What is a Learning Situation?
What better way to end the term than by working on a Learning Situation with your students?
Learning Situations use real-life contexts to help students put their knowledge and skills into practise. They put learners at the centre of their own learning as they continue their journey with English.
Learning Situations: simple and challenging tasks
A learning situation does not have to be complicated. It can consist of simple tasks, such as helping to make a shopping list, or something more complex, such as understanding a building plan. It can test students’ artistic, scientific or even crime-solving skills.
Introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals
Another important aspect of Learning Situations is their ability to introduce students to the Sustainable Development Goals in an accessible and creative way.
For example, students can reflect on issues related to inclusion and reducing inequalities, think about sustainability and responsible consumption, or understand the importance of eating breakfast.
Creativity and combination of topics in Learning Situations
Speaking of creativity, Learning Situations find fun ways to combine topics from textbook units that would not normally be related to each other. Where else could you find astronauts and household appliances in the same place?
Social-emotional learning in learning situations
Learning Situations also play an important role in social-emotional learning. As students respond to the tasks and challenges presented to them, they discover new skills, find new ways of learning, and get to know themselves better. Working in teams also helps them understand their own emotions and those of their peers, and develop strategies for managing them.
Practical example: A new school timetable (Sustainable Development Goal 4)
Let’s look at an example of a Learning Situation related to Sustainable Development Goal 4, Quality Education.
The Learning Situation entitled A New School Timetable begins with a fun video in the Let’s go! section, in which the headmistress, Miss Gardner, sets the students a challenge. They are asked to choose three subjects from the school timetable and replace them with three new ones.
The activities in the Follow the Steps! section of the student worksheet guide the thinking process, inviting reflection on what we learn at school and how it can be useful in real life. Students can then choose between two options in the You’re doing great!section: designing a new school timetable or creating a digital presentation.
Finally, in the Time to review! section, students are asked to reflect on their performance during the task by completing a simple self-assessment chart.
Free download
This Learning Situation is an excellent way for students to reflect on what they are learning, but also on the importance of receiving a quality education and the transformative power it has, not only in their lives, but in the lives of others. That’s why we’re offering it as a FREE DOWNLOAD!
About the author
Stephanie Gay is an author and editor of educational materials who believes that teaching and learning should be engaging, creative, and fun experiences. She specialises in resources related to STEAM, social-emotional learning, mediation, inclusion, and the Sustainable Development Goals. Although she enjoys writing all kinds of materials, she especially loves the challenge of finding connections between seemingly unrelated topics and creating innovative ways to work with them.