Integrative Learning: Setting the Stage for a Pedagogy of the Contemporary

Underlying the significant social and technical changes of our increasingly global society is a profound transformation in the very nature of learning. Twenty-first-century learners view themselves as dynamic agents in multimedia and global environments. These learners create complex social networks and operate comfortably in them. They learn experientially in real and virtual worlds alike. They express dieir views and make dieir lives public with ease. Many of diese learners show greater interest in the global environment and human rights than dieir immediate predecessors. As the recent elections suggest, many are increasingly willing to organize around public matters online and from the grassroots up. New learning presents important challenges as well. As the world "flattens," global proximity can yield discomfort and sharp retreat to local values. Virtual spaces are misused, information misinterpreted, virtual identities misconstrued, social networks misguided. This generation experiences pressure to perform, to succeed, to move at a fast and efficient pace, with little time for self-reflection or developing deep understanding of the changing world in which we live. Contemporary societies' demands on learners invite a paradigmatic shift in our characterization of learning and teaching for the future. Taking the lead in the early 1990s, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development advanced a series of competencies that learners must develop to have successful lives and contribute to a wellfunctioning society. Competencies range from interacting in socially heterogeneous groups, to acting autonomously in large contexts, and using tools and knowledge interactively and well. The Association of American Colleges and Universities too has recognized the need for greater expectations for a growing student population. Learners of the present and the future must be agents in dieir own learning, critical inquirers, able to collaborate, able to apply higher order thinking skills to real-life problems, to manage cultural complexity and to make meaningful connections across disciplines. What role does integrative learning play in our efforts to prepare young people for today's and tomorrow's societies? Seeking to overcome the last century's knowledge fragmentation to provide an education that is relevant to contemporary life, higher education and funding institutions have increased dieir support of interdisciplinary initiatives on campuses. …