The pandemic introduced numerous challenges to our personal and professional lives as teachers. We may have felt an adrenaline rush in the early days as we had to rally all our personal and collective resources in transitioning to online teaching. But, as the pandemic dragged on, many of us felt the fatigue of having to pivot from F2F to hybrid to fully online teaching at the drop of a dime. The extra energy needed to help students cope with learning through different modes also drained our internal resources. This forum will focus on the strategies that teachers at various levels of education—from K12 to university and language schools and beyond—have replenished their stores of energy and enthusiasm.

Formal education systems have faced the expectation of developing the whole learner and more recent calls are for developing lifelong learners. In the 100 years since Harvard Business School pioneered the case study approach, cases have become recognized as pedagogical techniques for experiential learning to cultivate the capacity for critical analysis, judgment, problem solving, and action. Experiential learning (Silberman, 2007) affords students in higher education with opportunities to meet course aims by applying knowledge and demonstrating skills. In addition to engaged language in use through preparation for class discussions consolidating both life and academic experience, case work supports students in building long-lasting abilities that transfer to situations beyond the classroom. This teaching practice session introduces the merits of case studies with examples used in discussion and business English courses sampled from various ELT materials and supplementary resources. The presentation also highlights seven meta-skills prompted through case study learning to better prepare students for work and foster an interest in ongoing learning after university. Participants will consider how they might incorporate cases studies in their context. Following a brief overview of constructivist pedagogy, this session will interest teachers looking for practical means to meet active learning demands and support learner engagement.