Getting There - Student Engagement
and Chickering's Seven Principles for Good Practice
by David Joost
No gathering of adult education providers would be complete without an obligatory discussion of “barriers.” The list is as endless as it is reiterative…barriers to funding, barriers to attendance, barriers to progress, barriers to completion, travel barriers, child care barriers, facility barriers, financial barriers, personal barriers, institutional barriers, administrative barriers. The next portion of the discussion inevitably turns to how well other education and training programs are funded and how things would be different if only our program was likewise resourced. Astonishingly, a March 1987 article by Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson in the American Association of Higher Education Bulletin described the same perceived conditions and same lamentations among the faculty and administrators in higher education. Refreshingly, however Chickering and Gamson chose to offer solutions to, instead of an affirmation of this orthodoxy of scarcity. Unsurprisingly, the answer that they give is one that tells us that we must look to ourselves for our own salvation. Our teachers are our best resource and the only resource we have that can make significant differences to learners. The improvement of teaching is the essence of professional development. Professional development efforts and activities that do not produce improved teaching and learning should be discontinued in favor of effective practices. The way that learners learn has not changed but we must change the way that too many of our teachers teach.
Chickering and Gamson recognized the struggles teachers face as they try to educate students with then 20th Century and now 21st Century attention spans. Their seven principles are already practiced by good teachers and have already been validated by good educational research. These principles are not meant to be relegated to a convenient checklist that is unceremoniously filed away in a compliance folder along with the latest request for a program improvement plan. They are common sense, and they are hard work. They change the expectations for teachers. They change the expectations for learners. These principles give faculty the tools they need to transcend uninspired instructional practice and robotic methods of delivery.
These are the Seven Principles for Good Practice:
Encourage Contact Between Learner and Teacher
This means…
Teachers know the learners’ names and call them by name. Learners feel comfortable asking for advice from teachers for important situations in their lives. The teacher talks with the learners. The learners talk with the teacher.
Develop Reciprocity and Cooperation Among
Learners
This means…
Learners learn to share ideas and react to the thinking of others in a healthy and respectful way. Learners connect learning as a group, social and collaborative experience.
Encourage Active Learning
This means…
Learners talk about and write about what they are learning with each other and with the teacher. Learners apply what they are learning to their daily lives and past experiences.
Give Prompt Feedback
This means…
Learners get feedback on how they are performing in class. Learners need regular opportunities to receive suggestions for how to improve. Learners need to be able to reflect on what they have learned, how learning has changed them, and how to assess what they need to know next.
Emphasize Time on Task
This means that…
Learners spend time learning and thinking about what they have learned and what they need to learn next. Teachers spend time coaxing learners to improve and not to expect “quiet time” in class.
Communicate High Expectations
This means that…
Learners know that more is expected of them. Teachers expect more of themselves. Learners are expected to learn. Teachers are expected to teach. High expectation works for underprepared students and unmotivated students as well as overachievers.
Respect Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning
This means that…
Teachers give opportunities to students to show what they know and what they can do in ways that they can be successful. Also, students are encouraged to learn in ways that may be less familiar to them. Teachers learn to teach in ways that may not come easily to them.
Chickering and Gamson confirm that there is plenty of evidence that the Seven Principles work. Improvement of education and especially adult education lies in the hands of the teachers and the learners. The administrator’s role is to create the environment for good practice to flourish. That environment must include:
- A sense of shared purpose by the learners, teachers and administrators.
- Vigorous leadership and support from experienced faculty and administration.
- Sensible funding decisions.
- Procedures in confluence with learning as a purpose.
- Analysis and continuous adjustments of what’s working and what’s not.
Resourcing faculty adequately so they can do their jobs need not mean the latest technology and newest publications. It does mean minimizing distractions, simplifying processes, and helping teachers “stick to the knitting” of teaching.
For Chickering and Gamson, “Getting There” means looking to ourselves as our own saviors. It means teaching the way we already know good teachers teach. It means placing the responsibility on learners that they learn. It means that if we are the problem, then we must also be the solution.
About the Author
Dr. David Joost is the Director of Adult Education Programs at Houston Community College. He can be reached by calling (713) 718-8379 or electronically at david.joost@hccs.edu.
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