The acquisition and use of knowledge can be approached in a variety of ways. Working exclusively in a particular field and with like-minded people limits our ability to fully tackle a problem or project. Reflecting on this course thus far, I’ve been introduced to the concept and benefits of the interdisciplinary approach. The ability to pull from multiple areas of knowledge is the most comprehensive and beneficial tool a person can have for an employer or any group of people they are working with. When forming a team to work on a project or attempt to solve a problem, gathering people from multiple disciplines can allow for new perspectives that could prove vitally useful. As long as the group is capable of intertwining each other’s knowledge, they can be highly effective in producing a cognitive advancement that would have not been possible through a single disciplinary route (Repko 25).

Many of the readings so far have provided insight into how indigenous communities approach learning and acquiring knowledge. A particular text that stands out isLand as Pedagogy. The story of Kwezens learning how to interact with her environment explores a natural way of acquiring knowledge that cannot be taught through the western education system. Kwezens explores nature on her own. She is not only learning new skills and discovering things such as maple syrup but also valuable life lessons. “She learned to trust herself, her family and her community… She learned both from the land and with the land” (Simpson 7). This story and the deep analysis that followed made me contemplate how humans learn all the skills necessary to be important members of their families, communities, and societies as a whole. A person collects knowledge from experiences and opportunities to explore their culture and world freely. This text explored how the academic approach is vital but it doesn’t create a well-rounded interdisciplinary individual.

Discussions in the classroom have been quite engaging. Learning about ways people can draw from various fields of learning and then discussing this topic with students in various fields is very rewarding. A stand out exercise we did is when we were in a small group exploring how we could take the multiple fields we were interested in and combine them to create a new field, business, institution, etc. I believe our fields were music, psychology, and medicine. Discussions like these brought about various ideas that simply wouldn’t formulate in a room with pupils all focused on the same discipline. It was truly a multidisciplinary interaction that created immediate justification for an interdisciplinary approach. Our group in this particular exercise thought of methods we could use to study the psychological effects of music on humans and how we could use such research to apply music to medical conditions. Of course, ideas may be flawed or already thought of, but it’s the act of cooperating in this fashion that stimulates the brain in new ways and forms new pathways of thinking.

The course has made me assess my own way of learning and how I’ve collected knowledge in the past. I’ve noticed that although my academic disciplines have been mainly history and music, I’ve learned many skills in other ways. Whether it was through family, hands-on work, sports or various electives I’ve taken in university, I use many of them and neglect others. An interdisciplinary approach forces one to consider all these skills and how they can play a part in solving a problem or working with others in any capacity. Participating with others who have the same mindset but different disciplines can lead to much greater achievements and success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

Repko, A., Szostak, R. and Buchberger, M. (2014). Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies. p.25.

 

Simpson, L. (2014). Land as pedagogy: Nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious

transformation. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 3(3), pp.2-7.