The Role of Integrated Curriculum in the 21st Century School
Abstract
In schools across the country, there appears to be an increasing focus on 21st Century
Skills development. While there may be some variance among specific definitions of
these skills by national groups and individual schools, review of the literature has
identified eight common features among widely accepted frameworks: creativity, critical
thinking, problem-solving, communication, collaboration, digital literacy, social and
cultural skills, and self-regulation. It is proposed that integrated curriculum should be
considered an ideal method for the teaching and learning of 21st Century Skills. While
neither the collection of skills designated as “21st century” in and of themselves, nor the
integrated curriculum are novel ideas in education, there appears to be a gap in related
literature studying the complementary relationship of the two. Surveys were conducted to
measure frequency of practices associated with the integrated curriculum and teacher
attitudes related to 21st Century Skills. Teachers were interviewed to identify practices
and attitudes, providing data for mixed-methods analysis. An interrelationship between
the integrated curriculum and the teaching of 21st Century Skills as well as barriers to
best practice were identified.