Ed Clark, in his thoughtful book Integrated Curriculum, shows how a cross-disciplinary approach guided by reflective, open-ended questions can transform the student experience––questions like, How does a city organize itself? How do plants and animals use energy? How do people survive in extreme environments? Inquiries like these, he says, give learning focus and purpose.
Clark describes one model where each grade focuses on a particular theme. This system allows a student to build on their knowledge in from one year to the next, beginning in early years with the study of the self and family, for example, and eventually reaching societies and civilizations. Teachers become experts in the theme they teach, constantly refining the curriculum. The divisions by grade require specialization, however; third graders don’t know much about what the fifth graders are studying, and teachers have fewer opportunities to collaborate across grades.
We knew from the time of our founding in 2011 that at Trū School (CA) we wanted to engage students in “projects,” extended investigations that would cross the boundaries of different disciplines, something similar to the model Clark describes, but with an approach that would avoid fragmenting our community.
As a microschool, we can engage the entire student body across all ages in the same schoolwide project. We developed a three-year theme-based cycle––Beginning, Living, and Becoming––that offers teachers a predictable framework but also calls for ongoing innovation and growth. Each theme shapes a limited set of yearlong projects––which are not necessarily repeated each cycle)––that weave together the major disciplines: science, literature, art, social studies, and math. Rather than dividing the curriculum by age, we adapt each project to suit the full range of child development.
Asking the Essential Questions
We want our students to begin with questions and to learn how to ask them, so each theme and project is driven not by topics or concepts, but by essential questions:
- Year one is Beginning: Where do we come from? What are the origins of the things and experiences in our lives?
- Year two is Living: How do we exist in this world? What are the systems and processes that make life possible?
- Year three is Becoming: How are we trying to change? What are the ideals and aspirations that drive us toward greatness in every field?
Each project begins with a question. For example, one Beginning theme project was called “A History of Me,” which asks the question, “How did I begin?” This project encourages students to explore their stories and their parents and grandparents’ stories. We also developed further questions for each discipline. In literature: “What is the literature, folklore, and mythology of my family and culture?” In science: “What was my biological history, and the technology and discoveries of my past?” Teachers then identified specific activities and resources to address those questions.
The visual forms for each project, originally recorded on paper, eventually led to an online collaboration tool for teachers called the Tapestry. Over the last 10 years, the Tapestry has grown into a rich library of projects and ideas, many of which recur in later cycles. While this curriculum development process is highly creative and demanding, it appeals to our teachers, who use their full intellectual capacities and interests to design engaging student experiences. Each year, adults and students learn together.
Adaptations and Results
In the initial years, we conceived four projects to study simultaneously throughout the year. However, teachers found this schedule too ambitious, leading to only superficial exploration of one of the projects, so we reduced the number to three, which has proven more satisfying over time.
Because the projects are connected by a central theme, they often overlap in surprising and interesting ways. For example, during a year focused on the Living theme, we studied the three projects of “Jobs,” “Cities,” and “Soil and Water,” which became a study on how people organize their resources and environment. In another year, the Becoming theme included “Inventions,” “Survival,” and “People,” a study of how we respond to differences. The students became fascinated by the tragic story of the Titanic, which intersected with all three projects.
The most satisfying result of our work has been evident in the students themselves and their ability to reflect and draw connections. Trū students fundamentally expect the world to be full of doors that open upon other doors, inviting them on a journey that will constantly change their perspective. They never ask, “Why do we have to learn this?” The deeper their studies, the more engaging they find them.
Departing From Old Methods
Some people wonder, “How do you teach the standard material?” We do not spend all of our time each day only on these projects; we do give dedicated time for reading practice and arithmetic exercises. However, the projects serve as a topic of constant conversation, a source for reading and writing content, and a social glue for the whole school. We also regularly seek opportunities to tie a subject like math into the projects—by collecting data, pursuing extended problem-solving, and using practical tools like money.
Students and parents have become accustomed to Trū’s approach. A summer reading list helps everyone reflect on the coming year’s studies. At our back-to-school event, families receive an edited copy of the Tapestry, outlining the essential questions, topics, and activities. Our monthly newsletter, “Integrations,” shares the latest student discoveries. In this highly educated Silicon Valley community, many adults find our methods as intriguing as we do. I frequently hear, “If only I could have gone to Trū.”
Teaching through an integrated approach has revealed something essential about education: The purpose of school is not to provide information, but to foster patterns of understanding—patterns that evolve in complexity and depth over time. The same idea can reappear in a different context, even a whole different discipline, each time growing richer as the connections multiply.
Schools considering a more integrated approach can benefit from first developing a clear understanding of its purpose and benefits. As a startup school, we did not have to push against old institutional ways, but we did have to carefully articulate our ideas to prospective families and emphasize our commitment to them. An inquiry-based curriculum cannot coexist with the misconception that school should consist mostly of rote practice. To study complex systems, schools must first view themselves as complex systems and then learn to make those systems flexible.