ABSTRACT
Curriculum integration is an innovation that has been widely popular over the last three decades. While in the current era of linear, test-aligned curriculum the approach has fallen out of popular use, it is deeply rooted in the practice of many teachers and schools. One idea behind integration is that, by combining school subjects around themes or projects, a certain economy is achieved because much of the repetitious material that occurs from subject to subject is eliminated. Curriculum integration is far more than a mere blending of separate subjects. It represents a philosophy of student-centered, often socially relevant learning. The primary theoretical basis of curriculum integration is found in progressive educational philosophy. The progressive movement, which included such luminaries as John Dewey, William Kilpatrick, George Counts, and Harold Rugg, reached its zenith earlier in the last century. It is a child-centered approach to learning that places great emphasis on creativity, activities, "naturalistic" learning, real-world outcomes, and, above all, experience.
