The Challenge Addressed
The practice introduces a research-based, participatory model of teaching English as a foreign language in a general secondary school. It responds to a common challenge in contemporary education: traditional, teacher-centred instruction often limits students’ autonomy, weakens intrinsic motivation, and does not sufficiently develop transversal competences essential for lifelong learning. Many students progress through school without learning how to reflect, collaborate, self-regulate, or engage meaningfully with real social issues.
Why the Practice is Innovative
My innovative approach transforms the English classroom into a shared learning community, where students gradually take responsibility for their own learning. The practice is grounded in principles of learner autonomy, metacognition, peer collaboration and dialogic pedagogy.
Instead of homework, students work with a digital task bank on Microsoft Teams, selecting tasks at appropriate difficulty levels, checking answers using provided keys, and tracking their progress in reflective learning journals. This routine cultivates digital responsibility, independence, and the ability to plan and monitor one’s learning.
Type of Integration and Key Competences
The practice integrates several European key competences. The core of the model is the development of the Personal, Social and Learning to Learn competence: students set goals, assess their work, reflect on mistakes, cooperate in pairs and groups, support peers through the “three-before-me” rule, and develop resilience and confidence.
Digital competence emerges naturally through the regular use of online materials, critical engagement with digital resources, and responsible organisation of one’s work in a virtual space.
Citizenship competence is enhanced through open classroom discussions on real social issues, such as tolerance towards immigrants in the local community. Students practise listening, argumentation and respectful dialogue, discovering that language learning can be a space for exploring values and understanding others.
Role of the Teacher/Trainer
The teacher’s role shifts from instructor to facilitator, mentor and designer of learning environments. I guide students through reflection, support them emotionally and academically, and create structures that allow them to take ownership of their progress.
This approach proves highly engaging for learners, including those who previously struggled with confidence or motivation. The classroom becomes a space where making mistakes is safe, curiosity is encouraged, and every learner has a voice.
Type of Learning Activities
Learning activities include collaborative problem-solving, peer teaching, guided reflection, digital independent work, portfolio-based elements, and structured discussions.
These activities support diverse learning styles and foster inclusion, as each student can contribute through their strengths.
Impact of the Practice
The impact of the practice is visible in students’ increased autonomy, stronger intrinsic motivation, improved cooperation skills, deeper reflection, and enhanced linguistic performance.
Many students report that they “learned how to learn”, that they feel heard and respected, and that English lessons became a place where they can speak, think, and grow.
Potential for Replication
The practice has strong potential for replication, further reinforced by the publication of a full academic monograph documenting the model, its methodology and its impact.
The book, reviewed positively by a university professor and external reviewer, includes a clear recommendation for the use of the model by other teachers and for its consideration in developing both local and national educational policy. This expert endorsement demonstrates that the practice is not only transferable, but also grounded in rigorous research and valuable for broader systemic innovation.
The documented evidence, case study materials and structured description of methods provided in the book offer a ready-to-use framework for educators, school leaders and policymakers interested in competence-based and student-centred learning.
Innovator: Anna Sarbiewska - The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn