INTERLINK Curriculum Statement

From its inception, INTERLINK’s goals have been broader and deeper than those of typical English language programs. Fostering cultural awareness, personal growth and academic readiness has been as important to INTERLINK as improving students’ linguistic skills. This curriculum views learning not as the accumulation of data but as a dynamic process of personal growth.
Learning at INTERLINK is a cooperative, heuristic venture which relies on active student participation and the formation of a community of fellow learners. Each teacher accepts the challenge of establishing a caring and stimulating milieu where students can most readily take in new ideas and take risks in practicing what they have learned. Teachers serve as mentors dedicated to promoting the linguistic proficiency, academic success, cross-cultural development, and general well-being of their students.
INTERLINK teachers are selected for their knowledge and competence in the field of ESL, their extensive cross-cultural experience, and their unqualified commitment to their students. The quality and integrity of the program rely on the creativity and devotion of skillful practitioners rather than on a set of recipes or prescriptions contained in a curriculum document. The curriculum is a guide intended to provide needed structure and consistency and is formulated to allow teachers maximum freedom and control of their classes. Teachers are encouraged to use a variety of methods and approaches to mold their classes in accordance with their personal pedagogical outlooks, the needs of the particular individuals in the class, and the fundamental principles and goals of INTERLINK.
The objectives and teaching practices at INTERLINK are predicated on an underlying humanistic philosophy. By focusing not on skills alone but on the whole learner, we attempt to create for each student an experience that promotes awareness and self-knowledge. The program’s goal is not so much to dispense information about language as to help students discover and use language for effective, communicative purposes. We subscribe to Gattegno's precept of "the subordination of teaching to learning” as well as to the Rogerian thesis that "learning how to learn is more important than being "taught" something from the "superior" vantage point of a teacher..." (H. D. Brown, 1980).
 
The INTERLINK curriculum provides structure and sets standards for how we help students learn. It defines the linguistic, cross-cultural, and academic skills and competencies that students must acquire to achieve success in their post-ESL endeavors and describes content, goals, competencies, materials and strategies for each level and class. The curriculum is a dynamic, evolving statement that reflects INTERLINK’s philosophy about the nature of learning and teaching and serves as a practical guide for achieving the stated goals. It is intended to assure reliable preparation for students and an orderly, consistent progression from level to level. The principles on which the curriculum is predicated are elaborated on below.

Classes are student-centered:

• Each individual is respected
• The needs of the students come first
• Students are encouraged to become independent learners
• Individual learning styles and preferences are recognized, appreciated and accommodated

Students are best served through humanistic, holistic approaches:

• A caring relationship between student and teacher is established by treating each student as a “whole” person
• Language is best learned as a “whole” system and not a collection of isolated skills
• Linguistic and cross-cultural growth are inter-related and inter-dependent
• Lessons integrate linguistic, cross-cultural, and academic skills
• Students are encouraged to examine their own strengths and weaknesses, and their own individual styles of learning

Class focus is on learning rather than teaching:

• Teachers help students “discover” principles and relationships, and develop “inner criteria” for correctness
• "Teacher talk" is kept to a minimum
• Independent study is targeted towards individual needs and allows students to learn at their own pace
• Students learn through "doing" (experiential learning)
• Success is measured by what students can “do” communicatively and cross-culturally rather than by what they “know” cognitively
• Covering specified materials in a textbook does not constitute learning
• Learning takes place outside as well as inside of the classroom through continual language practice and cross-cultural contact