View Content #18184

From http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/global_learning/2014/08/the_benefits_of_learning_by_doing_and_doing_while_learning_manos_a_la_obra.html

Benefits of Learning by Doing and Doing While Learning: Manos a la Obra
by Kaitlin Thomas
August 23, 2014

“Perhaps of all the challenges unique to the teaching of foreign language and culture, most enigmatic is trying to identify ways to make grammar and vocabulary relevant to the daily life and real-world experiences of teenagers and adults. It's incredible to realize how universal this challenge is (from Pashtu to Spanish and everything in between), though such solidarity certainly does not make it easier to bridge the gap between language in practice and language in life, particularly when making what is often a secondary pursuit one of primary interest.

“… In a rural area of the country, where there is an untapped interest and immense need, it was possible to bridge the gap between classroom and life. As a dual-role professor and Latino community liaison, fully aware of where both sides were falling short, it wasn't enough to merely simulate real-world scenarios in the classroom, replicating situations that were readily available right out our door. No, the answer instead lay in bringing the classroom out into the world so that students could quite literally dirty their hands while pushing themselves to new linguistic frontiers and cultural understandings that could not be reached in a classroom alone.”

Read the full article at http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/global_learning/2014/08/the_benefits_of_learning_by_doing_and_doing_while_learning_manos_a_la_obra.html