Cross-curricular teaching is a complex process with its goals and purpose, and it brings knowledge acquisition to a much higher level. It requires a thoroughly written plan of activities which leads to the accomplishment of their outcomes.
It is usually structured like a smaller project, but it can be more developed, depending on its objectives. It is created when teachers from different subjects make a mutual plan on how to incorporate their activities into a joint project. They focus on an issue of common interest they want their students to deal with, integrating subject content into a given context with the added value and higher effectiveness that the other subject material enables.
These are essential “ingredients” that we need to think about, but there is something more delicate to take care of to make our plan run successfully. Here, professional bonding is, beyond all, the most crucial element. To make it more fruitful and smoothly operating, several factors are needed:
- Mutual respect
- Trust
- Responsibility
- Dedication towards the project realization
- High-quality performance, which includes making creative variations or necessary, practical improvisations to adapt the plan and keep students’ motivation high.
Monitoring the process, assessing the phases of the project, and running the project team within set deadlines make the whole process challenging, but extra productive.
English: The “All-Around” Subject
English language, we can all agree, is an easily cooperative matter. Let us juggle with the name and call it an “all-around” subject, because it really is! There is no subject or matter that cannot be connected with the English language; on the contrary, it is desired to “breathe in” English language into other subject content to get an extra dimension of teaching and learning.
This way, students apply the English language in a certain context and learn how to adjust their language competences to content they may or may not know much about. In fact, the actual knowledge of interlacing subjects gets a value that cannot be reached in regular classes.
The Project in Practice: Art & English Integrated
The value of this co-working dimension is proven in two extracurricular classes joined as integrated classes—a teaching method that is not, unfortunately, common in practice.
The point of having Art and English classes together in one classroom (inside and outside) with the same teachers, Anica Bašić (Art teacher) and Ivana Bokavšek (English teacher), and the same students at the same time is to raise the teaching and learning bar. This makes a new learning environment available to students who are talented and eager to learn, bringing out the best in them: new learning techniques, gained conceptual knowledge, and improved skills.
The plan is simple, but challenging to accomplish. During a school year, a dynamic exchange of activities occurs, centered on the highly important matter of ecology. The goal is to help students become more ecologically effective and sustainable as future responsible citizens.
Interestingly and authentically, these two teachers created a well-organized list of activities based on the colors of recycling bins: blue, yellow, green, and brown.
Art Activities
For the art activities, students developed their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and focus. They expressed the topic of protecting nature through different forms of artwork by:
- Collecting waste (natural, glass, plastic).
- Researching procedures and possibilities to make a picture or sculpture.
- Making a sculpture from waste materials.
- Creating Christmas cards and pictures with natural materials (leaves, branches, etc.).
- Making pictures in a natural, real environment like a park, park forest, and beach.
English Language in Action
Practising and applying English included using digital tools like Canva and CapCut to make productive skills (speaking and writing) and creative expression more sophisticated. It is well possible to see 12-year-old students present in the moment and:
- Write a haiku poem in English in the classroom and in the city park.
- Recite their haiku poems in the city park.
- Make a trendy, short-format video story on the creative process.
- Create digital posters with creative and authentic slogans.
- Design Christmas cards with their wishes for an ecologically centered future.
- Develop a brochure, a pub quiz, and various language puzzles.
Broader Impact and Community Involvement
This school project, “I collect waste, I separate it and I use it to create new things,” brings many other values as well, such as voluntary work. Students prepared Christmas cards to sell at a city charity event in Split, Croatia, contributing to a fund for homeless people.
The project’s agenda was also recognized for its contribution to ecologically sustainable tourism. By participating in a project called “Yours digitally – Central Dalmatia,” funded by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, students made a digital postcard for visitors. This postcard aimed to make tourists more aware of the massive ecological and heritage value of nature in Split, particularly the Adriatic Sea.
Dissemination and Sharing Success
Without proper dissemination, the activities would not reach their full potential. Both teachers gladly and readily share their experience and knowledge to motivate other educators to involve students in integrated classes, always heading towards something better.
These two Lina Edu educators have designed two special training courses for teachers:
- Art & English Language
- PBL & TBL Together: “Question-Solution-Realization-Promotion!”
These courses aim to refresh teaching methods and help students become more successful at gaining language and art skills. They are also targeted at any adult learner who wants to advance their English language and creative skills.
Added values in these two courses include strengthening:
- Teamwork skills
- Logical thinking
- Problem-solving
- Presentation skills
…all in the beautiful city of Split, Croatia.
You can register for this amazing learning opportunity here:
- https://linaedu.eu/erasmus-course-art-language/
- https://linaedu.eu/erasmus-course-pbl-tbl-course-for-teachers/
Student Showcase: Haiku Poems
Now, enjoy our students’ haiku poems that were also illustrated in their artwork (see the photos below!).
(Haiku poems written by two 12-year-old students)
By the sea Under the green fresh palms Old ship gets stuck on my beach Holding its treasure
The sea is an artist Today waves are huge They washed up materials My work is finished
Note: This article can also be read on the BETA-IATEFL e-newsletter: https://www.beta-iatefl.org/e-newsletter/
Authors:
- Anica Bašić, Lina Edu Art educator
- Ivana Bokavšek, Lina Edu English language educator
