Cross-Curricular Planning

Thinking outside of our single subject boundary can help us create innovative schemes of work that can help provide our students with a fuller understanding of the topics they are studying.

William Blake was a poet, artist, spiritual visionary and social reformer. To study his work only from the perspective of English literature is to miss out on appreciating what makes his work so important.

The link below presents a 9 week scheme of work written from the point of view of an English teacher delivering Blake as set poet for A2 English Literature. However, it goes beyond the single subject to link with

ART

GRAPHIC DESIGN

HISTORY

PHILOSOPHY

Each discipline contributes to the students’ appreciation and understanding. For example, the opportunity to re-consider the act of reading “alternating between reading words and reading images” involves a crossing of traditional subject boundaries. Students of Blake need to hone their visual literacy as well. A study of some basic artistic concepts is helpful in providing a ‘grammar’ (Gunther R. Kress, 2006) including notions of balance, emphasis, scale and light. In this way, a student can articulate more clearly their observations of Blake’s images and form their own interpretations.

SOW Cross Curric