ABSTRACT
Cross-curricular work, once popular in primary schools during the 1960s and 1970s, is back in fashion at least among many educationalists and some policy-makers. Research on the cross-curricular approach presents mixed findings. Research in the late 1980s and early 1990s argued that the outcomes of an integrated model were less effective teaching although this has been contested. Kerry. T suggests that integration brings deeper learning than separate subject teaching. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the humanities are organised as areas of learning and experience in the primary school rather than as stand-alone subjects, as is the case in England. More research suggests that many outstanding English primary schools and international school systems do not structure learning around traditional subject disciplines. The highest-performing school systems, as in Korea, Canada and Singapore, adopt 'a rigorous thematic approach, while continuing to value and develop strong teacher subject knowledge'.
