The Difficulties of Interdisciplinary Education: Lessons From Three Failures and a Success

Abstract

Four real education programs illustrate the vicissitudes of interdisciplinary education. Five essential factors are (1) interdisciplinary education must be a primary program goal consistent with other major goals; (2) controlling educational authorities must be committed to it; (3) it may have to exist outside the main academic structure because of its inherent conflict with that structure; (4) honesty, trust, and respect are essential to the interdisciplinary endeavor; and (5) resources must be sufficient for interdisciplinary as well as traditional education. These factors are not often present, so that interdisciplinary education will exist as research and demonstration programs that support those dedicated to this approach and contribute to others by example. They require independence, academic support, selfdirection, and adequate and stable resources.

The Future of Geriatric and Interdisciplinary Education

“…In practice, however, an interdisciplinary approach to geriatrics is not comfortably received in medical student education, as it interferes with traditional disciplinary hierarchy and agenda (Satin, 1986). Residency training in internal medicine is found to focus on acute, inpatient, technological care, with less than 50% of the programs providing experience in the longitudinal care of the aged Downloaded by [Universitaetsbibliothek Wuerzburg] at 14:46 01 November 2014 in long-term care facilities with its exposure to the interrelationship of problems, treatments, and disciplines (Calkins, 1985).…”

“…This will give them the option of learning from and adopting it, and will encourage those sympathetic to it to implement it. This may be the most that such a nontraditional approach can be expected to accomplish without extraordinary (and undependable) outside forces on the one side, while engendering extraordinary counterrevolutionary resistance on the other (Satin, 1985b;Satin, 1986).…”

“…All of these complications and threats induce defensive wariness and resistance that can undermine the program despite logic and overt support (Satin, 1986;Satin & Saxe, 1979).…”

“…Interdisciplinary education presents extraordinary problems in the educational process (Satin, 1986). It runs counter to most of the structure and practice of academic education, which are built to incorporate and support the unidisciplinary education of the individual professions: Course development and crediting, core and elective curriculum designation, student scheduling, faculty assignment, faculty professional advancement, tuition allocation, faculty salary, and administrative support are all affected.…”

La recherche collaborative : essai de définition

“…L'organisation qui embauche les professionnelles et les professionnels se montrera souvent réticente à consentir des dégrèvements, tandis que dans les milieux universitaires on hésitera à libérer des ressources humaines ou financières, ce genre d'activité étant peu valorisé ou perçu comme étant improductif. C'est pourquoi, estime Satin (1987), maintes expériences ne parviennent pas à atteindre l'objectif d'interdisciplinarité ; elles finissent par adopter un mode de fonctionnement multidisciplinaire (comportant des mécanismes de coordination), voire monodisciplinaire (comportant des suivis sporadiques).…”