Escaping the subject‐based class: A Finnish case study of developing transversal competencies in a transdisciplinary course

Abstract

In 2014, the Finnish National Board of Education launched a new core curriculum with the aim of meeting the skills and competence requirements of the 21st century. The purpose of this case study was to find out what transversal competencies Finnish eighth graders developed and how they experienced studying in a problem‐based transdisciplinary course, which was arranged for the transitional stage between the former and the new curriculum. The qualitative data consisted of questionnaires and interviews. The analysis followed the methods of qualitative content analysis. When asked about their learning, the students commented on not having learnt much, referring to the discipline‐based knowledge. Instead, they had learnt skills through teamwork, problem solving, and expression of their views and opinions, an aspect that they did not clearly connect with the things to be learnt at school. Many students felt that they acquired the competencies that they would need later in their lives. The students’ teamwork had a crucial impact on their learning experience. The timeframe for the integrative approach needs careful consideration; the learning process in this course was perceived as being successful because it was long enough. Our study highlights that focusing on students’ views is critical when reforming curriculum.

Amplifying the voice of pupils: using the diamond ranking method to explore integrative and collaborative learning in home economics education in Finland

“…The study results supported the findings of previous studies conducted with the same age group and concerning pupils' perspective. That is, the pupils mostly perceived their learning to benefit from teamwork and collaboration when using the integrative approach to learning (Eronen et al, 2019;Tarnanen et al, 2019). Here, the design of the learning task supported a sociocultural approach to learning, encouraging discussion and collaboration in almost all the groups (Vygotsky, 1978); each group had its own style of working, which was reflected by the practices chosen for ranking.…”

“…Pupils cannot be expected to manage learning tasks and synthesise knowledge from several subjects properly unless they are first equipped with the requisite skills (Taar, 2017). This naturally presupposes that the teacher is willing to create new ways of working to generate opportunities to escape the subject-led working style (Eronen et al, 2019). As this is one aim of the current compulsory curriculum in many countries, exploring how to support teachers' ability to enable pupils to learn the skill of synthesising knowledge would be an important focus of future research.…”

“…Collaborative group work is often utilised in the integrative approach to learning, as is suggested in the Finnish curriculum (Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education (FNCC), 2014). The potential of learning collaborative working skills through the integrative approach to learning has also been highlighted in previous studies exploring pupils' perspectives (Eronen et al, 2019;Niemi & Kiilakoski, 2019;Tarnanen et al, 2019). Along with the sociocultural approach to learning adopted in this study, previous studies have emphasised the importance of interthinking when considering classroom practices that enhance pupils' collaborative learning (Littleton & Mercer, 2013;Taar, 2017) together with the pedagogical choices of the teacher (Dawes, 2004;Edwards, 2009;Fernández, Wegerif, Mercer, & Rojas-Drummond, 2015;Venäläinen, 2010).…”

“…Even though the importance of listening to pupils' voice in the educational process has been emphasised (Bragg, 2007;Lehtomäki et al, 2014;Niemi, Kumpulainen, Lipponen, & Hilppö, 2015), pupils' perspective on integrative approach to learning has not been widely studied. Some recent studies in the Finnish educational context (Eronen, Kokko, & Sormunen, 2019;Niemi & Kiilakoski, 2019;Tarnanen, Kaukonen, Kostiainen, & Toikka, 2019) demonstrate the keen interest in this area. Internationally, there is lack of research on pupils' perspectives on the integrative approach to learning, despite it being emphasised as a 21st century skill in the latest curricula in several countries (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009).…”

Constellations of Transdisciplinary Practices: A Map and Research Agenda for the Responsible Management Learning Field

“…With a transdisciplinary turn in education, curricula integrate knowledge across disciplines and sectors (Penaluna and Penaluna 2009). Subject-based classes are meant to be transformed to become transversal-transdisciplinary learning units (Eronen et al 2019). Quigley et al (2019, p. 149) provide a helpful list of transdisciplinary teaching practices, namely "discipline integration, problem-based approach, authentic tasks, inquiry-rich methods, student choice, technology integration, teacher facilitation, and assessments…connected to the problem to be solved.…”