An introduction to thematic learning

When an educational team from one or more centers plans to work through thematic learning, the process of implementing this methodology will take place in three phases:

• Decision. In this phase the topic will be chosen. It is a very important phase since the theme will be the concept worked on throughout the duration of the project. The topics can be very varied and will depend a lot on the educational stage of the students. Examples of topics can be pirates, the egyptian pyramids, the arrival of man on the moon, etc. Sometimes there are very specific concepts (the lives of soldiers during the Second World War) and other very open ones (life on earth).

• Integration. The concept or theme must be integrated with the study plans and for this, activities, visits, events, etc. must be made to introduce students to the project. The students will have to have a vision of what is going to be worked from that moment until the end of the project. In addition, teachers will have to adapt their curricular plans and content to guide and accommodate the topic with which they are going to work.

• Action. It is perhaps the longest phase. In this phase the methodology will be developed at the same time that the chosen topic is being worked on. Understanding, solving problems in daily life and avoiding rote learning should be the guideline for the development of this part of the project. In the information society in which we find ourselves today, rote learning has no place since the Internet and other resources, as in real life, will provide us with all the necessary data. The kid of the question is how to use that information to solve the problem posed.