E 2 · Cross-curricular approaches
One of the consequences of the last ten years of educational reform has been the rigid division of the school timetable into discrete 40 to 60-minute time periods. Each is allocated to a specific curriculum subject, with little opportunity during the school year for longer periods of activity that encourage pupils to understand the links that make knowledge a continuum rather than a series of isolated boxes.
The Department for Education and Skills acknowledges this problem and is keen to promote cross-curricular activity, using the historic environment as one of the most effective means of thinking across the curriculum.
There are two ways of understanding the term:
1. Using one site, such as an historic house, as the basis for a range of curriculum-based activities, such as:
 Maths: understanding architectural ratio and proportion, house plans and elevations, garden layouts, household economy, rents and wages
Science: the use of natural resources and the geology of building materials; the ecology of wetlands, meadows, ponds, lakes, woods and hedges
English: creative writing – poetry and prose
Geography: map use, understanding land use and agriculture, historical geography and relict landscape features, property boundaries, transport, settlement patterns
History: the social history of houses, the context for developments and wealth generation, hidden histories, links to national and international history
Art and design: the study of architecture, practical design, display versus utility, the history of changing taste, costume and changing fashions
Citizenship: the issues surrounding conservation; what we conserve and why; competing values; historic buildings versus modern, small-scale traditional housing versus tall and large
Expressive arts: bringing past times to life in drama, evoking places through music; houses as places of entertainment and drama, period music and drama
Media studies: the use of period houses, gardens and landscapes as locations for film; the structure and content of historical documentaries.
2. Devising an activity that integrates different skills and disciplines. Setting the class the task of designing a guide book to their town or one building requires planning, writing, research, design and IT skills and could include photography, map work, art and architectural history, geography and landscape studies and ecology, literacy and numeracy, as well as social skills, team work and problem solving.
The National Trust has undertaken pioneering work in this area (see p.95). The results suggest that the cross-curricular potential of the historic environment is enhanced if schools build a long-term relationship with a specific property. The long-term relationship allows teachers to integrate the property into different parts of the pupils’ work over the school year. It also creates bonds between different generations of pupils within the same school.
While cross-curricular work is increasing in primary schools, it is less often applied in secondary schools. For many schools, the concept of cross-curricular activity remains novel: many teachers still consider that the core curriculum is a straitjacket. Such schools would benefit from the dissemination of best practice in this area, perhaps via the Internet.
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