One of the significant challenges I am hearing as I dialogue with colleagues from other International Baccalaureate institutions in our district is the ability to authentically be interdisciplinary. Elementary school is so good at it precisely because it is taught by one person. Obviously, it's simpler to collaborate with oneself.
 
Subject areas after elementary school become siloed because they are taught by different teachers. Math teachers teach math. Science teachers teach science. Twice within two weeks, I proposed an interdisciplinary opportunity between subject areas to different leaders. Both times I heard, “It sounds great, but it won’t work with our staff.”  
 
I get it. But it might be worth the elbow grease. We need a big rethink as we prepare students for their future. Life is interdisciplinary, so our schools should be.   
 
We need our accountants (math) to communicate effectively (language). We need our climatologists (science) to express the data so laypeople can grasp it (art). We need our athletes (PE) to lead social change through a community organizer lens (individual and societies). There are endless examples (it's fun as you start thinking of them).
 
For the sake of our children, we need to move from theory to action when it comes to interdisciplinary teaching and learning in our secondary schools. We will go through some discomfort on the journey. This includes me. I will be OK. Others will be OK. Kids will win.  
 
Where to start?  
 
Here is a podcast that could help a leader start the conversation of interdisciplinary teaching and learning. It is called the "Edge Effect."  
 
Description: "There is great comfort in the familiar. It's one reason humans often flock to other people who share the same interests, laugh at the same jokes, hold the same political views. But familiar ground may not be the best place to cultivate creativity."  

It's a 38-minute listen: The Edge Effect 
  
Here are questions to ponder as you apply this idea to education:  

• How might the Edge Effect apply to the creative process of building an IB program?  
• What edges between students are possible to explore?   
• What edges between students and staff are possible to explore?   
• Big one: What edges between staff members, and staff planning, could be explored?   
• What edges could staff explore outside of education altogether?   
• What edges could students explore outside of education?