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Week Three:
DISCOVERING CONCEPT MAPPING

In week one you were introduced to the idea of planning curriculum that is inter-disciplinary and connected.  We identified this as seamless thematic instruction. By understanding and utilizing this approach to curriculum design you will give your students diverse entry points for gaining genuine understanding of the topics you need them to learn about. In our second week we identified goals that we would like to achieve in learning.  This week we are going to discover how to take this insight that all information is connected and begin to actually implement it in our classrooms or schools.

A good way to begin thematic instruction is to develop a CONCEPT MAP that charts out the linkages and shows the interdisciplinary nature of information.  A concept map, otherwise known as a thematic map, or mind map is simply a graphic representation of the brainstorming that is done to see the direction curriculum is heading. It charts out the ideas that you and the children in your classroom think of to follow a line of reasoning around a theme.

Before we peruse examples of concept maps let’s investigate the criteria for building them effectively.  We will then learn how to complete one for this course.  Just as we discussed four pertinent goals for learning, let’s look at four goals to keep in mind when building a concept map.

·        Concept maps should be collaborative.  When designing a map, get as much help as you can from your colleagues and from your students.  Brainstorming by oneself is really more like a drizzle.  By involving colleagues you will get expertise and perspectives you hadn’t considered. If a map is to be used by several teachers from different disciplines it is important that the information contained has entry points that is of interest to all.  By involving students you’ll not only learn what they’re excited about, but you will begin to help them to see how learning is inter-related. They’ll also feel that their input is respected.  In Caine and Caine’s “Education on the Edge of Possibility”, the authors state, “The teacher is not the deliverer of knowledge, but the facilitator and the intelligent guide who engages student interest in learning.  Students and teachers become partners in the pursuit of understanding...... and make the leap into the real world right from the start.”  As students begin to feel that they have some ownership in the direction and scope of the curriculum, they’ll become more inquisitive and involved. Collaboration really has no down side.

·        Concept maps should be available.  It is a really good idea to dedicate a bulletin board within your classroom to post the map.  As a school wide project the hallway is even better. This availability will be a reminder of how and why things are related.  As your students walk past the map they’ll see things they’ve studied in your class but have also been addressed from the perspective of different domains. This will reinforce their ability to grasp the content. No teacher can cover all of the subjects on any map, but the interdisciplinary nature of knowledge will still be strengthened.  Occasionally revisit that map with your students to remind them of those linkages and to allow them to add new links they’ve discovered.

·        The central theme should be life centered.  Can students relate to a subject personally?  Are they studying the American Indian because it is fun and what you have always covered around Thanksgiving, or are they studying how cultures past relate to and affect their present society? Steven Levy writes, “How is this experience related to other experiences I’ve had?  Asking this prompts us to discover relationships among our own experiences and across the disciplines. Students need to see the connection of the whole to its parts, and understand that there are no subjects in life and no lines in nature.” It has also been said that we perceive ourselves as teachers.  In reality, our jobs are to help students learn. This is a subtle shift in philosophy about our professions with profound implications.  To facilitate learning we must help students see how knowledge affects their lives.

·        The central theme should be very broad.  This is an extremely important idea that you will need to achieve in order to gain genuine understanding.  By utilizing a narrow and focused approach to the subject, the teacher will actually set herself up for several curriculum failures.  Many teachers make the mistake of beginning their concept map by placing a specific domain within the core of the map.  They’ll also jump into the curriculum to fulfill the requirements of proficiency tests, or to study what the kids like.  By doing this they quickly arrive at a curriculum dead end.  They are not demonstrating to their students how knowledge can be connected.  This does not mean that you can’t study dinosaurs, or Indians, or Chinese food, or rabbits, or the rain forest.  Anything is fair game to utilize in the classroom as a means to meet your goals.  But by taking the concept of dinosaurs to the classroom without making meaningful connections between our personal experiences and universal concerns leaves us asking, “Why did we bother to study this?”