CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY CHALLENGES OF INTEGRATIVE TEACHING

This paper discusses the characteristics of integrative teaching as an innovative teaching model which creates opportunities for comprehensive development of the student's personality through the adoption of comprehensive knowledge and development of functional abilities of students. Based on the principle of functional connectivity of meaningful, cognitive, psychological, organizational and sociological aspects of teaching, integrative teaching offers many opportunities for good quality educational activities. However, the complexity that arises from the abovementioned traits of integrative teaching entails some difficulties in the process of its planning, programming and implementation. It is important for the teaching process to have a good knowledge of the essential characteristics and values of integrative teaching and a willingness to use successful didactic and methodical tools to overcome potential difficulties. In order to systematically emphasize the current challenges of integrative teaching, this paper approached this problem from the aspect of: theoretical definitions, didactic values, disadvantages, the implementation of integrative teaching in schools, and how integrative teaching helps students to acquire knowledge. Key terms: didactic values; implementation; knowledge; Learning outcomes; integrative teaching.


INTRODUCTION
Focused on the adoption of comprehensive knowledge and on the development of functional skills, integrative teaching involves an innovative teaching model which enables the achievement of meaningful links between similar aspects of different disciplines (ĐorĎević, 2007).Mutual integration of disciplines and understanding the problem from different angles contributes to the overall learning process which is inherent to human knowledge and which is more than the sum of individual parts.In this way, such knowledge is acquired in the classroom which represents the system where these new learnt facts affect the existing ones creating a new, more advanced, and more complete knowledge system.The author Drobnjak (2007) claims that integrative teaching process involves the achievement of principles where all elements of the teaching process are linked and create functional relationships which further on build a comprehensive and harmonious picture.As it can be seen, the key category of integrative teaching is the creation of connections and relationships, that is, linking educational content from different school subjects.Given the nature of links created, we can talk about the following kinds of interdisciplinary integrative links and relationships: direct interdisciplinary links, direct interdisciplinary research links, mentally mediated links and indirectly applied links (Vilotijević & Vilotijević, 2008, p. 144).The first type of link refers to the integration which occurs when knowledge acquired from one school subject is based on the contents from another course.The second types of links, direct interdisciplinary research link is established when the research of one general problem is based on a consideration of different disciplinary approaches.Mentally mediated links are created when using different courses could form the same skills and abilities that are necessary for the student to perform future professional activities.Links that indicate the possibility that the concepts acquired from one school subject could be applied in other subjects are called indirectly applied links.
Based on the different types of links that are established between school subjects or disciplines, different levels of connection can be achieved in integrative teaching.According to the author Spremić (2007), the first and the lowest level of integration refers to the formal level of integration.In other words, students attend classes from different subjects without the ability to connect the knowledge achieved from these.This level of integration is the most common one in reality.The second level is more advanced and it indicates the possibility that students can acquire knowledge of a specific topic from different aspects; however, the integration of learning material is left to them, without any systematic influence on the creation of the image about the topic that is being studied.The next level wants that teachers and students get involved in the integration process based on the model of the lectures conducted by a team of experts.Regardless of integration, teachers retain autonomy as representatives of their discipline.The essential level of integration refers to the tendency of teachers and students to contribute to the construction of a new whole that would consist of interrelated facts learnt from different disciplines.The newly established knowledge system consists of all the knowledge from all disciplines that were studied.Most authors agree that the three most common forms of integration are: full, partial and block (Vilotijević & Vilotijević, 2008, p. 147;Drobnjak, 2007).The first type refers to the merging of different teaching contents into a single learning course.Partial integration indicates a joint processing of various learning materials that are similar by using appropriate didactic material.Block integration builds programmed and autonomous blocks or segregates common parts within the program which will be interactively processed.The prerequisite for successful implementation of integrative teaching, especially block integration is the development of flexible timetables which would allow for an adequate time frame for the implementation of this type of learning.
The essence of integrative teaching, as we have seen, is the thematic approach which enables students to acquire knowledge from different courses that are linked to each other in a unique way and which form a complete picture of reality.In that way, students are given the opportunity to build concepts seeing them from different perspectives.These facts indicate that the integrative approach provides students with the opportunity to integrate the acquired knowledge, their experience and to actively and creatively think when learning.
