Interdisciplinary Knowledge

In the Education Studies Department at Guilford College, our teacher/learners:

Define knowledge in many ways, integrating content and skills from their two majors and the general curriculum. View all of their professors as educators who can define excellence in education. Recognize that Education is inherently interdisciplinary (Interdisciplinary Knowledge).

Students in the Education Studies Program learn how to conduct studies or inquiries concerning educational issues using a variety of texts and methods, including those of traditional disciplines such as the social sciences, creative arts, math, sciences, and humanities. These "education studies" are regarded as similar to other liberal arts inquiries because they employ contextual, textual, and interpretive approaches to knowledge. Furthermore, each student finds, through a gradual unfolding of interest and intellectual predilection, a second major or personal path of study which can guide him or her toward a more fully developed professional self. In this way, our teacher/learners discover that learning to teach requires a view of knowledge as interdisciplinary and that there are multiple ways of knowing. Faculty in the general curriculum, students' second majors, and the Education Studies Program guide them through these discoveries, modeling best practices, and demonstrating that good teachers continue to integrate multiple approaches to learning and teaching throughout their careers.

1. Discovery

2. Guided Exploration

3. Independent Application

Teacher/learners can describe why they have chosen a second major and how it is relevant to their professional plans. They begin to see relationships between and among traditional disciplines, and between the past and the present. They understand that there are multiple avenues for finding and creating resources. They view topics, questions, and problems as inherently complex and interdisciplinary in nature.

Teacher/learners recognize and/or define the relationship among their two majors, the general curriculum and education. They explore the interdisciplinary nature of a topic, question, or problem, framing useful questions for interdisciplinary inquiry. They consult a broad spectrum of resources in research. They acknowledge that interdisciplinary knowledge is applicable to teaching.

Teacher/learners integrate knowledge of content and processes of inquiry gained in their study at Guilford College into their approach toward classroom teaching. They engage in self-directed interdisciplinary instruction and lesson design. Preservice teachers use a broad spectrum of resources in the classroom and prepare their students to understand the interdisciplinary nature of learning.