What do wheelie bins and youth voice have in common? The answer: both are at the forefront of new project-based learning (PBL) initiatives at Sunderland College. In February, the Edge team visited this Edge Future Learning Leader to explore their latest trailblazing PBL projects in an FE setting. The College supports over 10,000 full and part-time learners and has progressed from trialling PBL, real-world and community-connected learning, to integrating these into an increasing number of its curriculum areas.
We met with Chris McMahon, Lecturer and Programme Leader of Uniformed Public Services, who showed us some exciting new initiatives that the College has been offering his Level 3 NCFE students. While Sunderland College has been expanding its PBL provision for several years, two projects, in particular, have been successfully helping students contextualise their learning, while developing critical skills that will serve them in their future careers.
By the second or third year of the Level 3 NCFE course, classroom-based assignments can become somewhat stale and repetitive for students. To combat this, Chris has helped transform certain units using PBL. In close partnership with Northumbria Police’s Community Engagement Team, the College has developed immersive scenarios that teach students to manage conflict situations. These test students’ de-escalation skills (emphasising tactics like body language, verbal communication and teamwork) while real police officers observe and provide detailed feedback on their performance. Scenarios vary but include dealing with intoxicated people on nights out, or managing disputes over parking spots and wheelie bins.
