Interdisciplinary teaching is still "old wine in new bottles"

Lack of integrated teachers

According to the new general education program of 2018, secondary school students no longer study the single subjects of physics, chemistry, biology, history, and geography, but study two subjects: natural science, integrating the three sub-subjects of physics, chemistry, and biology; history and geography, integrating the two sub-subjects of history and geography. These two subjects are called integrated subjects.

According to the innovative spirit of the program, a teacher must be able to teach both or all three of the above subjects. However, many schools in Hai Duong still have to arrange teachers to teach each subject as before because there are no teachers trained in interdisciplinary teaching.

Since starting to implement the new program in grade 6, Quyet Thang Secondary School (Hai Duong City) still has to arrange teachers to teach single subjects as before because the school does not have teachers trained in integrated teaching.

Despite being trained and educated, the transition to integrated teaching is not easy for teacher Nguyen Thi Anh Thuy, a teacher at Quyet Thang Secondary School. According to Ms. Thuy, she has specialized training in geography, so it is difficult for her to teach history. Due to overload, the school's two history teachers will teach light geography knowledge from local educational materials but cannot teach in-depth knowledge of geography. "If we just teach, it will still be okay, but it will only be firefighting, the knowledge cannot be in-depth and of course the teaching quality will not be effective. If students ask difficult questions, teachers will be confused," Ms. Thuy said.

Similarly, when implementing the new 2018 general education program for grade 6, Nguyen Trai Secondary School (Nam Sach) also arranged teachers to teach by topic, from low to high. Any overlapping content will be integrated, both reducing the knowledge load and helping students have an overall view. However, in reality, the implementation has caused many problems and difficulties. The teaching staff has not met the requirements because they have not been trained to teach 2 or 3 subjects at the same time. This school year, the school must arrange teachers to teach in parallel as before, not following the linear logic of the new program.

Despite being trained, educated, and certified, Ms. Vu Thi Thuy Duong, a geography teacher at Nguyen Trai Secondary School, is still unable to teach integrated subjects. Only the assessment of students is new because the test is based on the same topic, but teachers are very passive. "We should have trained a team of qualified teachers to teach integrated subjects first and then implemented them, but we did the opposite. Basically, schools still have to teach the same way because of many shortcomings. Teachers who are only trained and educated for a short time find it difficult to be confident in teaching," Ms. Duong said.

A physics teacher at Pham Su Manh Secondary School (Kinh Mon) also said that if chemistry is taught, it will only teach simple knowledge and not in depth. By the 8th and 9th grades, the knowledge is heavier, so teachers without integrated training will not be able to teach it. In particular, physics and biology teachers cannot teach chemistry.

Do it while you can

Most secondary school principals believe that when implementing integrated teaching, schools face difficulties in arranging teachers to fit the timetable, especially in the current situation of teacher shortage. Many schools are still working while waiting for a source of properly trained teachers.

The arrangement of single-subject teachers to teach an integrated subject is only a temporary and ineffective solution. In the long term, especially in higher grades, there needs to be well-trained teachers who meet new standards, not the “old wine in new bottles” model.

The issue of teaching and learning integrated subjects is not only of public concern but also of teachers’ concerns and confusion. The Department of Education and Training has directed schools to work while solving difficulties. Not only training and fostering teachers, many professional activities in clusters, inter-schools, and demonstration lessons at all levels have been organized to promptly draw experience for teachers and listen to difficulties, thereby solving them immediately.

The Department of Education and Training has directed schools to flexibly arrange teachers and develop teaching plans suitable to reality, and to persevere with the goal of innovation. Schools assign teachers to ensure the consistency between the teachers' trained expertise and the assigned teaching content... The source of students trained to teach integrated subjects at Hai Duong University graduating in the coming years will partly solve the difficulties. In the immediate future, teachers are forced to improve their capacity, equip themselves with integrated and interdisciplinary knowledge, and change teaching methods to meet the requirements.