The Value of Integrated Curriculum 
Introduction
The integrated curriculum is a great gift to experienced teachers. It's like getting a new pair of lenses that make teaching a lot more exciting and help us look forward into the next century. It is helping students take control of their own learning.
I'm learning more in this course, and I'm doing better than I used to do when social studies and English were taught separately.
This teacher and student express an increasingly widespread enthusiasm for curriculum integration. While not necessarily a new way of looking at teaching, curriculum integration has received a great deal of attention in educational settings. Based both in research and teachers' own anecdotal records of success, educational journals are reporting many examples of teachers who link subject areas and provide meaningful learning experiences that develop skills and knowledge, while leading to an understanding of conceptual relationships.
Definitions
Integrated curriculum, interdisciplinary teaching, thematic teaching, synergistic teaching.... When attempting to define integrated curriculum, it is also necessary to look at related terms. Several definitions are offered here. As this paper is narrowed to
K-12 integrated curriculum, definitions from vocational and higher education are not included, although there is a growing interest in both of those areas in the interdisciplinary, integrated curriculum. The reader interested in specifics about interdisciplinary work in those fields is invited to consult the General References at the end of this report.
A basic definition is offered by Humphreys (Humphreys, Post, and Ellis 1981) when he states, "An integrated study is one in which children broadly explore knowledge in various subjects related to certain aspects of their environment" (p. 11). He sees links among the humanities, communication arts, natural sciences, mathematics, social studies, music, and art. Skills and knowledge
The integrated curriculum is a great gift to experienced teachers. It's like getting a new pair of lenses that make teaching a lot more exciting and help us look forward into the next century. It is helping students take control of their own learning.
I'm learning more in this course, and I'm doing better than I used to do when social studies and English were taught separately.
This teacher and student express an increasingly widespread enthusiasm for curriculum integration. While not necessarily a new way of looking at teaching, curriculum integration has received a great deal of attention in educational settings. Based both in research and teachers' own anecdotal records of success, educational journals are reporting many examples of teachers who link subject areas and provide meaningful learning experiences that develop skills and knowledge, while leading to an understanding of conceptual relationships.
Definitions
Integrated curriculum, interdisciplinary teaching, thematic teaching, synergistic teaching.... When attempting to define integrated curriculum, it is also necessary to look at related terms. Several definitions are offered here. As this paper is narrowed to
K-12 integrated curriculum, definitions from vocational and higher education are not included, although there is a growing interest in both of those areas in the interdisciplinary, integrated curriculum. The reader interested in specifics about interdisciplinary work in those fields is invited to consult the General References at the end of this report.
A basic definition is offered by Humphreys (Humphreys, Post, and Ellis 1981) when he states, "An integrated study is one in which children broadly explore knowledge in various subjects related to certain aspects of their environment" (p. 11). He sees links among the humanities, communication arts, natural sciences, mathematics, social studies, music, and art. Skills and knowledge