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General information on how to develop LC through ELT

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Ben Knight: Making sense of how we develop life competencies through ELT

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Chapter 1: Overview 00:00 Chapter 2: Categorising the skills 01:11 Chapter 3: Ways of thinking: critical thinking 06:19 Chapter 4: Ways of thinking: problem-solving 16:24 Chapter 5: Ways of working: communication 23:35 Chapter 6: Ways of working: collaboration 30:20 Chapter 7: Tools for working: information literacy and ICT literacy 40:27 Q & A: 47:52 In this webinar, we will discuss the skills that teenage and young adult learners need to prepare effectively for working in the 21st century.

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World of Better Learning | Cambridge University Press

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How can schools and educators support teachers in integrating life competencies into their lessons? Today, we're looking at some valuable insights and practical content, shared with us in a case study by a language centre in Sicily.

The Cambridge Life Competencies Framework provides a map of the most important skills learners need to develop to participate effectively in the world. It aims to enable learners to fulfil their potential throughout their education, careers and lives in general.

Giga International House (Giga IH) is an established language school in the centre of Catania in Sicily. The school offers group and individual language courses for children, teens and adults. Recently, they have been developing their approach to integrating the Cambridge Life Competencies Framework into their school's teaching and learning practices. These initiatives have been led by the school's director, Palmina La Rosa, and the Director of Studies, Marta Brzoska. They now have some excellent strategies for integrating life competencies which they have shared with us in a case study, so others can learn from their success. Initiatives range from developing their teachers to building a culture of life competencies development in their learners. Let's explore some of the work the school has done to date in order to integrate Cambridge Life Competencies into learning...

The syllabus-driven approach

Giga IH describes three approaches they have taken to integrating the framework into their school. The syllabus-driven approach begins with the existing syllabus, and involves the teacher, focusing on the Core Areas from the Cambridge Life Competencies Framework that they want to develop in each lesson. This is based on the topic, lesson type or activities they had already planned. The case study describes this approach in detailed stages. It reveals a number of benefits, including enabling teachers to regularly enrich their lesson plans without compromising their usual language-related objectives, and being quick and easy to implement.

The needs-driven approach

Giga IH's needs-driven approach begins with teachers observing their individual learners' needs. The approach is more detailed than a syllabus-driven approach, and is directly linked to students' performance in class. The case study describes the stages one teacher, Elaine, followed in a needs-driven approach to plan, carry out, and evaluate her lesson. By selecting example Can Do Statements from the Framework, that she felt her learners needed to develop, Elaine was able to personalise these statements for her particular learners and create a self-assessment chart for them to reflect on their progress over a series of lessons.

Teachers' feedback during the case study showed several benefits to a needs-driven approach. An example was teachers being able to tailor and personalise tasks to their learners' needs.

Here's another example of how one teacher, Keith, used some of the Framework's content on Emotional Development to redesign a Cambridge C1 Advanced speaking skills task, to help one of his learners overcome exam anxiety:

The activities chosen clearly drew on the Can Do Statements of the Emotional Development competency. As a result, learners were able to practise for the exam and develop their emotional development skills at the same time.

Giga IH's project also implemented a number of techniques to help raise learners' awareness of life competencies. This helped them notice when life competencies are being developed and engage with their learning on a more conscious level.

Developing the role of the teacher

The case study also describes the ways in which Giga IH developed their teachers. They take a modular approach to enhancing their understanding of life competencies and create opportunities for teachers to analyse, reflect on and share their knowledge and insights in various learning contexts. This process has led to the school team empowering and motivating teachers to engage, by redefining their role as that of a teacher coach:

'A teacher coach provides added value by empowering students, giving them the ability to make informed decisions and guiding them through language learning and life competencies'
Giga IH team

Read the case study booklet

Giga IH's case study demonstrates how the Cambridge Life Competencies Framework can be used as a valuable teaching tool throughout a school. It provides unique opportunities to enhance students' learning and better prepare them for life outside the classroom.

Read it online or download it as a reference booklet by clicking on the case study booklet below:

To learn more about the Cambridge Life Competencies Framework, and to view all booklets relating to the framework by competency or stage of learning, visit cambridge.org/clcf. In addition to this case study, we also have examples of how teachers use our Cambridge Life Competencies activity cards, here.

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Cambridge Life Competencies: A case study | Cambridge English

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Explore ways to integrate the Cambridge Life Competencies Framework into your school, in this case study by a language centre in Sicily.

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Critical thinking after listening (by Marta)

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Critical thinking after listening (by Marta)