One of the features of successful schools is the ability of teachers to plan opportunities for students to apply the knowledge and skills learned in one subject to other subjects. This leads us to ask, ‘What is it that makes cross-curricular work such a successful approach for teaching and learning?’ As has already been suggested, cross-curricular teaching and learning has strong links with the constructivist view of learning, as students work collaboratively and learn from their own direct experience. Adopting a cross-curricular approach to teaching and learning requires careful consideration of what we mean when we talk about ‘knowledge’. Is it possible to develop a good understanding of any given event or idea by simply being able to quote relevant facts or information?  It is evident that learning facts or information is not the same as developing knowledge.

Individual subject disciplines only give a partial insight into a particular topic or problem.  To enable them to fully understand the problem, students need to be encouraged to draw together insights from different subjects. Well planned cross-curricular work helps students make sense of their learning because knowledge and skills learned in one subject are used to reinforce and support learning in other subjects.

A nice powerpoint on the issues raised above can be found in the materials section under Files/ Maths.