Based on the study of literature we can conclude that numerous attempts to merge the contents of various subjects are nowadays called integrative teaching, which is why there is a huge number of different levels of integration that often have no substantive meaning or purpose.For this reason, it is necessary that teachers are made aware of the ways to link the contents of different subjects in order for the integration to be done at a substantial level.Also, it is necessary to use integrative teaching to teach the students from the earliest age to learn and to acquire comprehensive knowledge and to perceive the world based on integrity and unity.

DIDACTIC VALUE OF INTEGRATIVE TEACHING
Integrative teaching is one of the innovative models of teaching that helps achieve a developmental model of education with its didactic values.When analyzing the didactic value of integrative teaching, it should primarily be started from the actual objectives of the lessons, that is, it should be understood what the goal of the integration of learning material and content is.The objectives of the lessons may be set in many ways and operationalized through adequate learning tasks.Integrative approach primarily contributes to building a comprehensive picture of reality, the kind the students encounter in real life, thus thorough learning is achieved, and divergent way of thinking and originality are developed.
The findings that didactics has collected to the present day show that the use of certain teaching approaches helps students not only to better adopt the knowledge from the prescribed curriculum, but they also enjoy the lessons more, which is a very important component for future learning (Bretz & Thompsett, 1992, p. 941-951).For this reason, didactics advocates the use of different teaching approaches, that is, the selection of the appropriate approach to study a particular teaching unit.The knowledge acquired by the student is not divided into scientific disciplines, into the courses, but these should rather be fitted into an overall picture of the reality experienced by the student.Integrative learning approach helps create such a picture of reality.It provides an overview of a problem from various different angles.In this way, a comprehensive context for learning is formed that leads to thorough learning and long-term memory (Spremić, 2007).Supporters of the integrative approach advocate that the borders among the courses should not be the borders when organizing the teaching process (Drobnjak, 2007).Many authors advocate the integrative approach to education and claim that more sophisticated level of learning cannot be achieved if the school subjects are divided (Klein, 2005).Certainly, the teaching process should equally respect an analytical approach, that is, the division of subjects and acquisition of knowledge only within these as such, as well as the synthetic approach which involves the creation of new knowledge through the knowledge acquired from different subjects.But, when the teaching process consists only of divided courses, that whole process insufficiently contributes to the creation of a comprehensive picture of the world and with an irrational expenditure of time and energy, both of teachers and students.The fact that students are enabled to acquire knowledge looking at the problem from different angles contributes to a higher quality of knowledge which is suitable for transfer and it also encourages students to have an active attitude towards knowledge they have gained (Andrić & Spasojević, 2012).Traditionally organized teaching that advocates the division of courses certainly has its advantages.However, studies have shown that a different form of teaching process organization contributes to the achievement of the goals set, which are ignored in the traditional approach; however, these goals are nowadays said to be imperative.Integrative approach, as an innovative way of organizing teaching, is based on the belief that learning conditions which it promotes and creates, reduce or completely eliminate the traditional barriers to learning and allow students to use not only their cognitive potential, but to achieve comprehensive learning (Bretz & Thompsett, 1992).It is well-known that students more successfully master the material if it is linked to their experience and if it meets their needs and goals (Buljubašić -Kuzmanović, 2007).The knowledge that students acquire in integrative lessons is close to knowledge that they gained from experience when socially interacting.The overall picture that is created through understanding of acquired knowledge creates in students firm learning skills and durable knowledge.Such knowledge is valuable and suitable for transfer and practical use.Practical use of knowledge is one of the roles of acquired knowledge.The requirements that the modern world sets when entering the world of work are getting more and more complex and require comprehensive knowledge and their full understanding.Advocating such education where knowledge is acquired partially, without any insight into the whole, does not meet the requirements of modern society.What also speaks in favour of these facts is that the knowledge acquired from divided courses is not really usable in real life (Vilotijević & Vilotijević, 2008).Man develops from the integrity and mutual interaction of all elements.Educational system should be designed in this way in order for the knowledge acquired to be useful.The traditional way of organizing teaching which is based on the adoption of knowledge in its final form and within the course division environment, cannot prepare the students for the demands of modern society, which is transforming rapidly (ĐorĎević, 2007;Spremić, 2007).Didactic value of integrative teaching is reflected in the functionality of the knowledge acquired and the competencies that are only acquired by insisting on this way of looking at the learning material.
