Reflection 9

In the article “Models of Integration” the author described three models for integrating curriculum which are: interdisciplinary, problem-based and theme-based models. The first model of integrated curriculum is the interdisciplinary model. In this model the subjects are broken into four sections: core subjects, foreign language, electives, and physical education. The core section is given to a team of four teachers that have about 110 students which they rotate throughout the day. The teachers have two hours of planning, one for common planning and the other for learn on their own. They can use the block in any way that they want, the advantages is that teachers work together, limited number of students and it supports traditional curriculum. Some of the disadvantage is that the teacher can continue to do the same thing without paying attention to integrated curriculum. This type of model is seen in secondary education.
The second model is the problem-based, this is the one that has at the center a technological problem and all the subjects or disciplines are used to solve the problem. The advantage of this integration is that is able to identify relevant and motivating problems but the model is hard to keep in the frameworks of the state and/or national standards. The third model is the theme-based education, in this model the connections of the state and national standards are easier to integrate in the curriculum. The only problem is that there are some cases that are almost impossible to connect the theme with the specific discipline, and the teachers can lead the students into an irrelevant topic. The three models still serve as a common factor that is to connect or integrate curriculum, the important part is that the students are able to work together to apply the knowledge in order to solve real life problems.