Assess The Importance Of An Integrated Curriculum

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Why is an integrated curriculum important to aid in critical thinking? To put it simply, it is making the connections. An integrated curriculum incorporates the idea of unity between forms of knowledge and the respective disciplines. This integrated approach will help students create patterns to connect to the various curricular disciplines. The learning is structured around themes to help students obtain the main concepts of the lesson or unit. (Loepp jots.v25i2.a.6).
An integrated curriculum can effectively assist critical thinking in students by combining Geography and Social Studies with History it focus on students to gain the basic skill needed to acquire higher level thinking. Students must be able to see the connections that an integrated curriculum brings because it focuses on compilation of the content from different disciplines in a relevant way to engage students learning needs. According to Paterson, curriculum integration will help students to make linkages across the content areas because it focuses on themes that address concerns, questions and issues that may have about their own lives and the world.
It is crucial to recognized that an integrated curriculum can aid critical thinking because it explores the possibilities
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However, the critics are of the view that concepts maybe confused and it is sometimes better to teach within the content. Secondly, most teachers view their classroom as theirs to control and therefore, may frown upon the idea of team teaching. It is definitely not common in the Caribbean and it takes time and energy in the planning and implementing of the idea. It becomes increasingly more difficult if teachers lack the knowledge and skills of the various disciplines and also group decisions may take longer. (The Australian Educational Researcher Volume 37 No1 April

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