One of the goals achieved by the integrative approach is the divergent thinking.Divergent thinking tends towards finding a large number of original and diverse solutions.In order to reach this objective, it is essential that teachers encourage students to generate as many ideas as possible in class.Integrative approach allows the students to create original ideas through problem-solving situations, which must be supported by teachers.Integrative teaching requires active students.It is not in the least based on the mere transfer of knowledge, but entirely on problem solving, asking questions and an active attitude towards the learning material (ĐorĎević, 2007).The value of integrative method can be deduced from the fact that certain problems cannot be solved from the perspective of only one discipline (Spremić, 2007).It is essential that the teacher encourages students to look at things from different perspectives and to solve problems in different ways.It is important that students understand that one problem may look completely different if seen from different angles.Encouraging understanding implies that teachers in class support the students to observe the issues from multiple perspectives, to question the existing knowledge and to explore.Didactic value of the integrative learning approach is reflected in the rationality when using time and resources for the teaching topics.For the purpose of integrative approach, thematic planning is done.Thematic, integrative planning is interdisciplinary and comes down to thematization of curricula (Vilotijević, 2000).Thematization creates a framework for the integration of teaching material, that is, it links one teaching area to another, providing the possibility of looking at the problem from different angles.Correlation of certain courses helps save time and contributes to building natural, social and other areas to research and learn about.Use of the integrative approach helps optimize the teaching process.For the purpose of rationalization, the adequate selection of the methods and tools is done, in accordance with the didactic and logical structure of the chosen teaching material that is being studied thematically.
The abovementioned facts support the facts that subject division advocated by traditional school neglected the specific goals that are necessary for the modern society.Integrative teaching is an innovative type of learning which provides insight into the whole and the core of the studied material, and which develops cognitive skills necessary to respond to the demands of modern society.What is imposed as a necessary step in implementing integrative teaching is that students from a very young age get used to the integrative teaching and to evaluate the information obtained during such learning process, and on the other hand, to increase cooperation among teachers in order for integrative learning to be used in the subject, and not only in class teaching.

SHORTCOMINGS AND LIMITATIONS OF INTEGRATIVE TEACHING
Didactic values of integrative teaching cannot be disputed.However, it is important to emphasize that a prerequisite to achieve these values is not to accept exclusivity and one-sidedness in the teaching process.Therefore, the most common limitation of integrative teaching is often said to be the danger of one-sidedness with respect to advocating only one approach in the theory and practice of integrative teaching (Vilotijević & Vilotijević, 2008;Schaefer, 2005;Brophy & Alleman, 1991, pp. 66-67;Polić, 2006, pp. 61-72).In support of this view is the fact that science is divided into scientific disciplines in order to understand its logical structure, and based on this it was didactically developed and translated into the school subjects (Schaefer, 2005).The goal of the study of science in the aforementioned form is that students are able to observe logical structure of scientific disciplines.In this sense, Vilotijević (2006) believes that the complete process of differentiation is followed by the richer and more comprehensive integration.A complete differentiation of science should be followed by the process of integration in order for the students to be able to fully understand a scientific discipline and not only its logical structure.Although the end goal is the integrative approach, human knowledge has certain limitations that imply the necessity to combine analytical and synthetic knowledge in the pursuit of deep understanding.
