Timely Topics: A Collection of Articles from Literacy Links

A Review of Nine Effective Practices
in Adult Education and Literacy Classrooms

by Barbara J. Baird

The following practices identify teaching methods and techniques that encourage students to become active learners. They have been compiled by reviewing professional literature and interviewing learners, instructors, and administrators in adult education and literacy classes in Texas.

Good Practice Focuses on Complex, Meaningful Problems

Learning holds more interest for students when it involves skills they will use outside the classroom. Good instruction grows out of the nature and needs of the learners, and embeds a constant stream of relevant material into every learning activity. This means that teachers:

• encourage learners to draw connections between what they already know and what they are learning;
• use practical activities and hands-on materials that are relevant to the real-life experiences of adults;
• describe the advantages that will result from a learning activity; and
• structure reading and writing assignments that address issues and concerns from students' home lives, work lives, and community.

Good Practice Teaches Students How to Select Effective Learning Strategies

Learning strategies can be taught to students. Students who match learning strategies to learning tasks learn more effectively. Instructors can help students learn to become more reflective and self-regulated learners by coaching them on effective learning strategies; such as how to improve their reading comprehension and retention, how to take notes, how to participate in class discussions, and how to study for tests. This means that teachers:

• ask students to notice what actions they take to acquire new information and skills;
• encourage students to think about what kinds of learning activities they find most comfortable and most productive;
• help students discuss their strategies for reading, writing, numeracy, oral communication, and problem solving; and
• stress the importance of generating questions about the material - both to focus student effort and to identify what is known and not known.

Good Practice Varies Teaching Strategies, Assignments, and Learning Activities

Every group of learners exhibits great diversity in abilities, experiences, personalities, and preferred learning styles. Educators should be ready to try a range of different approaches in order to keep the pace of the classroom varied and to accommodate the learning styles of the students. No one method will work all the time under every circumstance, so effective teachers determine the most appropriate methods for a given situation, based on factors such as content and students' needs and interests. This means that teachers:

• give opportunities for class members to select activities, assignments, due dates, group or individual work, and pace of learning;
• provide options for assignments; such as, written papers, oral reports, and videotapes;
• break routines by incorporating a variety of teaching activities and methods; such as, role playing, debates, demonstrations, case studies, audiovisual presentations, guest speakers, computer-assisted instruction, and small group work; and
• use outlines, study questions, handouts, or study guides as organizational aids to help students see how each new topic relates to what they have already learned as well as to what they will be learning in the coming weeks.

Good Practice Structures Collaborative Learning Activities and Projects

Students learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process. Regardless of the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats. A successful teaching method is "learning by doing," which focuses on making learning less abstract by actually having the learners perform tasks and acquire skills. This means that teachers:

• facilitate class projects which allow learners to plan, implement, and evaluate projects that are useful to the group and the larger community;
• structure role plays that have students behaviorally demonstrate what they would do and say in a given role or situation;
• organize case studies which enable students to solve problems and make decisions based on actual happenings; and
• use manipulatives, which are anything tangible (toothpicks, marbles, blocks, apples, matches).

Good Practice Balances the Kinds of Questions Asked

Asking and answering questions are central to the learning process. The types of questions posed and the sequencing of questions should capture students' attention, arouse their curiosity, reinforce important points, and promote active learning. Different questions require different levels of thinking. Lower-level questions are appropriate for assessing students' preparation and comprehension, or for reviewing and summarizing content. Higher-level questions encourage students to think critically and to solve problems. This means that teachers:

• make sure that students have the necessary background knowledge before making an assignment;
• ask students to react personally or emotionally to the feelings brought up in the reading;
• include questions that ask for hunches, intuitive leaps, and educated guesses;
• ask students to "unpack their thinking" and describe how they arrived at answers; and
• allow students to design questions about what they are learning and pose them to other students in the class, or let them participate in designing tests for the class.

Good Practice Enhances Students' Self Concepts About Themselves as Learners

Self-concept can be defined as a set of perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes that people have about themselves. Self-concepts develop through interpersonal encounters with significant others. This tenant has major implications for the student-teacher relationship and the learning environment because there is a direct relationship between a student's self-concept, behavior, perception, and academic performance. Self-concepts are not rigid and fixed, but are flexible and modified by life experiences. Thus, teachers can create learning environ-ments that enhance students' self-concepts and academic performances by providing challenges, encouragement, and successful experiences. This means that teachers:

• look to students for advice and employ their skills and knowledge whenever possible;
• establish a classroom environment where mistakes are perceived as a part of learning;
• encourage students to take more risks by trying things they have never done before; and
• recognize sincere efforts and give credit for students having tried.

Good Practice Communicates High but Realistic Expectation

A teacher's expectations have a powerful effect on a student's performance. High expectations are important for everyone - for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the eager and motivated. Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. This means that teachers:

• set realistic expectations when making assignments, giving presentations, conducting discussions, and grading papers;
• help students focus on their continued improvement, not just one test such as passing the GED;
• help students evaluate their own progress by encouraging them to critique their own work, analyze their strengths, and work on their weaknesses; and
• help students visualize their future. They help students see options for the future and assist them with setting realistic goals and determining the concrete steps needed to accomplish them.

Good Practice Encourages Multiple Approaches to Solving Problems

Good instruction encourages multiple strategies for solving problems. Rather than trying to teach "the one right way" to solve a problem, teachers foster students' abilities to invent strategies for solving problems. This means that teachers:

• elicit critical thinking by asking students open-ended questions to which there is no single right answer;
• pose problems that do not have one correct solution;
• ask students to describe how solutions were reached; and
• compare and discuss answers so that students can see alternative approaches.

Good Practice Includes Instructors Modeling the Strategies and Skills They Teach

Effective teachers not only explain the processes they are teaching, but they also model the processes and describe their own thinking. Good teachers make apparent the strategies and skills they are teaching by explicitly and repeatedly modeling the processes and strategies they use in addressing complex tasks and solving problems. This means that teachers:

• externalize the critical thought processes they use when solving a mathematical problem; such as, making a table or picture, finding a pattern, working backwards, "guestimating,” doing like problems, or using simpler numbers;
• demonstrate the planning and revising steps they use when writing; such as, brainstorming, Webbing, drafting, revising, getting other opinions, and editing in order to produce a "final copy;"
• talk about how they approach literacy and problem solving tasks and describe how they match strategies with purpose; and
• talk about the mistakes they make while reading or writing or computing and describe their feelings and strategies for resolution.

Table of Contents | Next Article