A cross-curricular approach to ‘learning to learn’ languages: government policy and school practice

Abstract

This article connects two fields of research: ‘learning to learn’ and school-based teacher development. The context is a cross-curricular project between English and modern languages teachers. Carried out in two London schools, the study aimed to encourage students to transfer common language learning strategies across the two subjects. Findings from interviews with teachers and students highlight the gap between the government's ‘learning to learn’ agenda and the realities of implementing it. A distinction is drawn between providing school-based opportunities for teachers to share generic ‘good practice’ in relation to initiatives such as Assessment for Learning and those where the actual content of lessons crosses subject boundaries. Recent government guidelines appear to mask inherent tensions in the aims and pedagogical approaches of the two languages – tensions exacerbated by the current preoccupation with performance measures. It is suggested that the differences are unlikely to be resolved without a supportive school culture that provides adequate release time for teachers to engage in extensive cross-curricular dialogue.

Keywords:

• cross-curricular collaboration
• language learning strategies
• learning to learn
• National Strategy
• teacher development

Acknowledgements

The project would not have been possible without the dedication, commitment and imagination of the teachers involved: Laura Ovenden, Jennie Prescott and Kate Scappaticci. I would also like to thank John Jessel, Margaret Hancock, Michael Griffiths and Sue Pritchard for their help with the statistical analyses.