Sustainable development goals in the English classroom: tell me a different story

Abstract

This study aims to present the results of the pilot project STOIRES+i3, an action research that infuses the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 into academics and the teacher training curriculum, via active methodologies (Project-Based Learning, PBL; and Research-Based Learning, RBL, mainly) and with storytelling as backbone. The project was developed by the five professors in the Foreign Language (FL) Minor of the Faculty of Education of Bilbao at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). The participants were undergraduates who were given the task of carrying out research to develop a collection of didactic resources and to produce a storytelling video to present it to the faculty in a poster session. The teaching methodology involved an introductory workshop by experts on the field and RBL activities through the seminars of the subjects, with emphasis on academic oral/written communication. Results of the students’ evaluation evidence the irrefutable benefits of the project for their learning process, as reflected by their increased awareness and motivation to work on the SDGs; a higher developed competence to select, design and implement didactic resources and techniques; the notable improvement of their communicative competence in English and French; and the gaining of higher-order skills such as critical thinking, creativity or team work, among others.