Interdisciplinary team teaching: importance, experience, perspectives

Chabukiani Oksana Alekseevna ORCID: 0000-0003-0035-4469 Doctor of Law Professor; Department of Criminal Procedure; St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Professor; Department of Criminal Procedure; St. Petersburg Academy of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation 191015, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Pilyutov ave., 1, room 733 oksana_kartohina@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Parnyuk Nataliya Vital'evna PhD in Psychology Head of the Department; Department of Foreign Languages; Saint Petersburg University of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia 198206, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Pilyutova Pilot str., 1, office 311 nparnyuk@mail.ru

Introduction. The issues of improving educational activities in the higher education system force the pedagogical community to continuously develop and search for effective methods and forms of education that can contribute to the development and motivation of students not only to high-quality preparation for classes, but also to create the right conditions for the formation of a personality ready to perform professional tasks.

Back at the end of the last century, researchers wrote about the need to "put an end" to pedagogical isolation ^[1], emphasizing that the teamwork of teachers makes it possible to put an end to pedagogical loneliness ^{[2, p. 6]}. Over the past decades, the authors of scientific articles related to the study of the most rational forms and methods of teaching have stated that the simultaneous presence of at least two teachers in the classroom is regarded as a promising and one of the highest forms of cooperation that deserves special attention ^[3]. In this context, the concept of collaborative teaching is an alternative to the traditional teaching method and consists in rejecting the principle of the teacher's absolute sovereignty, including him in a teaching team consisting of several teachers with equal responsibilities and participation in the educational process.

The importance and necessity of such practice is confirmed by many studies of both domestic ^{[4; 5]} and foreign ^{[6; 7; 8]} authors, who emphasize that the exchange of knowledge and experience within the framework of cooperation can bring unprecedented benefits, since the boundaries defining knowledge are constantly expanding, and the possibility of critical analysis is significantly increasing.

The research results show that joint teaching requires teachers to have a common understanding of the goal, share common views and principles, show mutual respect and leadership qualities, complete tasks in a timely and quick manner and apply effective communication skills, and be willing to compromise, including when choosing forms and methods of working in the classroom with students. Russian and foreign researchers have come to similar conclusions and noted in their works that team teaching largely depends on a high degree of willingness to work together, involving open communication and interaction, mutual respect and compromise. ^{[9; 10; 11; 5]}.

The authors of this article have set themselves the goal of determining the importance of team interdisciplinary study of academic disciplines to stimulate cognitive activity of students, to identify models of such teaching through the prism of existing experience and research results of both domestic and foreign scientists.

The object is the social relations that arise in the course of educational activities between the teaching staff and students in the framework of team training.

The subject of the research is the activity of the teaching staff in the selection of a team interdisciplinary study of individual topics of disciplines, allowing to increase the motivation of students to the learning process and thereby to interest in in-depth self-training, influencing the formation of professional competencies.

When training law enforcement officers, it is important for a teacher not only to take a qualitative approach to the preparation of classes, but also to demonstrate team communication skills, assignment of responsibilities, sequencing tasks, identify interdisciplinary connections of the topic and show its importance for the formation of practical skills necessary in the performance of official duties. Therefore, the main task becomes the methodological skills of teachers, the search for interesting interdisciplinary connections that allow students to demonstrate the possibilities of joint achievement of tasks using the personal example of teachers in the classroom. With such training, the question inevitably arises of how to motivate students and arouse interest in acquiring high-quality knowledge. One of the ways to increase the level of interest is to choose interesting and creative approaches and methods that influence the development of self-esteem and awareness of the importance of the future profession, methods necessary for continuous learning ^[12] and self-development.

The following teachers were involved in the study of various models of teamwork and the organization of research activities: A.V. Apanovich, L.E. Babushkina, E.Y. Bogatskaya, T.B. Volobuyeva, V.A. Gerasimova, E.K. Gitman, E.V. Grib, E.N. Kolomoyev, V.V. Latysheva, L.V. Lelep, E.A. Melekhina, O.S. Prikazchikova, Z.G. Ryazanova, N.E. Strogova, N.M. Fedorova, N.I. Churkina, S.P. Stumpf and others.

