Disciplines and Their Specified Purpose

I know this was a little ways back but I don't think it's ever too late to address a topic from many weeks ago (or at least I hope it's not). 

I am quite interested in a concept from lecture four, different disciplines and its uses. I understand the purpose of this course is to focus on transdisciplinarity practices and how to best use them in the classroom but Davis' lecture has allowed me to question the usefulness of other disciplines. 

Of course the first step in discovering my curiosity begins with exploring and defining the other domains. I found an excellent resource from Alexander Refsum Jensenius. He describes six disciplinarities and provides a graphic showing the relationship the disciplines have with one another. 

As I understand, transdisciplinary efforts are needed for intense issues that cannot be solved through one measly lens. I use the word "intense" with caution. A problem doesn't need to be "wicked" (Davis et al., 2019, p. 5) to benefit from a multi-perspectival approach. The consideration of different approaches can benefit more than just the problem. Student learning is greatly impacted when connections are made to (1) different subjects of interest, (2) subjects with similar content, and (3) subjects that are seemingly vastly different from the current subject. Because of this, I do not believe intradisciplinarity is ever justified in a school context. Students who struggle with understanding course concepts should be introduced to either cross, inter, or transdisciplinarity. Intradisciplinarity limits student agency while teachers assume the role of gifting information to students. Teachers are unaware of each students' situations and the knowledge they need in their life; the abundance of power a teacher holds through censoring knowledge is completely unjust. 

I had an elementary school teacher that would withhold information from students because the question asked did not relate to the content being covered. Instead of fostering a craving, a hunger for knowledge by using transdisciplinarity to reframe student curiosity in a more appropriate manner, the question was disregarded entirely. 

I have taken some time to list out other, more wholesome experiences I have had in which teachers properly use other disciplines to engage and encourage learning.

Crossdisciplinarity: In my grade eleven law class I had an assignment of relating real-life consequences to a fictitious case. My job was to look at the Canadian Charter and preceding cases to establish a fitting punishment for the crimes committed. I was able to use my prior knowledge from a psychology class to give the defendants a lesser sentence on the grounds of mental illness. 

Interdisciplinarity: Not to be confused with intra, inter uses the skills gained from other disciplines. As a kid in math class I often would get tripped up by word problems until I was taught a way to dissect them. The "CUBES" method is one that I still stand by. A five step problem solving technique aimed to eliminate any information that does not aid in finding the solution.

 

Often math class implicitly deceives students with the thought of this method only serving those studying math. This thought is completely inaccurate because I often use the strategy when undergoing language based assignments. I will circle key words, underline the purpose of the assignment, "boxing" actions (things to consider while brainstorming), evaluate next steps, and finally proofread. 

As a prospective teacher I am extremely interested in the use of different disciplinary perspectives. I think it would be beneficial to use my students learning to aid my own, to find which combinations of approaches best suit learning. I am also curious to see if these observations will change based on age of students, background knowledge, subject, and (arguably most important) socioeconomic status.