Apart from this restriction, the following are some shortcomings of the integrative approach: 1) Insufficient skills and didactic and methodical competence of teachers to perform integrative teaching.Integrative approach to teaching sets requirements for the involvement and creativity of teachers to create a problem-solving scenario that will intellectually engage the students, and which will help students acquire deep and lasting knowledge (Jones, 2010).Teachers often do not have the pedagogical and didactic and methodological skills necessary for successful planning and execution of integrative teaching.2) The traditional specialization for certain disciplines and inadequate knowledge of other disciplines is a common difficulty for the execution of integrative teaching.Teachers often do not have broader knowledge besides the knowledge they need for the subject they teach.The integrative approach requires teachers who: have a broad general knowledge, good knowledge of related scientific and teaching disciplines, good knowledge of curriculum and school programs being used in the respective school.3) Difficulties in achieving coordination among teachers are often an obstacle to the execution of integrative teaching.Teachers are often not ready and do not have enough skills developed to teach a certain topic through teamwork.They are difficult to adapt to the newly created work method.In this sense, it is certainly easier for teachers to stick to the school subject division due to the noncompliance of the different subjects' programs, then, due to the need for modification of the timetable, and because of the preparations for the integrative approach which need some time (Bretz & Thompsett, 1992).The study of the previously mentioned authors has shown that administrative changes and enthusiasm of teachers led to better results in the implementation of the integrative approach.4) Inefficiency in terms of time as one shortcoming of integrative teaching stems from the complexity of its planning and implementation.It requires a lot time and work to adapt the curriculum, and to coordinate and integrate teaching material.Moreover, it is necessary to take the time to check the objective and subjective abilities of students, working conditions and opportunities and requirements of other colleagues.5) The realization that integrative teaching takes away the autonomy from the teacher is another difficulty when implementing integrative teaching.Teachers often have an incorrect perception of their autonomy and believe that this is the most important aspect of all.It is hard for the teachers to relinquish their primary role and importance and they are not ready to share it with other colleagues.The issue of teacher autonomy is often associated with the so-called professional egoism that has an adverse effect on teamwork and prevents the execution of a quality integrative teaching.

IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRATIVE TEACHING IN SCHOOLS
For many decades now, schools have been working based on the fixed, solid program that is not open to change.Any novelty to be introduced in the teaching process requires certain modifications, that is, the provision of adequate conditions for its implementation.Successful execution of the teaching process based on the integrative approach requires certain conditions, methods and strategies.
Given that most of the changes are introduced in the education system from top to bottom, the first and foremost step towards the implementation of integrative teaching is the existence of educational strategy that will support the integrative approach (ĐorĎević, 2007).The fact is that there is no such concept in our country, so the implementation is left to the teachers themselves.It is up to them to exercise integrative approach during lessons planning.Aspirations towards the integration of teaching material and implementation of this innovative model in the classroom depend primarily on the enthusiasm of subject teachers.However, class teachers are in a more favourable position during planning process because they organize the entire lesson for their class (Drobnjak, 2007).This allows class teachers not to have to strictly adhere to the timetable, but rather use the rotation of lessons to merge a few lessons and to implement integrative approach.They should serve as an example to subject teachers on how to execute integrative learning.
If there is no concept ready by the government, a good way to introduce the integrative approach is to have the support from the school principal for this type of innovative work (Spremić, 2007).The principals, together with expert associates, can promote this work method in teacher councils, thereby affecting the views of other teachers about the values of integrative teaching.Furthermore, they could use their didactic material to assist their colleagues in improving their educational work.The involvement of a large number of class and subject teachers provides more options for the modification of timetables to the pleasure of all (ĐorĎević, 2007).
The actual process of integrative teaching implementation consists of planning and execution.Considering that the integrative approach is based on the correlation of more topics or more courses, planning phase will be explained in detail.

INTEGRATIVE TEACHING PLANNING
Teaching, in the broad sense, involves thorough planning and programming of teaching material.Planning process is based on setting the didactic and methodical elements of the teaching process and providing the necessary conditions so that teaching could be executed in a systematic, organized and purposeful way, in accordance with the established rules and principles.The development of science and its division into separate scientific discipline allows them to be didactically shaped and presented in the classroom through individual courses.However, the accumulation of scientific knowledge leads to a large number of facts that will be more rationally overcome by integrative approach.For this reason, lesson planning should also include thematic, integrative approach.The initial step in planning an integrative approach is the insight into the School program, that is, the objective and material resources for the execution of integrative teaching should be examined.
Later on, planning process should analyze the Annual thematic plan.As it can be inferred from the name, teaching programs in our country are themed, that is, they are composed of different didactic and logical sections.This plan is tentative and contains general requirements to be followed in the teaching process (Vilotijević, 2000).It defines the topics to be covered during the school year, work dynamics, the required number of classes to cover each topic; it helps choose appropriate tools, methods and resources.This document is used by teachers for the thorough preparation of teachers of individual lesson plans that will be used.In our country, the most common lesson plans are monthly work plans that show more realistically what will be taught and how during a specific month.