One of the effective models is interdisciplinary teamwork. In educational institutions of higher education for law enforcement officers, as a rule, it is used during exercises and is aimed at developing the professional competencies of future employees.

The main part. The lack of a unified conceptual framework makes it difficult for teachers of several academic disciplines to determine the most rational and effective ways of teaching. Thus, some authors define team teaching through teaching methods, learning strategies, while others focus on various components of learning or teaching, including participants in the process ^[13]; they proceed from the specifics of the teaching method, which determines the joint work of two teachers, from planning specific actions to evaluating students' knowledge ^{[14; 15]}.

The importance of interdisciplinary learning has also been confirmed at the state level. Thus, the development of pedagogical master's degrees that provide training for teachers with an interdisciplinary competence profile is one of the tasks of education in the near future, according to the Concept of Teacher Training for the education system for the period up to 2030, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated June 24, 2022 No. 1688—R.

Without going into a discussion about the importance of a specific criterion underlying the classification, we note that by interdisciplinary team learning we mean one of the models of teamwork, which is a purposeful process of organizing, stimulating and motivating active educational and cognitive activity of a student through the joint (project) work of teachers of several academic disciplines aimed at the formation of professional skills. competencies and proving (evaluating) the importance or degree of mastery of the skills of a future profession. We agree with N.F. Geizhan's opinion that it is the motivational component that determines a student's ability to set and successfully solve educational tasks ^{[16, p. 84]}.

To prove our position, we will present the models of teamwork available in the scientific literature. We agree with the authors who state the possibility of identifying models of team learning based on the organization method.: 1) partnership (dual presentation of the material, in which one teacher tracks the conceptual lines, the second — the practical elaboration of details); 2) dialogical (the material is presented during the dialogue from different points of view); 3) facilitating (one provides theoretical material, the second – helps to work it out in exercises); 4) monitoring (one teaches the second one monitors the perception, understanding and assimilation of educational material, the emotional background and identifies emerging problems of perception of the topic); 5) parallel teaching (when dividing a group or platoon into subgroups, each of which employs one of the teachers); 6) differentiated (the division of a group or platoon occurs depending on one or more parameters that allow taking into account the specifics and speed of mastering the educational material); 7) alternative (when divided into mini-groups, training is carried out by providing information with different forms of education). ^{[4, pp. 50,51; 17, pp. 50-51]}.

However, these models are typical for teaching mainly within the framework of a single academic discipline (which is traditional in terms of understanding teamwork in teaching ^[18] and is provided for within the framework of the methodological association of teachers ^{[19, p. 133]}) and does not fully correspond with an interdisciplinary approach that tends to introduce project activities in teaching. To date, the vast majority of classes in the subgroup are provided mainly for learning foreign languages ^{[20, p. 74]}. But it is precisely this approach that allows you to develop critical thinking within the framework of your chosen specialization.

The importance of expanding the curriculum by teaching together with several teachers from different academic disciplines is indisputable. The significance of such an activity is that it allows you to explore a single topic, event, or fact through the interrelation of disciplines (including those studied in different semesters of study), while several teachers of different specializations are in the audience at the same time. This increases the interest of students, allows them to determine their practice orientation and importance for their future chosen profession, and determines their one-pointedness in understanding problems, taking into account several branches of knowledge at once.

