Stimpunks Foundation

Mutual Aid and Human-Centered Learning for Neurodivergent and Disabled People

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Interdisciplinary Learning

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Home » Glossary Terms » Interdisciplinary Learning

Interdisciplinary learning cultivates a mindset of active inquiry that draws from a range of disciplinary ways of thinking in order to investigate essential questions and ideas about the world.

We so frequently hear from kids & community alike the need for purpose-driven learning experiences, rooted in the world outside of school as a contrast to their experience of school as individualized, isolated & isolating: that is to say, not really connected to things they find meaningful & valuable to learn about, not connected to the peer & community relationships they want to build, and not connected the world outside of school.

I think that the world is necessarily interdisciplinary, meaning you start with a complex problem or an interest or something else that exists out there in the world and you draw from a range of perspectives and frameworks and content
and skills in order to address it.

I think our take is that interdisciplinary learning really looks like how we learn in the world outside of school so the more that we can make schools look like interdisciplinary learning spaces the more easily kids will navigate that transition from the world of school to the world outside of it.

There are three aspects of interdisciplinary learning: critical thinking, collaboration, and reflection.

Interdisciplinary learning is not a step-by-step guide, it’s going to look different depending on your context.

MINDFOOD IV: Top 3 Interdisciplinary Lessons – YouTube
MINDFOOD IV: Top 3 Interdisciplinary Lessons

What School Ought to Teach (WSOT) list consists of 10 key competencies, embedded in a humanistic view, that prepare young people for life in a perpetually changing world.

  1. How to confront themselves with challenges
  2. How to function in relation to the world and nature, as well as with one’s own body
  3. The ideas of science and scholarship (learning)
  4. How to function in society
  5. Aesthetic and cultural awareness
  6. How to function in variable contexts and environments
  7. How to function in relation to the state
  8. Entrepreneurship
  9. Interpersonal communication
  10. Self-development
What School Ought to Teach (WSOT) list – Holistic Think Thank

Further reading,

Human-Centered Education
✌️ We Believe: Human-Centered, Trauma-Informed, Self-Determined, Equity-Literate, Interdisciplinary Learning with Open Technology
Self-Determination Theory
Stimpunks Glossary Card: Interdisciplinary Learning. Learning that starts from a complex problem or interest in the world and draws on many perspectives, frameworks and skills to address it. It mirrors how we learn outside school, through critical thinking, collaboration and reflection. A prism splitting light is the symbol.

This card is one of the free Stimpunks Glossary Cards, made with Helen Edgar, Autistic Realms. Download the free card deck to print. For 222 more words, read Helen Edgar’s Neuro-Affirming Glossary free online, or get the e-book and card deck in the Autistic Realms shop.

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Ryan Boren

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