The use of the integrative methodological approach in teaching requires a completely new form of lesson organization and planning.Different authors have different opinions on how to plan integrative lessons.According to Spasić-Stošić (2016) work plan for the preparation and execution of integrative teaching should follow these steps: selection of the appropriate topic, definition of the objectives to be met by treating that certain topic, determine the order of the goals and concepts to be covered and plan appropriate activities for every topic, select and prepare material and other resources necessary to cover selected topics, describe the activities, evaluate and draw a conclusion on the covered topic.The author Walsh (Walsh, Collins, A. & Hitrec, 2002, p. 146) states that the application of integrative planning includes the following steps: select a certain topic, initiate brainstorming about the project, have adequate knowledge of the topic, gather material necessary to cover the topic, plan the lesson.
As it can be concluded, although the authors identify different steps in planning an integrative lesson, they mostly agree on the actual procedures that should be followed when planning an integrative lesson.The difference that can be found in the opinions of authors mentioned with regards to the planning of integrative lessons is only related to the detailed execution of the lesson, that is, to emphasizing general indication related to the organization of the actual lesson.Moreover, both authors insists on the creative work of students who will use their experience to link the facts and teaching material and in that way create a large number of ideas that will then be examined and feedback on results of their work will be provided by teachers, as well as on the quality of brainstormed concepts.
As Vilotijević (2006) points out, using the integrative teaching approach requires planning such lessons which will drive the acquisition of systematic knowledge, experience, development of creative activities and the formation of attitudes and views.Based on the didactic structure of the topic which is the subject of study, the selection of appropriate methods, forms, tools and methods is required.Considering that the position of students is significantly altered compared to the traditional classes, methods that require students to be active are desired.That is why the prevailing methods are dialogues or conversation, as well as problemsolving and research methods.Based on these, the following types of tools are predominantly used in integrative lessons: problem-solving, researchbased and experiential learning, etc.
The abovementioned lesson organization indicates the abandonment of frontal teaching, because the tendency is to have group work or work in pairs, and then individual work.Therefore, the author Buljubašić-Kuzmanovic (Buljubašić -Kuzmanović, 2007) points out that in the beginning, in the brainstorming phase, the integrative lesson is focused on group work, while later on it tends to encourage independence and self-responsibility.Classes based on the integrative approach start from the knowledge that students already have from their experiences, and that knowledge should be used as a basis when creating integrative lessons plans.By using the principles of moving from the known facts to the unknown facts, creates a sense of pleasure in students because they feel competent at the beginning of the learning process which then creates the need in them for continuous learning.
Correlation between different disciplines and encouragement of numerous skills of students obliges teachers to take into account the different media and sources of learning when planning lessons.Learning can be enriched and made more interesting if proper teaching resources and tools are chosen based on the didactic and logical structure of the topic and work methods.In this sense, as the canter of various resources, school library has an important role in the integrative learning process (Spasić-Stošić, 2016).Auditory, visual and kinetic tools are used to direct students' attention.By activating these senses, specific knowledge can be acquired which will thenenrich the picture of objective reality.
Based on these facts, it can be clearly concluded that it is much easier to plan, organize and conduct traditional lessons.However, if we do not disregard the fact that the integrative approach to the teaching topics is of the utmost importance to accomplish planned educational goals, integrative teaching model will certainly not be missing from the lessons.

LINK BETWEEN INTEGRATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
Integrative learning is essentially a synthesis of the learning process through multiple experiences, integration of meanings and creation of new meanings and knowledge.The question that arises from the integrative learning is what its outcome is.The intention of every learning process, integrative process included, is expressed through the goals and outcomes.Learning outcomes are clear descriptions of what a student must know after a certain learning process.Objectives depend on the outcome definitions, and vice versa.The complex outcomes such as integrative learning are often difficult to define in words.When defining outcomes, the main problem is too general requirements that practically cannot be verified.They can be defined operationally, that is, it can be determined what to do when we strive to a certain outcome.Every task can be assigned to an outcome (Huber, Hutchings, Gale, Miller, & Breen, 2007).It is necessary to engage experts from every field to provide operational definitions of integrative learning process outcomes.In this paper, the learning outcomes from the integrative approach will be considered based on the didactic value of integrative teaching.The outcomes, that is, the results that are achieved with integrative teaching are primarily reflected in the comprehensive view of the problem from multiple perspectives and in the practical use of knowledge.
