Sky-High Motivation - Intradisciplinary Integrative-Courses for Excelling Teachers' Training

Oct 15, 2026

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In many teacher education programs, curricula are built from fragmented, discipline-based courses that limit coherent connections between theory and classroom practice. This longitudinal mixed-method study tracked one cohort of teacher trainees in a fast-track B.Ed. in Israel and examined an intradisciplinary integrative course model organized around significant themes and issues. Data included trainee, mentor, and college staff responses collected across three years. Results indicate gains in new knowledge, empowerment, and exposure to constructivist teaching.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Fragmented vs. Connected Curricular Approaches

The Constructivist Context for Intradisciplinary Studies

"Sky-High Motivation": Intradisciplinary Integrative-Courses for Excelling Teachers' Training Yael Kimhi Levinsky-Wingate Academic College Israel Abstract: In many teacher education programs, curricula are comprised offragmented courses within an academic discipline. This longitudinal study followed one cohort of teacher trainees in a fasttrack B.Ed. program in Israel and explored an integrative approach to intradisciplinary courses. These courses were organized around significant themes and issues. A mixed-method methodology was implemented. The data included 81 teacher trainee responses, 16 mentor responses, and 11 college staff responses. Data were gathered during three years at four different time points: 1) online questionnaire for trainees and mentors (end of 1st and 3rd year); 2) trainee focus groups and steering group meetings (2nd year). Qualitative data underwent content analysis. Quantitative descriptive statistics were calculated to clarify the categories further. The findings showed that these courses contributed to developing new knowledge, empowerment, and exposure to constructivist teaching/learning processes. The conclusions underscore the potential of incorporating integrative intradisciplinary courses to advance teacher training programs. Introduction Curricula in many Israeli teacher education programs require teacher trainees to complete curriculum-based courses in specific subjects formatted as isolated one-semester units, especially within the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programs. The B.Ed. is a four-year degree based on a curriculum consisting of educational knowledge (e.g., methods of instruction, foundations of education, educational psychology, philosophy and sociology, assessment, classroom management, special education, technology, evaluation, etc.), discipline knowledge (e.g., mathematics, literature, biology, etc.) and hands-on practical fieldwork. A significant disadvantage of these isolated one-semester units is the resulting fragmented view of knowledge (DeLuca et al., 2015) . Teacher education programs based on such fragmented curricula are expected to provide independent areas of content-specific knowledge that will presumably be stored, processed, and integrated by the trainees (Hoban, 2004) . Yet, when teacher trainees are exposed to multiple separate courses within the same discipline, they often express dissatisfaction, reporting substantial redundancies across their program and failing to recognize courses’ relevance to their future teaching context (DeLuca et al., 2015) . A growing body of research has indicated that preservice teachers encounter difficulties in autonomously connecting discretely learned material and in applying their acquired knowledge appropriately in real-time classrooms, suggesting that theory should be taught in the context of practice, with particular emphasis on pedagogical content knowledge (DeLuca et al., 2015) . This approach is being implemented regarding educational knowledge, as many courses dealing with educational issues are unified via integrated courses (DarlingHammond, 2006) . Such opportunities to acquire pedagogical knowledge facilitate teacher trainees’ engagement in cumulative learning, thereby portraying the interrelated nature of teaching (DeLuca et al., 2015) . This curricular integration assists teacher trainees in identifying the links between educational ideas and processes. The current study explored the initial implementation of a connected, integrative intradisciplinary approach aimed at facilitating a more meaningful and unified construction of teachers’ discipline knowledge (e.g., mathematics, literature, biology, etc.) and targeting high-achieving teacher trainees in a fast-track Israeli B.Ed. "excellence" program. The integration undertaken in the current study was unidisciplinary-the courses' contents were drawn from single disciplines (e.g., mathematics, English literature; see Table 1), integrating

FAQs

What problem does the study address in teacher education curricula?

Many B.Ed. programs use fragmented, one-semester discipline courses that create a fragmented view of knowledge and leave trainees unable to connect concepts to future teaching needs.

How were the integrative intradisciplinary courses structured?

The courses used a connected, intradisciplinary approach: content came from single disciplines while integrating themes and issues to link separate parts into a unified whole.

What outcomes did the study report for the integrative approach?

The findings showed that these courses supported development of new knowledge, increased empowerment, and greater exposure to constructivist teaching and learning processes.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Franzy