Taking into account the variety of types of occupations, we consider it advisable to supplement such a list of models, dividing them according to various qualifications:

1) by type of academic disciplines:

1.1) teamwork within the framework of one academic discipline;

1.2) teamwork within the academic disciplines of the same department;

1.3) interdepartmental teamwork;

2) by training period:

2.1) within the framework of the academic discipline being read;

2.2) within the framework of interdepartmental exercises;

2.3) within the framework of a project activity for the study of a single fact, event or topic;

3) in terms of the scope of the functions performed:

3.1) single-functional (all teachers have one function) (with this structure, responsibilities are typically distributed either in parallel, differentiated, alternatively, etc., which ensures better teaching within the same academic discipline, including dividing students into subgroups);

3.2) multifunctional (typical in project activities, where each teacher performs his own function).

The need for such an extensive definition of models is dictated by the variety of types and forms of classes conducted. Thus, the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is constantly in search of interesting and effective forms of teaching, models of team learning that meet the existing demands of our time, require the use of innovative technologies and allow us to form a personality ready to perform direct official tasks.

The problems of complex implementation of an interdisciplinary approach at both the general and higher education levels are the same: heavy workload, lack of resources or number of teachers, narrow training within a single discipline, the need for large labor costs in preparation for interdisciplinary classes, the complexity of interpersonal communication and determining the workload in such teaching. At the same time, such an approach to teaching can increase the percentage of students' involvement in the educational process, since understanding the relationship between the subjects studied is a guarantee of interest and quality training, which can definitely increase the level of academic achievement ^{[21, p. 45]}. Therefore, it is important to strive to constantly improve and improve your professional level. One of the forms of improving joint activities is corporate training ^{[22, p. 382]}, including the introduction of a project-based learning method ^{[23, p. 75]}.

Here are two examples of interdisciplinary classes from the personal experience of the authors. The first is the Nuremberg Trials business game. The lesson is aimed at patriotic education, increasing interest in studying the problems of the academic disciplines "Foreign language", "History of State and Law", "Criminal Procedure law (criminal procedure)" through the prism of history and national peculiarities, developing the student's own opinion based on the study of archival documents and analysis of available facts. This kind of interdisciplinary study is important. Almost 80 years after the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the current situation once again proves the importance of excluding the ideas of Nazism and militarism. The current global trend of underestimating the role of the Soviet Union in achieving the results of World War II, and the rewriting of history creates the danger of a distorted and erroneous understanding of the results of the state policy of the Russian Federation ^[24]. The elimination of such errors largely depends on the personality of the teacher, his ability to convey to students the importance and significance of forming their own opinion solely after researching scientific, journalistic and archival sources, verifying the truth of the facts provided by individual sources. The stability of the position depends on the teacher and the students' understanding that it is the falsification of history that occupies a special place among the tools of manipulating the consciousness of modern society ^{[25, pp. 80-81]}. The positive result of the lesson can be enhanced by demanding a comprehensive analysis of the historical fact and discussing the results of such an analysis in the presence of teachers from several departments at once. The preparation for such a lesson took the authors about six months of active work by teachers of three departments (theory and history of state and law, foreign languages, criminal procedure) and students. Cohesion was ensured not only by the interest in high-quality classes, but also by the mutual respect of teachers for each other as specialists in a particular field and personality, the desire for cooperation and coordination. Each task within the framework of one discipline was coordinated in terms of the unity of understanding and choice of approach with others, the forms of conducting a specific part were discussed, the involvement of additional other employees, or the need to involve other persons (private reenactors, archivists, representatives of museums, including for organizing excursions). The existing contradictions were resolved openly, disagreements on the scope of the required specific task were discussed collectively. As a result, a methodological recommendation was developed for students according to the requirements of the project, which won a prize in the competition for the best methodological development at the Siberian Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in 2024. Each teacher performed his function within the framework of his academic discipline, which allowed us to say that the above list of teaching models fully corresponds to those types of classes where teachers of the same specialization are in the classroom, while conducting one academic discipline, but not sufficient for interdepartmental business games. It was this experience that allowed us to identify models in which each teacher performs his function aimed at achieving a single task, and also allows us to find more interesting forms of classes within the framework of the project activities of an educational organization.

