Connecting curricula: gymnasium teachers’ perspectives on interdisciplinary education in the Netherlands

Abstract

Interdisciplinary education is a widespread ambition at gymnasia in The Netherlands. This type of education comes with advantages; it counteracts fragmentation and overload of the curriculum. Furthermore, it leads to more meaningful learning for children. However, in practice, interdisciplinary education is not a prominent feature at Dutch schools. Subject-specific lessons are the default situation and teachers appear to struggle to develop interdisciplinary lessons or projects.

This book is centered around the question how gymnasium teachers can develop practically feasible interdisciplinary education within the Dutch school context. In part I, I investigated current practices and recurring problems surrounding interdisciplinary education. In part II, I developed a new approach towards interdisciplinary education, in dialogue with teachers working in practice. The two important conclusions are that the development process needs to be protected by school leaders and that interdisciplinary education needs to be ‘anchored’. This means that there always needs to be a connection between what is new (interdisciplinary education) and what is known and familiar to teachers (the subjects they teach). I have translated these conclusions to a practical manual for teachers that they can use at their own schools.