Westmount Secondary School

4 Credit Interdisciplinary Package

“Food Water and Human Development”

Todd Bulmer and Roberta HaddadJanuary 2014

Food Water and Human Development

Connecting food and water to the world around us and ourselves.

• Authentic tasks

• Self-directed, inquiry-driven

• Interdisciplinary

Our Philosophy

Education which does not occur through forms of life, or that are worth living for their own sake, is

always a poor substitute for the genuine reality and tends to cramp and deaden (John Dewey,1897).

Authenticity

Knowledge emerges only through invention and reinvention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry men (sic) pursue in the world, with the world, and with

each other.Paulo Freire, 1970

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Self-directed Inquiry

Interdisciplinary LearningOur world is an interdependent system involving the social,

natural, economic, cultural and political. Looking at the system through one artificial lens can't possibly allow students to address the important challenges we face.

(Susan M. Drake, 2013)

Authentic Self-directedInquiry

Interdisciplinary

US

The Sweet Spot?

The Ministry-Defined Courses

Science and Society (SNC 4M)

Environmental Science (SVN 3M)

Regional Geography (CGD 3M)

Interdisciplinary Studies (IDP 3U)

Science and Society (SNC4M) BiotechnologyNutrition and DiseasePublic Health

Environmental Science (SVN 3M)

Energy and SustainabilityAgriculture and ForestryImpacts on Human Health

Regional Geography (CGD3M) SustainabilityInteractions between the Land and PeopleLiving ConditionsImport/Export Interrelationships

Interdisciplinary Studies (IDP3U)Theory and FoundationMethods of ResearchImplementation, Evaluation, Impacts and Consequences

AutonomyStudents will have freedom to choose both the medium and the content of their projects.

MasteryStudents will spend the

time achieving real expertise in the topics they

choose to investigate

PurposeExperiential learning opportunities will

reinforce the relevance of their work and promote connections between ideas.

Student Engagement

through:

Fewer, Larger TasksAllows for the customisation of each task.Less marking, more meaning.

Individual, Student-driven Narratives

Teacher-centred lessons will ‘accompany’ rather than ‘lead’

Wanderer, there is no road,the road is made by walking. -Antonio Machado

Getting out of the Classroom

•Organic Farm•Food Bank/Shelter•Food Depot•McMaster

Reflective PortfolioStudents will reflect on what they’ve done and find evidence of their learning.

They compile these samples of their work into categories that are based on curriculum expectations.

At the end of the semesterstudents will discuss theirportfolios with their teacherand with another educator.