By Anshu Sharma
The world our students are growing into is changing faster than the way we have traditionally taught them.
Artificial intelligence can generate answers, analyse patterns, and solve structured problems in seconds. At the same time, global challenges, from climate change to social inequality, are becoming more complex and interconnected.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 highlights that the most important skills for the future, analytical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and judgement are not tied to any one subject. They emerge when individuals can move across disciplines and apply knowledge in new contexts. This raises an important question: Are we preparing students for subjects or for the world they will actually face?
From Knowing to Navigating
The world students will enter is interconnected; learning cannot remain separated into subjects. Students do need disciplinary knowledge, but they also need to know how to connect it, question it, and use it in unfamiliar situations. This shift sits at the heart of the IB philosophy. In the IB framework, subjects are not removed. They become lenses through which students understand and respond to the world.
Interdisciplinary learning is about helping students think in more connected ways. What this enables is a cognitive shift. Students move from recalling information to applying it with intent. They begin to recognise that one discipline may frame a problem, but another may help solve it. They learn to hold multiple perspectives at once, to test ideas against context, and to make decisions when there is no single correct path. Instead of asking only, “What do I know?” they begin asking, “What does this situation require, and which knowledge matters here?”
To better understand what interdisciplinary learning really means Here is a simple example, think of it like food (as articulated by Educator Alison Yang):
A multidisciplinary approach is like a salad, different ingredients placed together, but still separate. An interdisciplinary approach is more like a stew, where ingredients come together, influence each other, and create something richer, while still retaining their identity. And at the far end, a transdisciplinary approach is like a cake, where the original ingredients are no longer distinguishable.
In the learning framework, interdisciplinary learning is the “stew,” where concepts from different subjects come together, influence each other, and help students build a deeper, more connected understanding of the situation.
What This Looks Like in Practice
In one classroom, a group of students is trying to build a floating garden. It keeps collapsing.
They begin with science, testing which materials float. But quickly, they realise that floating is not the real problem, the structure cannot hold weight.
So they shift.
They turn to design, experimenting with how to arrange materials, how to secure joints, and how to strengthen their structure. Some begin sketching before building again.
Then comes mathematics. Students start thinking about balance, distribution of weight, and stability. They compare versions, notice patterns, and refine their ideas.
At one point, a student says, “It floats but it doesn’t hold.”
As one Grade 6 student reflected later,
“At first, we thought it was just a science problem. Then we realised it was also about design and balance. We had to bring everything together.”
The question changes.
From “Will this float?”
to “What will actually work and why?”
Here, students identify a problem through one lens and reframe it through several others, learning how to redefine the problem itself.
In another classroom, students are analysing a global happiness index. They begin with mathematics, comparing data and identifying patterns. But the numbers raise questions. Why do some countries report higher happiness despite economic challenges?
Students move into the subject group of Individuals and Societies, exploring culture, community, and lived realities. The data begins to feel incomplete, accurate, but not enough.
They then connect this to Language and Literature by reading Wonder, a novel by R.J. Palacio, that explores empathy, identity, and relationships through the story of a young boy navigating school life.
A student reflects,
“The data tells us what is happening. The story helps us understand why.”
Again, the learning shifts.
From “What does the data show?”
to “What does happiness really mean and whose definition matters?”
Here, students move beyond surface-level data to explore the “why” behind global trends. They are discovering that while data may be statistically accurate, it remains incomplete without the context of human culture and lived experience.
In another interdisciplinary experience, drawing on ideas from Educator Lenny Dutton, students explored human migration.
They rotated through short masterclasses across subjects:
In mathematics, they solved cryptic problems in a digital escape room tracing migration journeys.
In language, they explored words that cannot be translated across cultures.
In theatre, they used movement to represent journeys and displacement.
In visual arts, they created book art to express identity and belonging.
In design, they built board games simulating migration decisions.
On the second day, students chose one discipline to go deeper. The experience culminated in a “Museum of Human Migration,” where their work came alive through artefacts, performances, and storytelling.
Here, learning was not divided into subjects, it was experienced as a connected human story.
By exploring migration through diverse lenses from mathematical logic to theatrical movement, students transcend traditional subject silos to see knowledge as a connected human story. This shift moves them from disciplinary competency (learning how to calculate or create) to conceptual mastery (using those skills to explore identity and displacement)
Why This Matters Now
These experiences are not about covering more content. They are about changing how students think. This is why interdisciplinary learning matters. It reflects a world-centred view of education, one that prepares students to develop as learners and engage with the world as it is: complex, uncertain, and sometimes uncomfortable.
The International Baccalaureate recognises this shift. Subjects are not removed, they become lenses through which students understand and respond to the world. This aligns with the work of Prof. Gert Biesta, who speaks about world-centred education.
In simple terms, this means education is not only about developing the learner, but about preparing them to engage with the world as it is, complex, uncertain, and sometimes uncomfortable.
This is where IB students are distinctly prepared. Not because they learn more content, but because they learn how to navigate without clear templates. They are used to open-ended questions, drawing from multiple disciplines, and shaping their own approach when certainty is absent. What this builds is not just readiness for university, but readiness for a world where problems are ambiguous and decisions require judgement. Whether in policy, business, design, or technology, the ability to connect ideas and act with intent is no longer optional. Students begin to see relationships where others see separation. They question before they conclude. They apply knowledge where it is not immediately obvious.
The edges between subjects are not boundaries to cross. They are the spaces where understanding is built. In a world shaped by artificial intelligence and constant change, the ability to think across disciplines is the foundation of meaningful learning.
The author Anshu Sharma is the Vice Principal of International Curriculum at Shiv Nadar School, Noida.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETEDUCATION does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETEDUCATION will not be responsible for any damage caused to any person or organisation directly or indirectly.
