Contextual Teaching and

Learning

Susan Jones Sears

The Ohio State University
Improving Teaching

 Goals: Describe and Discuss

– What Contextual Teaching and Learning Is
and Is Not,
– Examples of Contextual Teaching and
Learning,
– Supports for Implementing Contextual
Teaching and Learning
Improving Teaching
 Contextual Teaching and Learning
(CTL) is a conception of teaching and
learning that helps teachers relate
subject matter content to real world
situations and motivates students to
make connections between
knowledge and its applications to
their lives as family members,
citizens, and workers.
Improving Teaching

 CTL is supportive of rigorous

content.
– Students need the equivalent of
college prep courses as well as a
career emphasis.
Improving Teaching
 CTL
– Engages students in defining and
researching problems.
• They experience the messiness of ill-structured
situations that are typical of the real world.
• They assume the role of stakeholders who are
affected by the resolution of the problem.
• They engage in higher-level thinking and
disciplined inquiry as they participate in
authentic activities.
Improving Teaching

 CTL
– Provides opportunities for
students to learn knowledge and
skills in meaningful contexts such
as the home, the community, and
the workplace.
Improving Teaching

 CTL
– Builds on the knowledge learners
possess and uses their life
experiences and contexts as
instructional platforms to help
them move from what they know to
what they do not know.
Improving Teaching

 CTL
– Encourages students to direct
their own learning and monitor
their own progress.
Improving Teaching

 CTL
– Supports instruction that
encourages students to learn
together and from each other.
Improving Teaching

 CTL
– Uses assessments that sample
the actual knowledge, skills,
and dispositions desired of
students.
CTL is not
 a lecture-only method of teaching,
 busy-work or activity for activity’s
sake,
 doing the questions at the end of the
chapter,
 rote memorization,
 teacher dominated goal-setting,
 paper and pencil tests
Examples of Contextual
Teaching
 An agriculture teacher and a math
teacher put their students together to
design a mist system for the high
school greenhouse. The project
involved calculating the volume of
liquid and the amount of PVC pipe
required for the project.
Contextual Teaching
 A textiles teacher and an English
teacher invited speakers from
business and industry to make
presentations to students on
workplace standards and quality
control. Students practiced note-
taking and interviewing skills as they
listened and then wrote a 1- 3 page
report that both teachers graded.
Contextual Teaching
 Students in food nutrition, chemistry, and
journalism classes investigated the metal
content of foods before and after cooking
using various types of pans. They
prepared omelettes using stainless steel,
cooper, cast iron, glass, and coated
cookware. Chemistry students used food
samples to make chloride ions and
Contextual Teaching
 The students tested the samples at a local
university. They calculated the ratios of
standard metal concentrations in eggs and
mushrooms before and after cooking.
 They made graphs showing the results
which were dramatic, e.g. egg samples
cooked in cast iron experienced a 176%
gain in iron.
Contextual Teaching

 Students’ writing scores were poor

and the English teacher and
cosmetology teacher were searching
for a way to improve them. They
decided to have their students
publish a trade journal.
 The students focused on vocational
content and technical writing skills.
 Contextual Teaching
 Project Guidelines: First students write five
occupation-related articles in English class.
After receiving feedback on the articles, the
students choose three to include in the
magazine. They write these articles: 1) an
interview with an expert in their field, 2) a
how-to article, 3) a review of a book in a
career or technical field, 4) an article
comparing and contrasting new products,
5) a persuasive article on opportunities for
career advancement.
Contextual Teaching
 Students are assigned to groups of
four per journal. Each student
accepts responsibility for ensuring
quality in one phase of production,
e.g. designing the cover, and each
student is required to include one of
two exercises: games, puzzles or a
full-page advertisement related to a
career or technical area.
Contextual Teaching

 Other Ideas:
– Generate solutions to critical problems
facing the community,
– Critically examine major world events
as they unfold,
– Deliver a community service and then
reflect on the experience
Benefits for Students
 Promotes higher order thinking and
problem solving,
 Promotes student engagement and
involvement,
 Relates what student is learning to real
world problems and their lives, and
 Promotes authentic methods of
assessment.
Supporting Teachers Who
Want to Change
 Provideexternships and service
learning opportunities

 Giveteachers time to collaborate

and plan teaching units and align
curriculum with standards,
Supporting Teachers Who
Desire to Change

 Consider providing larger blocs

of instructional time

 Provide
professional
development for teachers
Web Addresses
for Contextual Teaching

 www.cew.wisc.edu

 www.bgsu.edu
Contextual Teaching and
Learning

 Teaching for Understanding Through

Integration of Academic and
Technical Education

– By Gene Bottoms & Deede Sharpe