Multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary

A study of pre-service teachers’ argumentation during their oral exam in initial education

Abstract

Subject integration and interdisciplinary perspectives are increasingly given prominence in international and national governing documents, as well as in research. Various terms are used, such as multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary, but what lies behind these terms appears to be unclear. The following research question was formulated according to this aim: What structures can be identified through analysis of pre-service teachers’ argumentation for and through subject integration at their oral exam? Data consists of video recordings from the student teacher's presentations in the oral exam for their master’s degree in Early Schooling in the subjekt transdiciplinary perspectives. By analyzing the argumentation, we identified a fundamental distinction between a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach on the one hand, and a transdisciplinary approach on the other. While multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches start and argue from subject-based points of view, a transdisciplinary approach transcends subject-based views by arguing for a pedagogical stance which then leads to a perspective. Further, the analysis showed that the students’ grade on the exam was independent of which form of argumentation the students chose. The purpose of the study is to contribute to increased understanding of various structures of argumentation and thereby enhance clarity regarding the concepts of multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary. This can raise awareness of how to argue for pedagogical approaches based on a specific standpoint, an issue, or a particular learning perspective. It can contribute to a deeper understanding of how multidisciplinary can be promoted across subjects and disciplines.