Putting the “Inter-” in Interdisciplinary Education

According to the National Council of Teachers of English (1995) an interdisciplinary approach to education “encourage(s) students to become active learners equipped with analytical, interpretative and evaluative skills needed to solve real-life problems” (National Council of Teachers of English [NCTE], 1995). The implementation of interdisciplinary programs is essential for students to view that knowledge is not static; knowledge is always growing and connected. Education must move in the direction where there is interaction and fusion of different content knowledge rather than compartmentalizing knowledge in single discipline categories. This literature review conceptualizes practices in interdisciplinary teaching by looking at current interdisciplinary programs at the high school and undergraduate level. The findings from this research synthesis will help teachers and administrators to create programs that emphasize connections between different subject matter knowledge