The research by the author Himbeault -Taylor (Himbeault -Taylor, 2011) suggests that the essential learning outcomes are based on the organized processes of integrative learning.In other words, as already stated in the previous parts of this paper, integrative teaching is based on the experience and prior knowledge of students that contributes to students' satisfaction and triggers continuous learning.In real life, in the classroom, this is achieved by stating the intended learning outcomes, creating intentional structured learning opportunities in order to meet the goals and achieve active thinking, and to link the acquired knowledge with experience.Integrative teaching offers the possibility to interweave different outcomes such as problem solving or critical thinking, as well as to establish links and relationships between some disciplines (Huber & Hutchings, 2004).
In-depth learning is seen as one of the didactic values that is achieved through the execution of integrative teaching.Several studies indicate that in complex areas, integrative-based, in-depth learning has a positive effect on learning outcomes, and as a result, these areas have altered teaching practice, increased use of knowledge and therefore improved results (Laird, Shoup, Kuh, & Schwarz, 2008).If the learning process includes cognitive, affective and experiential tools, it is more likely that material taught will become truly integrated (Himbeault -Taylor, 2011).This author states that improvements of learning outcomes have an important role in promoting integrative learning.If the integrative approach proves to be better in meeting the objectives and outcomes of the educational process than the traditional approach, teachers and students themselves will be more motivated to implement integrative teaching.
It can be concluded that the values of integrative teaching in terms of learning outcomes can be checked through the practical test of certain tasks, where each task would correspond a particular outcome.However, setting up a large number of complex outcomes requires the teacher to adapt the lessons, methods and tools to those outcomes.Integrative learning can respond to the requirements that the educational process sets in terms of the accomplishment of outcomes because it synthesizes cognitive, emotional, social and active component in students.

CONCLUSION
The presumption of the efficiency of modern teaching is to base it on the modern models of teaching and the developmental education model.One of the modern teaching models that ensures the quality and effectiveness of teaching is the integrative teaching.It assumes there is an understanding of different aspects of one problem, from different angles, and as such integrative teaching includes: active learning, long-term memorizing and linking knowledge in a meaningful whole.Rejecting the traditional division of school subjects, integrative teaching includes a thematic approach and problem-based learning in the classroom.In that way, students acquire comprehensive knowledge and develop functional skills which are the basis for the full development of personality.With adequate planning and execution of integrative teaching, in-depth of knowledge is acquired, forgetting of facts is prevented, active attitude is developed as well as the creative potential of students, and a comprehensive view of the world is formed.As we had already seen in this paper, the didactic value of integrative learning is large because those values are often not seen in other teaching models.What is important to emphasize is the fact that the effectiveness of integrative teaching depends on a good knowledge of its main obstacles, that is, the difficulties that may arise, which is why it is necessary to train the teachers to be able to use adequate didactic and methodological tools to successfully overcome these difficulties.Contemporary challenges of integrative teaching, explained in this paper through their basic features, didactic values, shortcomings, implementation in the classroom and links with the outcomes of teaching are the basis on which teachers can build the integrative teaching.Већина аутора је сагласна да су најчешћа три облика интеграције: потпуни, делимични и блоковски (Вилотијевић & Вилотијевић, 2008, стр. 147; Дробњак, 2007).Први облик се односи на спајање различитих наставних садржаја у јединствени курс учења.Делимична интеграција указује на заједничку обраду оних саржаја који су сродни коришћењем адекватног дидактичког материјала.Блоковском интеграцијом се врши изградња програмираних аутономних блокова или издвајањем заједничких делова у оквиру програма који ће бити интегративно обрађени.Претпоставка успешног остваривања интегративне наставе, посебно блоковске интеграције јесте израда еластичног распореда часова којим би се омогућио најпре адекватан временски оквир за реализацију ове наставе.