Toward Sustainability in German Curricula

This chapter discusses the design and implementation of curricular reforms to the German program at Texas Tech University (TTU) framed under a department-wide initiative to rethink foreign language curricula: The Global Readiness Through Language and Culture (GRLC) project. This project is grounded in Critical Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) and Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL). After discussing the project's rationale, goals, and theoretical underpinnings, we explore its impact on the German curriculum by evaluating data collected via an assessment rubric and surveys administered in three German courses (second-to fourth-year). The chapter demonstrates how reconceptualizing language education through CCBI and PBLL creates a space of education for sustainability, defined as an experience that fosters critical awareness of social, environmental, and economic challenges and equips students with transferable skills to address them. Preliminary findings will be of interest to post-secondary German programs seeking models for transforming the curriculum to support sustainability.