C36 (Challenge): How Transdisciplinary Looks and Feels

Welcome to the first transdisciplinary challenge!

​As this podcast has shaped itself, I’ve noticed that we started out looking at our own inquiry practice and applied this to everything else.  Then, we examined different strategies to bring about agency, action, the learner profile, and international mindedness in our classroom and with our students.  Now, it’s time to return to where we began and take a hard look at our transdisciplinary practices, since they touch every nook and cranny of the program. 

At the beginning of the calendar or school year, it’s nice to reflect back on our progress and make some new goals.  This was my aim as I created the transdisciplinary challenge.  So many of the things we have discussed are driven by us, but the end user is our students.  As educators, I think we control a lot of the transdisciplinary connections that are made or not made in our classrooms.  This is why this challenge is so important to me. 

For this challenge, we are going back to the second episode where we discussed the inquiry thinking strategies.  We are going to use the engaging strategy - PicCollage Reflection.  Here is a reminder of what we will do. 

PicCollage Reflection

To encourage creative thinking, reflect using PicCollage.  This interactive app allows you to express your thinking using a digital scrapbook approach.  You can use personal and stock photos, clip art, sound, and backgrounds to create reflective pieces that are saved in jpg format. This is a wonderful portfolio piece that synthesizes thinking of bigger concepts.

I’ve used PicCollage, since I was a teacher in Dubai in 2014.  It’s an amazing tool to get kids thinking and making connections to the big ideas.  Now, it’s your turn to try it out or revisit tools you haven’t played with before.   Your task is to use PicCollage to answer this question: ​​

What does transdisciplinary learning look and feel like to me? 

An alternative to PicCollage is Canva, which is free to all educators.  Don't worry so much about the platform/app. We are more focused on the process of reflecting differently than a grand product.  Remember, we create our own meaning from learning, so there is no one right answer.  Have fun with it and I can’t wait to see what you create!  

My Interpretation

Transdisciplinary learning is a process.  It requires a precise balance of subject content to bind all of the learning together.  It's made with love.  The educator wants to create something special for each student in their classroom, so they purposefully plan for agency, inquiry, and conceptual connections to naturally come about during the day.  At the end, they have create a beautiful masterpiece that can be shared with the entire community. 

Similarly, making a cake takes the same level of precision and care in selecting the right balance of ingredients to ensure proper texture and flavor.  It's made with love.  The baker wants the recipients to enjoy the final product and remember it for years to come.  

​Be sure to post your reflections on Twitter @thinkchat2020 and/or LinkedIn at Lu Gerlach.  I will create a video message of our challenge and you can tag your response to it. 

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