The students who agreed to participate in the work on this project clearly noted the usefulness in increasing motivation for the educational process, interest and full immersion in one of the most significant historical criminal trials, which became possible precisely due to the comprehensive coverage of archival documents within the framework of three disciplines.

The second positive example of teamwork of the faculty of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is the organization and conduct of the quest "Secrets of the investigation" in the framework of the IV St. Petersburg International Youth Scientific Forum "Northern Palmyra: Territory of Possibilities" (May 29-30, 2024). The quest involved complex, voluminous teamwork within all departments involved in the implementation of the main professional educational program 05/4/01 —The legal provision of national security, which made it possible to prepare, organize and carry out actions of law enforcement agencies to detect, suppress, and fix signs of a crime involving a foreign citizen at the initial stage of the investigation.

The high assessment of the students who participated from various educational organizations allows us to conclude that the most effective form of interdepartmental teamwork with signs of competition is the most effective in stimulating the cognitive activity of students. We believe that the possibility of implementing such project activities may be not only within the framework of interdepartmental educational projects, but also projects between several educational organizations. This will increase the involvement of students and stimulate the quality of training, as it will further increase the desire to prove the superiority of not only their team, but also the educational organization they represent. I will be especially interested in such classes when studying under the dual degree program.

The prospects for the development of team-based forms of learning can be project work that allows to increase motivation for learning, increase interest in studying issues through an interdisciplinary analysis of existing issues in various fields or intersectoral institutions. Especially such projects should be aimed at patriotic education and the exclusion of distortion of historical facts, the suppression of the transformation of consciousness ^{[26; 27; 28]}, undermining the security of the state ^{[29; 30; 31]}. It should be remembered that the duty of a high school teacher is to carry out his activities with a high degree of responsibility, develop students' cognitive activity, join forces in confrontation, identify distorted information about the great exploits of the Fatherland, constantly carry out political and educational work and show personal example of intolerance to revealed false facts; the teacher must demonstrate ways to achieve compromise and resolution conflicts when completing official tasks. This is especially important in the education and training of future law enforcement officers.

The conclusions of the conducted research are the following provisions:

1) interdisciplinary team learning is understood as one of the models of team teaching, which consists in a purposeful process of organizing, stimulating and motivating active educational and cognitive activity of a student through the joint (project) work of teachers of several academic disciplines aimed at the formation of professional competencies and proving (evaluating) the importance or degree of mastering the skills of a future profession.;

2) based on the results of two interdisciplinary projects by the authors, we see the need to add the following in addition to the above-mentioned traditional models of team learning: 2.1) functional, in which teachers of various departments or academic disciplines perform a specific function, a clearly defined role and responsibilities, aimed collectively at solving a specific task. Such models are typical for conducting exercises at the final stage of training; 2.2) project-based, in which interdisciplinary teams are created to carry out specific projects with specific deadlines and goals. This form is typical for involving students in extracurricular activities, as part of the work of departmental clubs, or in preparation for competitive events. The new highlighted models allowed the authors to talk about the existence of several bases for classifying the teamwork of teachers.

3) we propose the following grounds for classifying the teamwork of teachers: 1) according to the type of academic disciplines: 1.1) teamwork within the framework of one academic discipline; 1.2) teamwork within the framework of academic disciplines of one department; 1.3) interdepartmental teamwork; 2) according to the period of study: 2.1) within the framework of the academic discipline being read; 2.2) within the framework of interdepartmental exercises; 2.3) within the framework of the project activities for the study of a single fact, event or topic; 3) in terms of the scope of functions performed: 3.1) single-functional (all teachers have one function) (this structure is characterized by the distribution of responsibilities either in parallel, differentiated, alternative, etc., which ensures better teaching within the framework of one academic discipline, including dividing students 3.2) multifunctional (typical in project activities, where each teacher performs his own function).

4) the most effective in stimulating the cognitive process of students are project interdisciplinary team forms conducted within the framework of interdepartmental communication, including various educational organizations.