Using Creativity and Landscape in ESOL Teaching
A Private, Experiential Workshop Exploring Art, Nature and Place as Learning Resources
This private professional development workshop is designed for ESOL teachers who want to explore new ways of creating meaningful learning experiences.
Together, we will use art, gardens, landscape, food, community and creative practice as starting points for reflection, conversation and learning. Rather than studying these ideas in a training room, you will experience them first-hand while exploring Perthshire.
Throughout the week, we will experiment with creative techniques that can be adapted for use with your own learners, while allowing space for curiosity, discussion and discovery.
Available from April to October.
This workshop is built around gardens, landscape, creativity, and outdoor exploration.
A winter edition of this workshop is currently in development, exploring creativity, storytelling, community and seasonal traditions during Scotland’s quieter months.
This workshop is designed for ESOL teachers, English language coaches, and language school owners who are curious about using creativity, nature, art, and place in English language education.
It is particularly suited to educators who:
- Enjoy experiential learning
- Want fresh inspiration for their teaching
- Are interested in art, gardens, food, culture, or slow travel
- Prefer participation and exploration over traditional training-room professional development
- Would like to develop new ways of creating meaningful learning experiences
No artistic experience is required.
Based at Blue Noun in Perthshire, Scotland, this workshop takes place both on-site and on location.
Throughout the week, we explore gardens, landscapes, artist studios, workshops, community projects, and local businesses, using nature and creativity as a lens through which to experience the region.
Alongside some of Perthshire’s best-known attractions, we also visit quieter places and communities that many visitors never discover.
Accommodation is provided by one of our carefully selected homestay hosts. Staying with local people is an important part of the Blue Noun experience and offers a chance to experience everyday life in Perthshire beyond the workshop itself. Learn more about our homestay hosts here.
What Your Week Can Include
Unlike our English holidays, this workshop places less emphasis on visitor attractions and more emphasis on creative exploration.
Depending on your interests, your week may include:
- Nature journalling and sketchbook techniques
- Botanical drawing and observational sketching
- Printmaking and other creative workshops
- Zine-making workshop(s)
- Songwriting workshop(s)
- Artist demonstrations and studio visits
- Garden visits and seasonal exploration
- Creative writing and reflective practice
- Conversations about adapting these techniques for language learners
- Visits to local businesses with exceptional stories
Rather than investing in a busy sightseeing schedule, we invest in materials, creative experiences, and opportunities to learn from local artists, makers, and specialists.
Every teacher holiday includes opportunities to explore language teaching in practice.
See how we redesigned pronunciation coaching by bringing together expertise from three different disciplines.
→ Pronunciation Gold, a Skills Workshop for ESOL Teachers
ESOL Teacher Professional Development Workshop (Creativity & Landscape)
The Story of this Workshop
This workshop exists because ESOL teachers kept asking if they could learn with me.
Some were looking for practical ways to bring more creativity into their teaching. Others already used creative approaches but wanted fresh ideas, techniques, and inspiration. Many were curious about the role that landscape, culture, art, food, and community experiences play in my work.
I suspect part of the appeal is that my work looks enjoyable. Teachers would often comment on posts about beavers, gardens, artists, music nights, or local food and ask whether I offered workshops for educators.
The truth is that I have spent more than 30 years working in education, including teacher training. Along the way, I have developed practical techniques, creative approaches, and ways of looking at the world that help turn everyday experiences into learning opportunities.
This workshop is an opportunity to explore those ideas together.
This video captures one of the ideas at the heart of this workshop.
Nature creates its own pauses and invitations.
As educators, how can we step into those moments and help learners notice more, reflect more deeply, and find language for what they have experienced?
What to Expect by The End Of The Week
By the end of the workshop, most participants leave with a collection of ideas, techniques, and experiences they are excited to share with their learners.
You may leave with:
- New creative techniques to explore with students
- Greater confidence using art materials and creative processes in language learning
- Ideas for incorporating nature, gardens, landscape, and place into teaching
- New ways of encouraging observation, reflection, and conversation
- Inspiration from artists, makers, growers, and community projects
- A sketchbook, journal, or collection of creative experiments developed during the week
Most importantly, you will leave with fresh enthusiasm for your work and a head full of possibilities to explore with your own learners.
A Simple Next Step
If you’re wondering whether this workshop will suit you, the next step is a short Zoom call.
It’s a chance for us to talk things through together — for you to ask questions, share what you’re looking for, and get a feel for whether this way of working (and working with me) feels right for you.
The call also helps make sure expectations are aligned, so everyone arrives knowing what kind of week they’re stepping into.
These holidays aren’t designed to be booked on impulse — the Zoom call gives us both space to check that it’s a good match.
If this sounds like the kind of English experience you’ve been looking for, let’s talk it through.
Book a Zoom call to explore your holiday
What to Know About Our English Holidays
Before you decide if you want to book a Zoom chat, you may find it helpful to explore how we design our English holidays and support your experience.
→ Real-World English
How English develops through lived experience, conversation, and everyday moments — not classroom performance.
→ Discover the Mix that Makes a Blue Noun Holiday Unique
A simple visual diagram showing how activities, schedule and support combine across a week.
→ What’s Included
Practical details, support, and what your holiday fee covers.
