Activity 7; Critically discuss the interdisciplinary connections in practice

Activity 7; Critically discuss the interdisciplinary connections in practice.


Andrews (1990) defines interdisciplinary collaboration as occurring "when different professionals, possessing unique knowledge, skills, organizational perspectives, and personal attributes, engage in coordinated problem solving for a common purpose" (cited in Berg-Weger &. Schneider, 1998). Working collectively with our colleagues will open new pathways to inform our pedagogy and in turn strengthen our practice. When watching the video by Thomas McDonagh Group (2011), I agreed with the fact that we need to educate our students holistically and empathically. By exposing students to different views, opinions, and horizons, we can set our students up to be well-rounded citizens of society and connected learners. Being inclusive of others, particularly their backgrounds and cultures is a natural part of life. The more we know about others, the more we can learn about ourselves in relation to that.
The potential interdisciplinary connection from my map that I would consider a near future goal is working with RTLB. In the past they have given me different inputs and perspectives in my interdisciplinary approach in my teaching. This has usually been in relation to children in my classroom who have high learning and behavioural needs. The benefits I have gained from this have been on-going support and new resources and strategies to try out. However, in the past I have found RTLB support more of a hindrance than a help with on-going meetings, paperwork, interruptions (time schedule differences) and sometimes even by barriers caused by lack of knowledge around the latest teaching pedagogies.
To counter this, I believe that the cross over between disciplines will be most successful by meeting Mulligans & Kuban’s (2105) conceptual model for interdisciplinary Collaboration. It is all well and good having the intention to work towards a common goal, but if a framework around how this may look and how to operate within it is not in place, things could fall flat. Both staff and RTLB need to know what collaboration is and what it looks like. Professional development around this would help everyone be on the same page. In Mulligans & Kuban’s (2015) model for successful interdisciplinary collaboration, it is suggested that three elements need to be present; qualities and attitudes, common goals and workplace conditions. However, they point out that workplace conditions can not necessarily be controlled. They believe that; When all three facets come together, we believe successful collaboration can occur. In the event that one facet is absent or lacking, we believe that collaboration can still function but may be difficult to sustain.
To ensure joint planning, decision-making, and goal-setting take place, we will need to set regular meeting times and places. There needs to be a shared understanding of when and what these are. Ideally, we would work towards having similar qualities and attitudes; a cooperative and compromising attitude; respect for and equitable treatment of individual collaborator roles; trust in one another’s competence; ability to be vulnerable, open, honest, and willing to learn; and an enthusiasm for the projects pursued (Mulligan & Kuban, 2015). I believe this is achievable as we work in a unique discipline and ultimately want the best for our students; It seems that, as educators, we recognize the globalization of society and the overlapping nature of most occupations, and we want our students to have diverse, interdisciplinary experiences—thus it seems prudent to adopt a similar mindset for our own scholarly endeavors (Mulligan & Kuban, 2015).

References;
Berg-Weger, M., &. Schneider, F. D. (1998). Interdisciplinary collaboration in social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 34, 97-107.
Mulligan, L. M., & Kuban, A. J. . (2015). A Conceptual Model for Interdisciplinary Collaboration. Retrieved fromhttp://acrlog.org/2015/05/14/a-conceptual-model-for-interdisciplinary-collaboration


ThomasMcDonaghGroup. ( 2011, May 13). Interdisciplinarity and Innovation Education.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDdNzftkIpA

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