Central in the renewed national curriculum (LK20) in Norway is the topic of interdisciplinary. LK20 describes three interdisciplinary themes that are embedded on all educational levels: (1) health and wellbeing, (2) sustainable development, and (3) democracy and citizenship.
The project explores the opportunities and challenges that teachers and students experience in classroom settings involving interdisciplinary learning designs. Furthermore, we explore the notion of “deep learning” and its potential relation to interdisciplinary teaching and learning, as well as whether and how digital resources are used in order to support student learning and participation.
The empirical basis of this project is six case studies involving three lower and three upper secondary schools in different part of Norway. The data are collected during school projects involving interdisciplinary learning designs focusing on the three interdisciplinary themes. The data material consists of video recorded classroom observations, student learning products, teaching material developed by teachers and interviews with students and teachers.
The relevance and significance of the study is found in its examination of how teachers and students cope with interdisciplinary curricular requirements, reflecting major societal challenges of wellbeing, participation and sustainability. Such insights will generate knowledge that can guide teachers and teacher educators in their interdisciplinary work in future schools, and fostering citizenship for an increasingly complex and changing world.