Interdisciplinary Teacher Education

This study advocates postsecondary interdisciplinary teacher education reforms that effectively integrate discipline-based coursework with interdisciplinary courses to prepare future teachers to utilize interdisciplinary curricular approaches in education. It conceptualizes interdisciplinary teacher education based on a constructivist theoretical approach indebted primarily to State, and focuses especially on literature in the field of interdisciplinary studies, published in the India since 1997. The confluence of interdisciplinary and constructivist approaches, as well as interdisciplinarity and disciplinarity are examined. Existing interdisciplinary teacher education programs, interdisciplinary teaching strategies, and curricular designs are explored. This study provides a conceptual model that addresses teacher professionalization, interdisciplinary vision, global consciousness and wide-awakeness, and the democratic dimensions of interdisciplinary teacher education.