The Value Of Integrating Real-Life issues into K-12 Classes

 

Every generation of school aged students has confronted real life issues.  The term “real life issues” describes pressing life problems and concerns affecting students’ daily lives. Examples of real life issues include substance abuse (alcohol, drugs, tobacco, vaping), bullying, immigration and the COVID virus which has significantly increased student anxiety and depression.  The impact of life issues on students is often profound and enduring.  The Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues (CIRLI—www.cirli.org) model developed by faculty at Northeastern Illinois University provides a method for teachers to integrate study of life issues and evidence-based prevention strategies into classes across the k-12 curriculum.

CIRLI makes classes more relevant to students by addressing their real-world concerns and connects teachers more closely to their students and the communities where they work.  CIRLI strengthens student abilities to cope with problems they confront in a positive manner.  

 

The Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues model is designed to positively impact students from all backgrounds and engages at risk-students.  It is an especially important educational strategy for reaching students from communities where many are not succeeding in school.  Research indicates that the top reason drop-outs give for their disaffection from school is the uninteresting curriculum (Bridgeland et. al. 2006).*

The CIRLI model aligns with the Common Core State Standards.  It provides context for developing student skills in research, analysis, writing and oral presentations.  CIRLI’s emphasis on social emotional learning can build resilience and prevention in response to life issues that often stifle educational and personal development.  Our website (www.cirli.org) includes detail on integrating real life issues into classes across subject areas and grade levels, readily incorporating evidence-based prevention strategies into life issues lessons and effectively meeting Common Core State Standards through CIRLI assignments.

Teachers  can receive 5 free CPDUS from Northeastern Illinois University’s College of Education by completing an online workshop (click here) that familiarizes them with each component of the CIRLI model and takes them stop by step through development of a life issues lesson plan for a class that they teach.

Additional information on the Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues educational strategy is available from Dr. Ron Glick, Director of the Network for Dissemination of Curriculum Infusion at Northeastern  Illinois University, Chicago (r-glick@neiu.edu).

BULLYING

Bullying continues to be a serious problem for American youth with more than a quarter of school age students reporting they have been bullied in the past year.  Bullying is defined as aggressive, repeated behavior intending harm by a more powerful student to one who is weaker.  Students with disabilities are frequent targets,  bullied at twice the rate of other students.  In addition to verbal (teasing, name calling) and relational (social exclusion, spreading rumors) bullying, students with exceptionalities report high levels of physical bullying (being hit or kicked).  

The psychological effects of bullying include depression, anxiety and increased alcohol and drug use.  Bullying is linked to reduced school performance and failure.  For students with disabilities lifelong consequences include not seeking employment because of fear of bullying in the work place.  

Teachers across grade levels can effectively address the problem of bullying by employing the Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues (CIRLI) educational strategy developed at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.   CIRLI (www.cirli.org) prepares teachers to integrate study of bullying and evidence-based prevention into classes across subject areas and grade levels:

• In language arts classes students can read literature, write and speak about bullying.
• In math classes students can work with data on the extent and consequences of bullying.
• Social studies classes can address the negative consequences of bullying on individuals and groups (e.g. students with disabilities).
• In science classes students can study how the stress of bullying affects the human body.

Life issues assignments are designed to meet class learning objectives and build student skills in analysis, research and communication, helping student reach Common Core State Standards.

Evidence-based strategies to reduce bullying can be readily incorporated into classes.  These strategies include:

• Increasing understanding of the harm bullying does to individual students and the school community
• Increasing pro-social responses to bullying, especially by bystanders who can learn the value of supporting the target of bullying 
• Establishing clear rules against bullying in the classroom and supporting anti-bullying policy in schools
• Supporting the targets of bullies, encouraging them to seek support and teaching them how to best respond when bullied

Information on curriculum based bullying prevention is available from prevention staff at Northeastern Illinois University (r-glick@neiu.edu; s-larson5@neiu.edu).

