Abstract:

This session aims to present a new didactic tool called The Shadowing Project (TSP) which intends to increase students employability in an environment of job destruction, in an environment in which jobs are being fragmented by small pieces of technology and in which the digital economy significantly changes the employability paradigm. Graduates are being caught in the middle of all this change and the question is how can we help graduates increase their skills so they can increase their employability? It is very difficult to investigate the future but tools can be designed to help graduates face this digital revolution matrix, to be prepared for new professions and new sectors of opportunities that have not even been created yet.

Empirical research suggests that millennials prefer informal learning environments. What are the requirements and how do we design these informal learning environments that differ from a traditional classroom? Why use old fashion class models for 21st century students? New teaching approaches need to be designed to create informal learning environments. TSP is a suggested solution.

The new didactic tool, The Shadowing Project, is aimed at increasing key skills, particularly the competence in a European Foreign Language (English), increasing multi lingual education, student motivation, and decreasing school abandonment. The activity attempts to encourage personal autonomy and the entrepreneurial spirit in students or young graduates who may have to create their own employment or adapt to new emerging jobs as technological advances continue to take place and continue to change the employment paradigm.

TSP can constitute a fundamental shift in key skill acquisition, foreign language acquisition and job placement. This session will show that flipped learning, content language integrated learning (CLIL), problem-based learning (PBL) and shadowing combined can make possible a whole new relationship between task-learning and content learning and can offer enabling conditions for critical key skills and foreign language acquisition.

TSP presents a challenge to the student, asking a direct engaging question about their professional path of choice. The question sets the ground for Problem Based Learning and leads to an individual investigation using informal learning environments and collaborative learning. Since the investigation/problem solving is conducted in a foreign language (English in this sample) TSP also uses CLIL principles. TSP methodology increases both the knowledge and the linguistic ability of each student.

This presentation analyses if the TSP method when integrated in European curriculum, can constitute a fundamental shift in key skill acquisition, foreign language acquisition and future job placement.

Innovative didactic tools, when integrated in European curriculum, can constitute a fundamental shift in foreign language acquisition and job placement, both necessary aspects to for European economic growth.


About CLIL:

CLIL is an interdisciplinary educational method used in many modern schools that aims to prepare students for the future (Wolf 2012). CLIL requires multidisciplinary teachers too, teachers that are linguists and researchers at the same time (Coyle 2007) who are highly competent in a foreign language and in at least one more area of expertise.

Keywords:

Project-based learning, key skills, content based language learning, shadowing, employ ability, career guidance, entrepreneurship, flipped learning.