Cross-curricular learning
Great Learning is an organization aimed at contributing to the improvement of education in The Netherlands for children from 2,5 to 15 years old. Great Learning provides learning opportunities based on developing children’s awareness of global citizenship and sustainable development.
They do that by implementing cross-curricular learning, designed for the particular phase of development the children are in. Learning environments for the early years mean lots of play. For teenagers their optimal learning environment consists of having the opportunity to take risks and to learn from interconnections: with each other, within subjects etc.
Great Learning has started in 2020 to implement the SDGs in all curricula, starting with the International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC). IMYC works with units from 6-8 weeks. Every unit is constructed around a theme and a Big Idea, a challenging concept that links the school subjects and has a strong connection to the development of teenagers and their world of experience. Theme’s can be collaboration, risk or discovery.
During the first lockdown in 2020 Great Learning developed three free ‘units’ connecting several school subjects, especially for teenagers from 10 – 15 years of age.
- Corona-pandemic (geography, history and citizenship)
- Make your own DINK-art (language, art and culture)
- Grow by sharing (mathematics and geography)
In the Netherlands we have a school system in which primary school is until the age of 11. When you look at the development of children, this is (for a lot of children) not a good moment to switch to secondary education and to decide what level they are continuing on. This is why there are many schools starting an initiative especially for teenagers from 10-14 years. They are adjusting the learning environment to what teenagers need.
