Thinking For Yourself: “Educating for a Complex World”

Written by William H. Newell, and published in “Liberal Education”, Educating for a Complex World lends context and explanation about how “…we need to
think of integrative learning as analogous to interdisciplinary studies.” (Newell 6). By saying this, Newell later explains that he means individuals should not only be taught directly how to apply what is learned in class in a real-life experience scenario but, students should also be

taking interdisciplinary classes alongside their traditionally disciplined classes. Taking classes outside of their discipline broadens the worldview, and learning how to apply these differing skills through experience is invaluable. Newell stresses that there is a need to rethink how education is currently structured, as there is plenty of knowledge passed within the classroom, but there is a lack of application and connection between how the information is to be used and the disciplines themselves. Newell reiterates, “Each academic discipline studies a subset of the elements of a complex situation and the connections among them, producing valuable but partial insights into the complex situation as a whole” (Newell 9) about how without integration or interdisciplinarity, disciplines offer extremely narrow views and solutions to the problems at hand.

One of the larger points in the

article explains how Repko has demystified the interdisciplinary process with “deconstruction of interdisciplinary integration: identify conflicts between insights; create common ground; integrate insights; and produce and test an interdisciplinary understanding of the problem” (Newell 9-10) which Newell then mentions have allowed interdisciplinarians to find methods that work well and further work on integration

Before reading this article, I had conceptualized interdisciplinary studies and the epistemology and theories that come along with it as integrative; I hadn’t imagined someone else considering them separate

ideas. To ensure I understand what I learn in classes and from reading, I conceptualize the ideas with how they would be used in the “real world” (that everyone talks so much about). By studying in that way, I inadvertently connected interdisciplinary studies and integrative learning, as the problem-solving skills and various theories are useful in scenarios not at all exclusive to interdisciplinary studies. Reading this article revealed to me that despite my broad way of approaching subjects, I may still be missing other individual’s thought processes simply due to differences in ways of comprehension.

If this post prompted any thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments below!

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Newell, William H. “Educating for a Complex World.” Liberal Education 96.4 (2010): 6-11. Academic Search Premier [EBSCO]. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.plymouth.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5a71eec3-ba22-4487-9094-9a783509b3fe%40sessionmgr106&vid=3&hid=128>.