The old idiom "less is more" has so many different applications, but 2020 certainly gives it new meaning. By the first couple of weeks of remote learning back in the spring, I realised what a truism that statement is in relation to curriculum. Despite the many challenges that lay ahead, coverage was not one of them. Having a concept-based curriculum never felt like such a privilege; we had the ability to adapt our curriculum to meet the sudden demands of remote learning and consider our students' wellbeing. For some, this might be a challenge, but we seized on the opportunity to make our curriculum work for our students. I'm not saying it all worked perfectly, but I don't think anyone in my department feels that our students fell behind during lockdown (despite what many politicians may lead the public to believe).

I plunged ahead with my Diploma syllabus, teaching the same number of texts but strategically cutting content within each unit of study, often taking a whole-text approach as opposed to the more guided approach I would normally take in the physical classroom. We cut content in our MYP units as well, where we have a bit more freedom because we are not bound by a syllabus. The result was an opportunity to explore the concepts in more depth, using the content as a tool for developing conceptual understanding, rather than as an end point. But shouldn't this be the norm, not the exception? These "exceptional circumstances" we have found ourselves in this year should be an opportunity for schools and systems to really reconsider what is "essential content".

I believe that curriculum is a living organism; an authentic, live curriculum should never be "complete". Luckily, my departmental colleagues are on the same page and are always looking for ways to adapt our curriculum to meet the needs of our students and reflect our local and global contexts. Our scope and sequence has gone through many permutations over the years. At one point, we were teaching 5-6 units per year in each grade. It always felt like a race to the finish line, and inevitably we never actually managed to get through everything. So last year we reduced the number of units per grade to 4. This seemed like the right number because it meant we could focus a unit on each major genre (fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry) -- except, this plan was flawed from the start because the units were very text-focused; the conceptual elements became a bit of a bolt-on.

This year, we have scaled back again to 3 units per grade. That's roughly one per term, with room built in to allow for flexibility if a unit runs shorter or longer than expected --and time for meaningful IDUs to take place. We also have more time to promote independent reading and embed opportunities for student choice within the curriculum. In most grades, we have not had to cut too much content; we have simply repurposed it through a more conceptual lens. And the conceptual focus has allowed us to bring in lots of different text types to support the statement of inquiry, which better prepares students for the DP Language & Literature course. Here is a peek at our Grade 9 (MYP 4) curriculum:

Cutting down to 3 units has presented challenges in terms of assessment. Previously, we sort of naturally developed 2 creative and 2 analytical tasks across the year (one summative task per unit) to ensure that we hit each criterion strand twice. Now, we have to approach assessment in a more holistic (less linear) manner. So we might have a unit which includes more than one summative task, or we might create a task which includes both analytical and creative elements. It's a work in progress, and although it does require more intellectual weightlifting on the part of us as teachers, the opportunities it provides our students to develop critical, conceptual thinking is worth the extra effort.

There is a very tired saying that we learn by experience. The learning that results from an experience is not compartmentalised; we don't naturally think in disciplines, do we? Well, we are currently living through an unprecedented (another word that has been overused recently) global experience in the form of COVID-19, and look at all of the learning -- for better or worse -- that is coming out of that experience: musicians are connecting with global audiences via concerts they are hosting from their living rooms, actors are streaming live "performances" of Shakespeare, ordinary citizens are participating in yoga or cooking classes with a global community -- and all of this is taking place while we learn to adapt to new forms of technology or, in some cases, we adapt new forms of technology to meet our changing needs in a world of self-isolation. Conceptually, we are grappling with change and finding ways to connect and communicate (locally and globally) in ways that may be challenging or unfamiliar. The lockdown environment might be affecting our relationships (positively or negatively) and perhaps even giving us a new perspective on things.

All of this got me thinking: why not use the current situation as a learning opportunity for students? So I started to put together some interdisciplinary ideas. These are just entry points, not full units, and they are not perfectly polished. Feel free to use them as a springboard for designing a full IDU within your own context. (There is a certain irony in the fact that I have created IDU ideas, which are collaborative in nature, in isolation, but I'm hoping people will accept the exceptional circumstances and appreciate the spirit in which I share these.)

There are three main entry points into an IDU: through concepts, global contexts or content. I have outlined the process I went through to create each of these integrations below.

 I started with the content or topic, which is COVID-19 (or, more generally, pandemic). I then viewed that topic through each of the global lenses (contexts) and considered key concepts that seemed best aligned to each context. From there, I suggest the disciplines that might lead to the most effective interdisciplinary experience; I started with disciplines that share the same key concept and then considered others that might work well as an integration. I don't suggest that all of those disciplines listed need to be integrated into a single unit (although they could!), but listing several opens up multiple opportunities.

Obviously, the current global situation is an emotive one, and as educators we have to tread carefully and consider the emotional needs and wellbeing of our students. This topic may not be suitable to address with all students in all schools at this time. However, I think the SoIs are general enough to be able to adapt using any global event as the core focus, which could still lead to some meaningful interdisciplinary learning outcomes. Equally, you could adapt the framework to work with any topic of interest.

I will be expanding on these ideas in an IB Educators Chat that I am facilitating on MYP Interdisciplinary Learning on Wednesday, 13 May at 19:00 GMT (that's 20:00 London time). During the meet, I will offer some practical suggestions for how to coordinate the logistics of one or more of these IDUs (in either a remote or classroom setting) and provide an opportunity for global discussion and collaboration on how to make interdisciplinary learning happen in our current online environment. Follow the link below or email me for more information.