A pilot project by an FE college to integrate sustainability planning and consideration into all aspects of college practice, rather than teaching it as an additional topic, using ESOL as a model/testbed.
The aim of the project was to embed accelerated learning techniques into the college's English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision in order to demonstrate the sustainable attributes of this approach. The project aimed to improve the college's ESOL grade from good to outstanding, better engage learners in their lessons, and demonstrate that excellent teaching and sustainable teaching are one and the same thing.
Tutors across multiple sites of the college applied accelerated learning techniques in their ESOL teaching, and attendance and engagement increased by 4%, with tutor feedback stating that students were completing work to a higher standard than would previously have been expected of them. The design of the teaching model aims to link real-world situations to lesson content, which the researchers speculate supports gaining confidence and experience in comparable situations outside of the college. Data was gathered from participants/observers, interviews/surveys, before/after assessments, and custom tests/assessments.
Stepping Up in Sustainability