Harry Waters reviews DLA's Ready2Run Sustainability videos
/Harry Waters is an ELT + Climate Change consultant, with a mission to combine language and ecoliteracy. After 15 years of experience as an English Language teacher and materials author, he works regularly with Pearson ELT and has his own show on Teachers Talk Radio. Harry founded his company Renewable English a year ago, and here he shares his critical reflections on sustainability in ELT and an independent assessment of some Ready to Run resources.
When it comes to environmentalism and the climate crisis, the ELT industry is frankly lagging. It could be the nature of the industry: courses and books tend to take well over a year to create. Perhaps it’s for fear of upsetting a particular demographic which isn’t yet “ready” to talk about the damaging effect humans are having on the planet.
Yet the industry does have individuals and collectives who are striving to make changes and preparing ammunition for teachers and students alike in the battle against the climate crisis. Unlike other trends within teaching, this push for environmentalism is primarily driven by student demand as opposed to teacher and publisher ideas. I’ve been lucky enough to witness first hand the huge desire among young people for environmental content in their lessons. This thirst for accessible knowledge cannot be ignored.
Ready to Run from DLA is a series of ELT resources which does address this need. There are over a dozen live action videos with support materials which combine English learning with eco-literacy at levels from A1 to B2.
The A1 video “Chloe, the Upcycler” takes a look at the life of a sustainable fashion designer. The term “upcycle” is explained and exploited throughout the video. In terms of resources , the main focus is on developing language which makes sense at the A1 level. The additional focus on sustainable fashion is attractive for students. The resource pack includes a short writing task to design an upcycling poster, which is a nice way to combine language with an active and empowering output.
Moving up through the levels, the B1 video “Plogging” covers the pastime of family litter-picking. The content focuses both on keeping the planet clean and staying healthy. This emphasis on collective action has an empowering message for for learners and teachers: go out and try and make a difference.
The student materials for this video are directly pro-sustainability, and include examples of Plogging’s green benefits. Although not listed as an activity in the current version of the resource pack, teachers could take this one step further in terms of environmental content, and help students investigate how to reduce their own footprints around single-use plastic.
Another climate-related Ready to Run video is the B2 “A Biofueled Trip”. In this story, an environment journalist takes a biofuel converter from Singapore to an orphanage 2500kms away in Cambodia, using a biofueled vehicle as transport. The video shows the positive effect biofuel can have. I would have wanted to know more about how the orphanage could use it. However, in the resources there is space for the students, during writing activities, to research and report on that. The resources support a 15-minute debate activity in which students speak about the positives and negatives of biofuel. Teachers may want to take a bit longer and provide students with extra time to do a little research themselves.
Like the whole Ready to Run video series these films and materials are effective because they are real. There is nothing contrived about the scripts, and they reflect authentic stories. The characters aren’t manufactured personalities in a series, they are people who are out there in the world. The language activities too are about making a difference.
The scarcity of proper materials available to our students is a challenge to ELT educators, and the reason I became part of the growing green movement within ELT. What impressed me about the Ready to Run series is in part that at last someone is taking the issue of environmental sustainability seriously. It's well worth exploring their catalogue for ideas about how this topic can drive teaching. More videos around sustainability and the environment are in the works, so teachers and students with this mindset can expect some good things in the coming months.