Education In John Steinbeck's Grapes Of Wrath

The implementation of interdisciplinary studies into school curricula can also foster a deeper understanding of particular topics in themselves, not just broad generalized learning, Imagine reading the novel Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck without any background knowledge on the history of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl of the 1930's. While some theoretical and social lessons may be taken out of Steinbeck's prose, the student will ultimately lack a lot of the contextualization that is needed to fully understand the story that the novel is trying to tell. This is how many of the students learn within the current education system. The idea of decontextualized learning, of "irrelevance," runs strong throughout the minds of many American
18). In her book, The Smartest Kids in the World, Amanda Ripley (2013), describes a scene in which a student from the American school system is placed into a Geometry class in Korea (p.75). He note that something was "very different" about how this math lesson was taught, which was ultimately due to the integration of trigonometry and calculus into the geometry lesson (Ripley, 2013, p.75 and 76). Ripley (2013) finally notes that "together, the different disciplines could solve the problems in the real world" (p.76). Ultimately Ripley's example highlights the integration of multiple disciplines into one lesson, and how that lesson both deepens the understanding of the particular subject, in this case math as a whole, and helps develop real world applicability, all while keeping the students "enjoyed" (Ripley, 2013,
One proposal for lessening the divide is by implementing interdisciplinarity into school curriculums. The joining together of disciplines, which comes in a variety of forms, can provide a system of learning tailored to the students, one that focuses on deep contextual knowledge of particular topics or ideas, which can then foster increases in critical thinking by emphasizing a multi-perspective world view. Despite the benefits of this change, many critics offer warnings to the actual application of interdisciplinary thinking into schools for a variety of reasons. One proposed consequence of this system change is that it can lead to some knowledge, skills, or subject areas to be "shortchanged" because of a wider scope (Applebee et al., 2007, 1036). Ultimately, a solution of this problem is raised in many writings on interdisciplinary studies, and that is that implementing this kind of education must be an "active" process (Jacobs, 1989, p.7). This simple fact is, that is necessary for administration, teachers, students, and parents to all be involved in designing a curriculum that works for the students, in order to make this work. While more work can be viewed negatively, it is in that fluid involvement, in that continuous work, that this type of