Languages
for All
Department of General
Studies
Kingston College
Kingston Hall Road
Kingston-on-Thames KT1 2AQ
Person in charge of project: Sarah Hankin, Head of Languages and Andrew Williams, Head of Geography
Kingston College is a medium-sized general Further Education college located in south-west London, serving a wide catchment area.
The project involves a partnership between Kingston College and the Oberstufendruckzentrum Berlin, and has been running in its present form since 1999. The project involves linkage between two important curriculum areas; Languages and Geography and was also designed to bridge the gap between the traditional academic area of A-level German and the vocational area of Geographical Information Systems.
The project focuses on the patterns and processes of urban change in London and Berlin. Urban change and management is a key issue in the curricula for both A-level German and BTEC Geographical Information Systems. At the heart of the project is the exchange of information between the two partner institutions and the development of language skills by the participating students. For the past two years, students and staff from the partner institutions have participated in exchange visits to deliver multi-media presentations in the foreign language on urban development in their home city. The two areas of focus have been Spitalfields in London and the Scheunenviertel in Berlin. Both areas are representative of urban change in their respective cities. European awareness is enhanced by exchange visits to each other’s capital cities.
Judges' comments
This project provides an important model of innovative and successful
practice in a sector where languages all too often struggle for recognition.
It demonstrates excellence both in its conception and in its execution,
developing a wide range of capabilities in students, whilst stimulating
their creativity and motivation. Language work (in this case German) is
imaginatively linked with another curriculum area (Geography) in a project
which stresses active, collaborative learning and the use of ICT as a
vehicle for communication. Through the group production of a presentation
(including video and PowerPoint) on their environment in the target language
for their Berliner counterparts, the British students showed organising
skills and broadened their knowledge in a range of fields. The jury thought
that this project has outstanding qualities combining different disciplines
within the college and encouraging collaborative learning in a European
context.
This project was also awarded this year's Mary Glasgow Trust Award
