Contextual Teaching and Learning; a successful process for engaging students

Contextual teaching and learning (CTL) is a system that stimulates the student’s brain to weave patterns that express meaning. It is a brain- compatible system of instruction that generates meaning by linking academic content with the context of student’s daily life (Johnson, 2002). CTL motivates learners to take charge of their own learning and to make connections between knowledge and its applications to the various contexts of their lives as family members, as citizens, and as workers (Sears, 2001).

The concept is not new; the application of contextual learning was first proposed (at the turn of the 20th century) by John Dewy who advocated a curriculum and a teaching methodology tied to children’s experiences and interests (Pearson, 2001).

As for the definition of “context”, it means much more, surely, than events located in place and time. Context also consists of unconscious assumptions absorbed and gained, as if by osmosis, of a world view that unobtrusively shapes our sense of reality. Conclusions, choices, and decisions create our context (Johnson, 2002).

Main Objectives for Contextual Teaching and Learning (University of Southern California, Center of Excellence in Teaching, 2015) are:

• Recognize the need for teaching and learning to occur in a variety of contexts such as home, community, and work sites ( Experiential Learning)
• Anchor teaching in students’ diverse life-contexts
• Emphasize problem -oriented project based learning
• Encourage students to learn from each other and together (Peer Learning, Collaborative Learning, Cooperative Learning)
• Teach students to monitor and direct their own learning so they become self-regulated learners ( Integrative Learning, Intentional Learning).

These objectives are assessed using problem- oriented performance tasks that are either designed by teacher in lower grades or by students in higher grades using G.R.A.S.P. steps (Goal, Role, Audience, Situation, and Product). This model is inspired from Understanding By Design or UbD, which is a tool utilized for educational planning focused on “teaching for understanding” advocated by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins in their Understanding by Design (1998), published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

1. Goal — The Goal provides the student with the outcome of the learning experience and the contextual purpose of the experience and product creation.

2. Role — The Role is meant to provide the student with the position or individual persona that they will become to accomplish the goal of the performance task. The majority of roles found within the tasks provide opportunities for students to complete real-world applications of standards-based content.

3. Audience — The Audience is the individual(s) who are interested in the findings and products that have been created. These people will make a decision based upon the products and presentations created by the individual(s) assuming the role within the performance task.

4. Situation — The Situation provides the participants with a contextual background for the task. Students will learn about the real-world application for the performance task

5. Product — The Products within each task are designed using the multiple intelligence. The products provide various opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding. Based upon each individual learner and/or individual class, the educator can make appropriate instructional decisions for product development.

CTL is one of the most significant approaches to implement Education for Sustainable Development where the students play the role of good effective citizens who are ready to use all their acquired knowledge, skills, and attitudes to solve their contextual national products through authentic performance tasks.