Focus on the micro but don't forget the macro

Every teacher has one major challenge that accompanies their practice every day; be a specialist in the area of knowledge they teach. This poses a double challenge: focusing on the micro without forgetting the macro. 

When we teach a subject we have to understand the big picture, we have to recognize that our nanobyte of knowledge is intertwined with many other areas of knowledge that are usually presented separately for the sake of organization. An interdisciplinary approach to knowledge is not a grand invention of formal education, it is the essence of life as we know it and experience it.

Focusing on specific areas of knowledge is an advance and a setback at the same time: anything that is apparently not directly connected to what we teach is summarily ignored or discarded. 

There is not much you can do with just a piece of the puzzle.