Developing teachers’ interdisciplinary expertise: Consultation paper

Abstract

This consultation paper is developed as a part of the project “Developing teachers’ interdisciplinary expertise”, funded by the NSW Department of Education Strategic Leveraging grant and led by a research team from the University of Sydney and the University of Queensland. The project aims to translate some findings from the research project “Developing interdisciplinary expertise in universities” funded by the Australian Research Council to NSW teacher education and professional development. The project team will work with a network of pre- and in-service teacher providers to co-create a framework for developing teachers’ interdisciplinary expertise, including a set of reusable design resources for integrating the development of interdisciplinary expertise in pre-service teacher education and in-service professional development. This consultation paper presents initial ideas about teachers’ expertise for interdisciplinary teaching. It is based on the initial analysis of key curriculum and policy documents, scoping literature review, and the project team’s research. It is intended to stimulate discussions and sharing of ideas with a range of potential collaborators. The outcomes of this consultation will be used to: a) identify the principal challenges teachers face – and the capabilities and resources they need – when developing their students’ abilities to engage in productive interdisciplinary project work; and b) co-create a framework for developing teachers’ interdisciplinary expertise, including a set of reusable design resources for integrating the development of interdisciplinary expertise in pre-service teacher education and in-service professional development.