**2. Teaching in complex times**

The challenges of working within an educational system driven by data, testing and results render it difficult to teach outside the boundaries of subjects and disciplines. Standardised tests limit the scope for innovation and moving outside of prescriptive lesson plans. The reality of testing culture is pervasive and damaging; recently a teacher told me (Christine) the following about her daughter: "*She was driven by exam results and exam result day was her Christmas day."* Meanwhile, outside the artificial process of examinations lie real socio/economic problems that society and the world is facing, and these require deeper, innovative and inter-connective thinking.

An example of the lack of such connections in schools was highlighted recently in my (Christine's) teaching. In the year 10 Science end-of-term assessment paper was a question which asked the pupils to measure the area around each circle of antibiotic resistance in an agar plate (a required practical that children undertake in Biology). Not one of them attempted this question, yet when asked in class if they had learnt how to calculate the area of a circle in maths and what the formula is, they were all able to answer the question correctly. Despite this mathematical knowledge they

failed to make this connection during the test, and in failing to see Maths and Science as inextricably connected, lost valuable marks as well.

Further illustrating the siloed understandings of knowledge in education, on August 3rd, 2023, Katherine Birbalsingh (Head Teacher of Michaela School, London and former adviser to the UK government on social mobility) tweeted the following:

*You want kids to read? Make them read. Constantly. Break it down. You want kids to add and subtract? Do maths. Constantly. Means no phones. No yoga. No gardening. No chatter and lack of attention.*

Birbalsingh, known as '@MissSnuffy' on the social media platform X (previously known as Twitter) is well-known for her provocative stance regarding the promotion of traditional education. The tweet here exemplifies in many ways the emphasis in contemporary English teaching practice on Cartesian dualisms between mind and body. Rather than seeing activities such as gardening as having educational, as well as therapeutic and environmental value, they are seen as extraneous to the 'real' and valid practices of maths and reading. By establishing such false binaries however, we risk students being unable to think divergently across disciplinary boundaries; struggling to integrate maths within other subjects, or failing to understand maths as a life skill which could be equally applied in calculating gaps when planting seeds, measuring wood for planters, or estimating growth and harvesting times. The examples provided here demonstrate that there is a real need for strategies to be embedded which allow for deeper thinking, so that knowledge can be adapted to different situations and subjects. As Eliot states in The Rock ([9], p. 147) '*Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?* So, how can this be done effectively in practice?

*Rainbows, Bikes, and Lego*

*What is a rainbow? This is a simple question that often begins with very young nursery/ early primary-aged children producing pictures of colourful semi-circles. As they move up into higher primary, or secondary school, this visualisation can be developed into connections with physics and the diffraction of white light, understandings of meteorology/weather, and maths through an appreciation of the angles of diffraction of the light colours. English Literature and History can also be embedded through the introduction of songs, poems and stories, mythology and magic around the concept of the rainbow and the infamous "pot of gold" at its end. By drawing together nature, science and culture, multiple understandings of a common phenomenon can help children to understand the ways in which knowledge is not siloed but relational, contextual and mediated.*

*Another example which I (Christine) undertook as part of a STEM transition from year 6 primary to Year 7 secondary was titled "The Beat of Life." In this session the pupils created a heart out of clay using straws to illustrate the arteries' veins. Some decided to sketch and label a heart from the power-point picture and one of these is framed on my living room wall as it was so good* (**Figure 1**).

*The children then had to create a storyboard of how the heart relates to health, exercise, poetry, poems and literature and if time allowed write a rap called 'The Beat of Life'. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed these sessions and were enthused about being able to think differently about science. One of the parents said to me after it "I hope the teachers at my son's secondary are as engaging and passionate about their subject as you. He has learnt a lot today".*

*I have also used sweets to get the pupils/students to create different body systems. This is easy to implement in practice a selection of sweets and get the pupils/students to be creative*  *Thinking, Alternatively: The Application of Art, Philosophy and Holistic Practice in the Teaching… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.114039*

 **Figure 1.**  *Framed pupil heart sketch from "beat of life session."* 

#### **Figure 2.**

 *Candy anatomy of the kidney and student assessment showing how this has been used to assess learning.* 

*as shown in the diagrams below. Further it has huge successful results as the students used this in assessments to recall the different organ systems and their parts to obtain high grades of merits and distinctions* ( **Figure 2** ).

*In more recent times I have also used Lego to support the engagement of pupils in science/medical topics. In February I attended a workshop session which involved building a mini heart from Lego. This was suitable for all ages, young and old, and it made me think of adapting and building intersubject connections in this activity not just for school but University students as well. While being a creative, artistic process, this activity also instilled a spatial awareness of the heart structure; the red and blue colours representing the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood and opening room for comprehending the reality of blood flow between the heart and lungs* ( **Figure 3** ).

*These lung miniature kits can be bought from companies such as Brick This (https://www.brickthis.co.uk/), they have full instructions to build and support useful conversations around the blood flow of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in the heart. This process simultaneously enhances spatial awareness and kinaesthetic learning.*

 It can be hard to move children accustomed to subject-based teaching into spaces where they are able to think in interdisciplinary ways. One method to enhance this thinking is to provide pupils with a picture of an object such as a bicycle and ask them to identify the different 'subjects' implicit in this. Examples could include physics in the gears/friction tyres, wind resistance, bodies and machine interaction, circle shapes of wheels, and angles of spokes. This simple task unfolds the mind to many different aspects and concepts and is a great way to enhance trans-interdisciplinary thinking.

 These examples illustrate how we can deepen learning and engagement and allow pupils to make subject connections. The embedding of building and artwork enhances the social, team-building aspect of learning and supports emotional and mental regulation and expression which can support behavioural and learning subject and emotional barriers for children with special educational needs.
