Browsing by Author "Dahlberg, Mikaela"

A new curriculum has been introduced in elementary schools in the autumn of 2016. The new curriculum (FNAE 2014) has suggested that each student should be offered at least one multidisciplinary learning course per an academic year. The goals of multisectoral learning courses are to exceed the school subject limits and offer students opportunities to practice and develop a range of thinking and practical skills that they can apply to their everyday lives. The purpose of this study is to describe the multidisciplinary learning course’s design and execution process from the perspective of the craft’s subject. Also, to find out what kind of experiences these multidisciplinary learning courses have led to. The study investigated how the design and implementation of multidisciplinary learning courses has worked in practice and how it has affected the work of a crafts teacher. This study is a qualitative study that aims to describe and understand the studied phenomenon. The data for this study was collected using a semi-structured theme interview. The interview themes were set out in from the grounds, which affect the design and implementation of multidisciplinary courses. These include the cooperation of the committed operators, the goals and contents for teaching and learning and the significance of different learning environments. The interview was answered by a crafts teacher from an elementary school in Helsinki. The interview was recorded as a voice record. The researched material was analyzed in accordance with the theory-based content analysis principles. This study showed that the design and implementation of multidisciplinary learning courses has brought new dimensions to the work of the teacher, which has not emerged in more traditional teaching. Practical challenges and constraints such as time and resource constraints were not faced alone by the craft’s teacher. This has led to that the design and implementation of multidisciplinary learning courses are experienced as a positive part of the craft teacher's work. It has developed cooperation between all committed operators. It emerged from the results that the design and implementation of multidisciplinary learning courses are aimed to develop student’s problem-solving skills and creativity. The goals set were the design, perception and development of a comprehensive process. The teaching of multidisciplinary learning courses is not different from the usual subject-specific teaching, but the perspective is different. It is not about changing the teaching, but about expanding the mindset and developing it.