Methodology of creating an integrated course of history and civic education for the 5th grade

Abstract

The article examines the methodology of creating an integrated or interdisciplinary curriculum as an effective and relevant way of competency-­based learning for XXI century students, which will provide them with the holistic knowledge and cross-­cutting skills needed to solve complex global problems.
The modern understanding of integrated learning is essentially the implementation of interdisciplinary integration of learning content, including history and civic education. Interdisciplinary integration, which can be intra-­sectoral and inter-­sectoral, requires the study of curriculum material taking into account the content of various subjects and fields of knowledge. The most effective and consistent way of such integration is to create and teach integrated courses.
The authors defined the principles of interdisciplinary integration by creating an integrated course, including:
organic interpenetration, natural interrelation of school subjects (sections and topics from different sciences);
combining elements of information from subjects around selected core system-­forming categories or ideas of content, which allow to study them from the point of view of different subjects/branches of knowledge with consistent, deep and multifaceted disclosure of studied processes and phenomena;
a combination of content-­oriented, activity- and value-­based integration.
The article proposes a methodology for the gradual development of the content of integrated courses in history and civic education based on the State Standard of Basic Secondary Education (2020). For developers, the mandatory stages of such activities are:
analysis of the requirements of the State Standard for the learning outcomes of students at one stage or another;
definition of interdisciplinary cross-­cutting/system-­forming concepts, categories, ideas that should be mastered by students in a particular topic in accordance with the objectives of the educational cycle;
formation of the content of the integrated topic in the model curriculum and determination of specific learning outcomes of students on this topic.
The authors also describe the steps of transition from the curriculum to the design of a specific lesson/paragraph of the textbook as the primary unit of construction of the educational process.