Language learning with the emphasis on sustainability.

For the second year running the Official School of Languages in La Carolina will continue with its “on-going” project on sustainable development for classroom and extramural learning activities throughout the school year 2009-2010.

The members of staff at the EOI La Carolina are, in adopting this project, committed to carrying out at least one activity per month related specifically to sustainable development and the social-cultural, social- linguistic, topic related lexical items and attitudinal contents as laid down in the Curriculum for Language Teaching in Andalusia.

It is not, therefore, a case of adding more to the curriculum, but of looking at the contents, whenever possible, from the point of view of sustainability.

The term “sustainable development” rather than “ecology” was chosen because we believe that this concept lends itself more easily to the emphasis on transversal topics and cultural diversity that we wish to give to the project. Transversal topics and cultural diversity related to sustainable development are clearly represented in its very definition, in its graphic form:

They are also present in the the conceptual divisions, as stated by UNESCO, in relation to the United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development. (2005-2014).

• gender equality

• health promotion

• environment

• rural development

• cultural diversity

• sustainable consumption

• sustainable urbanization

Thus, by having chosen sustainable development as the mainstay of our topic, the range of text and communicative situations offered is sufficiently wide and relevant to the students, already diverse enough in themselves, of the Language School.

Last year´s success, both in school and out, has inspired us to continue, with a fresh calender of activities and the emphasis on international campaigns.

We will carry out several activities in connection with the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference coming up shortly. We will also try to encompass the different aspects of sustainable development, concentrating on how climate change, running out of natural resources and reckless (or responsible) consumption effect the living conditions of human beings in different parts of the planet.

This blog, our notebook, will contain the activities, resources and links used by the teaching staff of this school to prepare both their classroom and extramural activities. As the school year gets under way, you will also be able to see the different worksheets for those activities which have already been carried out.