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Curriculum Integration: Challenging the Assumption of School Science as Powerful Knowledge

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Second International Handbook of Science Education

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE,volume 24))

Abstract

On the one hand, it is argued that disciplinary approaches to curriculum that include the teaching and learning of traditional, sharply defined subjects, such as physics, chemistry, biology and algebra, provide specialised knowledge that enables rigorous explanation of focused aspects of the world. On the other hand, integrated approaches to schooling are seen to better reflect the realities of students’ experiences outside school by making learning more applied, more critical, more inventive and more meaningful for students. This chapter explores this ‘curriculum tension’ by examining seven issues around which discussion about curriculum integration tends to circulate.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Education, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Grady Venville

  2. Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia

    Léonie J. Rennie

  3. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, M551V6

    John Wallace

Authors
  1. Grady Venville
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  2. Léonie J. Rennie
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  3. John Wallace
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Grady Venville .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Science & Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Barry J. Fraser

  2. The Graduate Centre, City University of New York, New York, 10016-4309, New York, USA

    Kenneth Tobin

  3. Ctr. Mathematics & Science Education, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Rd., Kelvin Grove, 4059, Queensland, Australia

    Campbell J. McRobbie

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Venville, G., Rennie, L.J., Wallace, J. (2012). Curriculum Integration: Challenging the Assumption of School Science as Powerful Knowledge. In: Fraser, B., Tobin, K., McRobbie, C. (eds) Second International Handbook of Science Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9041-7_49

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