International language schools have the opportunity to inspire environmental consciousness among millions of students worldwide. Yet, most coursebooks relegate environmental topics to a single unit, leaving potential for meaningful dialogue unexplored. Here’s how to make every lesson count when greening up your school. 

Why environmental conversations matter in language learning

By weaving sustainability discussions into language lessons, educators can simultaneously develop language skills and global awareness. Globally, the language teaching industry is working with tens of millions of students each year. If schools can make even a small proportion of these students reflect on how they can modify their behaviour to become more environmentally sustainable, the industry’s total impact could be really significant. So how can language schools go about this?

Practical strategies for integrating environmental dialogues

Language teachers can incorporate environmental themes through:

• Discussion-based activities exploring local and global ecological challenges
• Vocabulary lessons focused on sustainability themes and terminology
• Role-playing exercises about environmental policy and personal choices
• Analysing authentic materials like news articles or documentaries about climate issues

Free resources to support green teaching

Our partners over at Green Standard Schools have developed an impressive range of free educational materials for language teachers worldwide. The collection includes 240+ detailed lesson plans and 48 short instructional videos, all designed for teachers and learners of English, French, and Spanish. Teachers can easily access these materials by:

1. Visiting the Green Standard Schools project website
2. Completing a quick, simple registration process
3. Exploring the comprehensive collection of teaching resources

By transforming every language lesson into an opportunity for environmental reflection, our industry can cultivate a generation of globally-conscious communicators. Small, consistent steps can lead to significant collective change. Get started today and let’s move one step closer to a greener future for us all.

Written by Stephanie Clark