CREATING
LEARNING SCENARIOS: A PLANNING GUIDE FOR
ADULT EDUCATORS
by Ed Errington
Krieger Publishing Company
P.O. Box 9542
Melbourne, FL 32902-9542
USA
tel: (321) 724-9542
fax: (321) 951-3671
1 800 724 0025
E-mail: info@krieger-publishing.com
www.krieger-publishing.com
Price US$17.50 from the above.
This
is an excellent practical guide for teachers
on how to plan, create, deliver and evaluate
scenarios for teaching and learning purposes.
Learning scenarios are based on authentic
and realistic situations that students
are likely to meet in real-life. Although
not written specifically for language
teachers, it is clear how scenarios can
be designed to provide and support a range
of language structures and content.
Errington
combines the motivational characteristics
of 'scenarios' (roles, storylines, tasks)
with the pragmatic need to deliver high
quality practical learning situations.
We see how the process involves helping
students link their theoretical knowledge
with applied practices in the social world.
Scenarios may be created by teachers,
students, or a combination of both, and
explored through discussion, enactment
and/or debate, and reflection.
The
book provides a clear systematic guide
to planning scenario learning processes,
from concept to delivery to evaluation.
Errington shows us how to use scenarios
to achieve specific learning purposes.
He identifies four common options: (1)
skills-based scenarios where students
practice/reinforce known acquired skills;
(2) problem-based scenarios where students
meet with challenging scenarios and are
required to make decisions, research information,
and arrive at informed conclusions; (3)
issues-based scenarios where students
explore perspectives on an issue, assume
positions themselves and justify/present
informed positions; and, (4) speculative-based
scenarios where students generate hypotheses
about past, present or likely future events
from given/researched information. All
four options lend themselves readily to
a range of language interactions, providing
immediate and common shared experiences
that students can discuss, analyze, evaluate,
and reflect on.
Overall,
this is an excellent resource for reflective
practitioners engaged in language teaching.
Practical strategies are underpinned by
the author's sound scholarship and rich
knowledge as a teacher educator. Ed Errington
has thirty plus years experience of teaching
at primary, secondary, and teacher/higher
education levels. He has delivered scenario
learning workshops/papers on all continents,
and this book, the sixth, is based on
the practical teaching materials he created
and delivers during his journeys.
