Interdisciplinary teaching and learning at the K-12 level in the humanities, arts, and social sciences: A scoping review

Abstract

Interdisciplinary teaching and learning (ITL), also termed cross-curricular teaching and learning, and curricular integration, is a prevailing trend among K-12 educational practitioners and policymakers. However, with the exclusion of specific disciplinary combinations such as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) or Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), the empirical scholarship on ITL in K-12 settings is unsystematic, leading to difficulties in knowledge integration. In this article, we take stock of the existing empirical literature on ITL at the K-12 level within the humanities, arts, and social sciences, examining how educational scholars have understood and implemented ITL in peer-reviewed research articles. We show how existing scholarship on ITL includes a broad range of definitions and conceptual framings of interdisciplinarity; discuss the portrayal of the process for designing and implementing ITL curricular units; and categorize the scholarly objectives of ITL research. We conclude by offering recommendations to guide the future development of this burgeoning field of study.