“The reasons for providing student-directed learning through CI are many and proved opportunities for students to…be exposed to social equity issues that are on young adolescents’ minds…” (Brown, 2011, pg. 195)

Education does not exist in a bubble outside of what is happening socially, politically and culturally. Standardized content is limited in that it does not move, change or react to what learners observe constantly in their daily life. Content Integration seems so vital to me, not only to keep learners engaged, but to address challenging, disturbing or puzzling things that happen in the world. To not address things like #metoo, the 2016 election, climate change, Parkland or Colin Kaepernick kneeling is not only a hindrance to young developing minds but an insult to their intelligence. Curriculum and content must exist as fluid, and educators must be creative and adaptable.

For example, last year I was teaching dance to high school students and they literally could not concentrate right after the Parkland shooting or #metoo, because they wanted to talk about it, to process and to analyze it. Whatever I was trying to get across that day did not matter in the slightest because they knew and could feel in the world around them that bigger things were happening, things that actually affect them on a daily basis.

Content Integration can begin earlier than middle school too, however maybe in a different way. I do not teach elementary age students, but I nanny for two as my day job. Recently, I overheard the 4th grader and her friends talking about Donald Trump and immigration, they were mostly mimicking statements I’m sure they overheard their parents saying, but what was most clear was that they knew something about it was important.

In these situations the most obvious question being asked is why? Why are people devastated by the election? Why do school shootings keep happening? Why do we keep people out of our country? While, we may not have the answers to why, and may not ever, we can engage our students in deep thinking about the systems at work that allow for certain events to happen or to not happen. We must integrate content or we are seriously limiting our students.