Making PBL work at James Nash SHS
Tina Webster - Teacher, James Nash SHS
Where we use Cura
At this stage, we don’t use Cura across our entire student cohort. We use it with our Go For Gold classes, which are Years 7 & 8 classes designed to challenge students to be creative and critical thinkers. These classes revolve around project-based learning linked to real life experiences.
I use Cura to teach Humanities (specifically Geography & History) to these classes. My colleagues use it to teach Science and Maths.
How I use Cura
I know that some teachers use Cura units end-to-end. They could be used like that – each unit is well-structured and fully resourced – but I prefer to take elements from multiple units and blend them together. Here’s what I do:
Choose a single unit as the base. This is what I’ll use for maybe 60-70% of my classes. For example, last term I used the Lay of the Land project with my Year 8 students and this term I’ve used the Love Where You Live micro-unit with my Year 7 students
I’ll then look at the other Cura units to see if there are elements from them which I can bring into it. This could be from the same subject (for example, I’ve used parts of the Big Australia project to build into the Love Where You Live unit), but it could also be to create a cross-curricula unit. For example, as part of the end product for the Love Where You Live unit, I’m asking students to propose a way to improve liveability in their local area and then write a letter to the council seeking support. I’ve used elements of the English Persuasive Language Toolkit to help students create more impactful end products
Doing this allows me to create a bespoke learning sequence for my students. It also allows me to adapt the units to make them as locally relevant as possible. I find this maximises their engagement.
I also generally prefer using the projects with these groups; they can stay on task for longer (both in a single class and across classes), so the longer projects give them more scope to use their creativity without the risk of them stagnating or losing motivation. But, if I was using Cura with my mainstream classes, I think I’d favour the shorter micro-units.
Cura’s impact
The students love these classes. The hands-on, real-world learning makes them really excited, something I don’t normally see in my other classes. This has a flow-on effect to the teachers, who are much more excited to deliver these classes!
They also enjoy working together to create something they can be proud of. When students created their land management proposals at the end of the Lay of the Land unit, I bound them all together for displaying at a parent presentation evening. I’ll do the same once they complete their proposal and letter to the council. It might seem small, but sharing their work with their families and the community – which they know they spent a lot of time on – gives them great pride and satisfaction.
An unexpected benefit has been that, since Cura asks students to create solutions to real-world problems, I can teach students the sorts of skills they’d need if they were doing this as their job. For example, I’ve spent time with my class showing how them how to best format a proposal for readability and engagement, how to present data in a way that’s easy to understand, and how to make the presentation of information look professional.
Do you know an educator who wants to increase hands-on, real-world learning in their classrooms? If so, please share this article with them!
If you want to learn more, get in touch at hello@curaeducation.com.