable to be more flexible which gave them more freedom for completing unfinished work, organising excursions, video sessions, extended workshops and practical lessons.

[We would talk about] how everybody was going, how the timing was going, slot in with other classes and then make any adjustments to your part of the program.
So if you couldn't quite do what you were going to do next, because the science teacher hadn't finished a section they wanted, then you had to work around that. We could do that, people were happy to do that. It was very flexible that way.
I take Year 10 Social Studies and we spend a lot of time watching videos of the [historical] periods that we are working in... We watched Schindlers List in one morning, 3 hours and we actually managed to get it done... So we managed to get the Year 9's in there as well and people were entirely happy to let these kids watch it and then just go in there and supervise while other teachers had to go back and do bits of work and that was only because people get together like that then that would happen.

The distinction between the advantages of the integration process for teachers and for students is artificial in some ways because the majority of the benefits for teachers also benefited the students.

Additional Advantages for Students

Teachers commented that students were able to find common threads in what they were studying in each of the learning areas and this promoted the notion that concepts and skills can be applied to a number of learning areas.

In a normal secondary school, the kids go from one faculty to another and they get a dose of Maths and a shot of Science and a shot of English and there seems to be no relationship.

Whereas in this concept the idea is that as the kids move from faculty to faculty there is some sort of thread to what they are doing.

The reinforcement of similar ideas in a number of school environments was seen by the teachers to be an advantage for the students who required extensive consolidation.

Teachers commented that content can be chosen to interest and motivate students and the flexible timetable was also seen to be an advantage for students because individual needs and day to day changes in the students' attitudes could be accommodated more easily.