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).
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