EARN 5 FREE CPDU'S BY LEARNING HOW TO ENGAGE STUDENTS WITH REAL LIFE ISSUES ONLINE WORKSHOP

 Too many students are not engaged in learning because they find the k-12 curriculum irrelevant to their lives.  A national survey of school dropouts funded by the Gates Foundation found that the top reason given for dropping out of school was that the “classes were not interesting.”  The Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues (CIRLI) educational strategy developed at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago (www.cirli.org) provides class content that engages students through study of life issues relevant to their lives.

A free online workshop (click here) offered through Northeastern’s College of Education supports K-12 teachers in design of engaging, standards-based lessons centered on students’ real life issues.  Teachers may begin the workshop at any time and complete it at their own pace.  Illinois teachers can receive 5 CPDUs free for completion of the online workshop.

The online workshop provides professional development in critical areas including:

• understanding diverse student cultures and the life issues that students face
• developing lessons that effectively engage students in learning through study of pressing life problems that students identify (including immigration and immigrant rights,  substance abuse and bullying
• learning to incorporate evidence-based prevention strategies that build student resistance to problems like substance abuse and bullying that interfere with a student’s educational and personal development

The workshop meets important goals for teachers.  They can address issues of social justice (e.g. racism, immigration and immigrant rights) and effectively engage students from underserved communities through study of life issues relevant to their daily lives.

Additional information on the Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues educational strategy is available from Dr. Ron Glick, Director of the Network for Dissemination of Curriculum Infusion at Northeastern  Illinois University, Chicago (r-glick@neiu.edu).

Integrating The Study Of Immigration And Related Service-Learning Into Classes

The current political climate has placed immigration and immigrant rights front and center in the day to day lives of many American families.  Many K-12 students today are first and second generation immigrants.    Policies of the Trump administration have produced widespread fear of deportation in their communities.  These policies include the decisions of the Trump administration to:

• end the DACA program, putting at risk of deportation more than 700,000 young immigrants who came to the U. S. as children
• substantially increase deportations of undocumented immigrants
• support legislation that would cut legal immigration by half, drastically reducing immigration of family members of U. S. citizens and legal residents

In this context students can greatly benefit from study of immigration and service-learning that promotes immigrant rights.   

The Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues (CIRLI) educational strategy developed at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago (www.cirli.org) prepares teachers to integrate study of immigration and related service-learning into classes across the curriculum.

• Math teachers can assign students work with data on the extent of immigration and the countries of origin of immigrant populations.  In math classes students can also work with data on the historic and ongoing economic contributions of immigrants and on the crime rate of immigrants compared to others in the 

U. S. (the immigrant crime rate is substantially lower).

• Language Arts teachers can assign literature on the immigrant experience, and have students discuss and write about the lives of immigrants and the challenges immigrant families confront.

• Social Studies teachers can have students study changes in policy and treatment of immigrants in the U. S. over time putting the current immigration crisis in historic context.

Northeastern Illinois University staff have developed a 5 lesson unit on immigration and immigrant rights for high school social studies and civics classes that can easily adapted to grades 6-8 (click here).  Lessons address: 1) the history of immigration to the U. S. and students’ family histories; 2) the historic debate about the value of immigration; 3) increased diversity in the U. S. and misperceptions about immigrants; 4) the dilemma of the undocumented, and, 5) the current immigration crisis and opportunities for service-learning work for immigrant rights.  The Immigration and Immigrant Rights Curriculum and accompanying Reflection booklet are aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and National Council on Social Studies (NCSS) thematic standards.

Northeastern staff support teachers in bringing this very important curriculum to their students.

For questions  contact 

Dr. Ron Glick, Professor Emeritus and Director of the Network for Dissemination of 

Curriculum Infusion (NDCI) at NEIU. 

You can find information about the Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues 

educational strategy on the NDCI website—www.cirli.org.

