CLIL - Content and Language Integrated Learning          CLIL          CLIL - Content and Language Integrated Learning

How to get new teaching and learning concepts into the classroom (my translation) PH Zurich FLECH Forum Nov 5th, 2011
	When Daniel Stotz asked me to give a keynote talk at the Paedagogische Hochschuele in Zurich to his colleagues, all teacher trainers around Switzerland, I was a little hesitant, particularly as the topic was all about innovation in teaching. I mean this is Switzerland after all!
My presentation entitled: 'Joining up the curriculum - Ideas on maximizing cross-curricular opportunities in the language classroom' is available here for download.	Korean students doing chemistry in public
DIY cosmetics	My presentation was a history of precisely innovative educational activities and I focused three aspects of getting this to happen in the language classroom. Teachers, like everyone else, get involved in innovation, development, something new, for three reasons: - they need to - they want to - they have to
Each of these reasons is valid, combinations of them can play a role, one, two or all of them. Some teachers do things entirely because they want to. They get a buzz from the activity. Others have to do what their schools, authorities, ministries tell them to do, and still others get involved for reasons to do with professional development, credits in their portfolio.	Rocket building
Gifted and talented children in Danaueschingen, Germany - building robots	Need is related to opportunity in terms of resources and networks. Teachers, however much we want them to get involved in new ideas, need to have resources (whether they are materials, time, money) to be able to do their jobs.
Want is also related to information. If teachers aren't given information about fantastic learning opportunities how can we expect them to get involved, get their students involved?	Science Across the World - the best schools project programme in the world
Model building in science with sweets	Having to do something is also a factor. It's important that school management is clear about its expectations. That the learning outcomes are agreed, that this is represented in the curriculum. If we want schools linking with other schools, it's the school managers job to make sure that the whole school sees this as school policy, and not simply the initiative of individual teachers.
The Young Ambassadors of Chemistry programme has been running now for a number of years, and this year, the International Year of Chemistry, has seen an astonishing amount of chemistry work around the world. Lida Schoen is in Bulgaria at the time of writing to present a first prize to Veselina in Gorna Malina for her design of a stamp integrating Bulgarian culture and chemistry, for example. It's precisely this kind of activity that schools, managers, teachers need to be informed about so as to be able to offer them to their students. Bravo Veselina!
07.11.2011