Integration: Reflecting on Lessons Learned

I Love integrating other subjects in the artroom like LA, SS, Math and Tech. A big part of the love is collaborating with such a charged team of educators who never fail to identify and support an extension opportunity which continues to ignite the spark for our shared love of learning.

However, what I have learned from each integrated art project: Piece of Cake, Math Counts Video, and recently Rap Figurative Sculptures, is that students tend to resist projects when they are aware of the content integration.
I think the resistance is because students cherish, whether they admit it or not, the unique experiences they have in each of their core classes. So when they are confronted with a math page in Expressions their resistance has no bearing on their feeling of math but reveals more about their feelings of disappointed that they are not getting the Expressions experience they were looking forward to. The resistance, in my opinion, can block the artistic process.

As a Multiple Subject educator, I also feel compelled to make the content connection as strong as possible which often results in more time spent on content and less time spent for students to play and experiment with the art and materials.

So I ask myself: How do we get students to connect the dots if they are not presented directly to them?

The one guess I have that spirals around in my brain is this: The strongest connections are made when students identify them on their own. Yes, we can use common language and time learning experiences to our advantage between classes but trust that if projects are engaging and meaningful the connection will be stronger if made by the students.

What are your thoughts?