E-CIGARETTES AND TEENS

E-cigarettes have become a major health problem for school-aged youth.  The Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues (CIRLI) educational strategy developed at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago prepares K-12 teachers to integrate prevention of e-cigarette use into classes across grade levels and subject areas.  Students can be effectively engaged in learning by study of this life issue that affects their daily lives.

The Problem

In 2019 more than 27 percent of high school students used e-cigarettes, a sharp increase from 20.8 percent in 2018.  1.6 million school-aged youth used e-cigarettes regularly (on more than 20 occasions per month).   Juul, the major company providing vaping products in the United States targeted sales to youth by producing e-cigarettes with a variety of attractive flavors.  While e-cigarettes have been marketed as a safe alternative to cigarettes, they are in fact very harmful.

·      As of November 5, 2019 there were 2291 cases of lung injury, including 48 deaths, attributed to e-cigarette use and vaping in the U.S. 

·      E-cigarettes adversely affect development of the adolescent brain including negative effects on attention and memory.

·      Smoking E-cigarettes appears to be even more harmful to the heart then smoking cigarettes. 

·      Youth who use e-cigarettes are four times more likely to move on to cigarettes than youth who do not use e-cigarettes. 

·      E-cigarettes contain a substantial amount of nicotine, which is highly addictive.  One pod of Juul contains nicotine equivalent to 20 cigarettes.

The Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues (CIRLI) Model

CIRLI prepares k-12 teachers across grade levels and subject areas to integrate into their classes study of e-cigarette use or other real life issues their students face.  Evidence-based prevention strategies are incorporated into the life issues curriculum. 

·      In language arts classes students can read, write and speak about use of e-cigarettes

·      In math classes students can work with data on the numbers of e-cigarette users and the damage e-cigarettes do

·      In social studies classes students can study how the e-cigarette industry has targeted young people; they can compare marketing of e-cigarettes to past marketing of tobacco and alcohol targeting youth

·      In science classes students can study the physiological effects of e-cigarette use

Through CIRLI teachers learn evidence-based prevention strategies that can be readily incorporated into classes.   These include:

·      Engaging students in community-based prevention, including e-cigarette prevention campaigns in the school community  

·      Increasing perceptions of the personal risk of use of e-cigarette

·      Building student concern for the harm e-cigarettes can do to others

·      Building student decision making capacity, including the capacity to resist peer pressure

The CIRLI curriculum is always consistent with class learning objectives.   Assignments are designed to build student skills in research,  analysis and communication, helping students reach Common Core State Standards. 

For questions  contact 

Dr. Ron Glick, Professor Emeritus and Director of the Network for Dissemination of 

Curriculum Infusion (NDCI) at NEIU. 

You can find information about the Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues 

educational strategy on the NDCI website—www.cirli.org.

FREE ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR ILLINOIS K-12 TEACHERS

 
 Illinois K-12 teachers can earn 5 CPDUs from Northeastern Illinois University’s College of Education by completing a free online Professional Development Workshop.  Teachers can begin the workshop at any time, complete it on their own schedule and receive CPDU credit immediately upon completion.  The online professional development workshop (click here) prepares teachers to effectively engage students in learning through development of curriculum related to students’ lives.  

The workshop familiarizes teachers with the Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues (CIRLI) educational strategy enabling them to integrate pressing life issues like immigration and immigrant rights into classes across subject areas and grade levels; through CIRLI teachers also learn to engage students in study of pressing life problems that students identify including substance abuse, bullying, social ostracism and violence.

The online workshop prepares teachers to incorporate evidence-based prevention strategies to build resistance to these problems which interfere with students’ educational and personal development;  it takes teachers step by step through the process of integrating life issues into a class that they currently teach.

The CIRLI model fits Illinois Learning Standards (the CCSS) and supports students social-emotional learning standards.

For questions about this online professional development opportunity contact 

Dr. Ron Glick, Professor Emeritus and Director of the Network for Dissemination of 

Curriculum Infusion (NDCI) at NEIU. 

You can find information about the Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues 

educational strategy on the NDCI website—www.cirli.org.