There are always opportunities to enhance learning for ESOL learners. So last year, we began integrating the UN education for sustainable development goals (ESD) and fusion skills into our ESOL curriculum. While this has made planning more time-consuming, incorporating ESD themes has encouraged a task-based learning approach and heightened students’ awareness of the climate crisis.
Skills for life
Since the Skills for Life (SfL) core curriculum was introduced in 2001, it has provided a clear framework for ESOL success. It outlines the essential skills and knowledge adult learners need to achieve proficiency in English and was a groundbreaking change in ESOL education that has remained the backbone of ESOL planning ever sense. The curriculum shapes exam preparation, marking criteria, schemes of work, and lesson planning. For most ESOL practitioners it serves as a roadmap, outlining the language, functions, and skills learners need to progress and thrive in an English-speaking society.
But over the years, some have found it limiting and generic. A fixed list of skills and functions may not fully capture the breadth of abilities needed for learning a language. It has been criticised as too “survival-based,” with a focus on basic over long-term growth. Others suggest its rigid framework overlooks individual learner needs and constrains the planning process.
ESG goals
With awareness of the climate crisis at an all-time high, the world has changed significantly since 2001. Learners need skills for this evolving world and deserve a dynamic scheme of work addressing both the personal and collective challenges of our time.
Incorporating ESG goals into our curriculum gives them that. Adopted in 2015 by all UN member states, the ESD Goals are part of the UN’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development. They aim to create a more sustainable and equitable world by tackling poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental protection, and economic growth. Each goal has specific targets and indicators to track and enhance progress.
Embedding ESD has involved creating new materials such as reading and listening activities on topics like recycling, community development, and social equity. These resources are part of our ESOL department’s shared and recommended resource list.
To enhance these themes, ESD activities are designed with fusion skills in mind to encourage myself and other tutors to make learning meaningful, communicative and human-centric.
Fusion skills
Fusion skills, which emphasise the importance of technical, creative, and interpersonal skills for success in the 21st century workforce, were formally introduced in 2019, driven by research and initiatives from The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) and the City of London Corporation.
They have introduced a crucial layer to ESOL curriculum planning, allowing key language competencies to align with essential human-centric skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and organisational planning. These skills support task-based learning and serve as a valuable connective layer in course planning. They don’t just provide learners with skills for their daily life and integration into society, but also the social, emotional and critical thinking skills to use the language they’re acquiring.
ESD concepts can be integrated into a skills-based curriculum through activities such as discussing local greenspace improvement, budgeting for energy bills, and writing social media posts to raise climate change awareness. These hands-on activities engage learners with a sense of responsibility and connect them to real-life circumstances, actively involving them in these critical issues.
These “wider skills” skills are not prioritised in the SfL core curriculum, which focuses on evidence-based achievement in grammar, vocabulary, functions, and language skills. In fact, the SfL core curriculum doesn’t address these human centric skills whatsoever, despite the growing need for more human-centric skills and their essentiality for working, volunteering and collaborating in society.
WM College has launched initiatives to integrate ESD themes into classes through extracurricular activities. This year, we introduced the ESOL Podcast, a 10-episode series where learners discuss ESD topics, express their views, listen to others, think critically, and develop digital skills. And our ESOL Book Club, a five-week learning community where learners read abridged books like 1984, and Suffragette: A Story of Equality, aligns with ESD themes to encourage discussion, independent learning and vocabulary growth. They offer learners an optional and self-directed way to engage with ESD themes in a safe space.
Creating a curriculum that addresses today’s challenges is a refreshing update to the outdated SfL framework. By incorporating these themes, we hope learners will not only progress through accredited courses but also gain employability skills and a broader understanding of the global issues affecting us all.
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