Developing Collaborative Narratives With Adolescent Learners in Hungary

This chapter explores collaborative narrative as a method of cooperative learning that generates co-created materials and cultivates a cohesive classroom community for sustainable education in the English language classroom, specifically in the Hungarian context. The chapter begins by discussing collaborative learning’s role in developing social-emotional competences for sustainable education and its impact on language learning. The chapter then delves into leveraging the Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling method to establish a cohesive classroom community that opens the door for developing English language skills and social-emotional competences related to collaboration. The main purpose of the chapter is threefold. First, to introduce the reader to the social-emotional benefits of collaborative learning in the language classroom and the power of using narrative as a vehicle of language instruction. Second, to describe local and national education policies in Hungary that affected the development and implementation of these materials. Third, to show the reader how to collaboratively develop a narrative with adolescent learners in the English language classroom and explore ways to use the narrative to develop materials for innovative teaching and sustainable learning. Overall, this chapter underscores the significance of collaborative narrative creation as a tool for fostering community, building language skills, developing social-emotional competences, and engaging adolescent learners in the English language classroom through creative materials, with specific consideration given to the Hungarian context.