Using connected teaching and learning to deepen children’s interdisciplinary learning

This qualitative study examined the interplay between teacher facilitation, children’s uptake of vocabulary and reasoning strategies, and the roles children assumed as learners as they experienced instruction grounded in Connected Teaching and Learning ([CTL] an interdisciplinary instructional framework that leverages key practices from culturally responsive pedagogies and meaningful use of multimodal text sets. Analyses suggest (1) students assumed more active roles in their learning as they “enacted” the work of scientists and (2) varied teacher facilitation practices and children’s vocabulary and reasoning uptake were key factors in children’s shift to more active roles. Although findings suggest CTL is a promising instructional framework, findings also underscore the significance of how teachers act on the instructional framework.