STUDY GROUP OUTLINE

Part One: A Proven Approach to Teaching Adults:

1. Thomas Hutchinson (1978) sums up needs assessment as the WWW question: Who needs what as defined by whom? If "who" are needers; "what" are needs; and "whom" are definers, why does Ms. Vella say the WWW question "reveals the political issues involved in preparing a course for adult learners?" (pg 4) (Principle 1)
2. "Teachers do not empower adult learners; they encourage the use of the power that learners were born with. . . . The rise and fall of learners' energy is an accurate indicator of their sense of safety." (pg 9) In your response to this statement, explain how you would create a "sense of safety" in your classroom. (Principle 2)
3. A positive relationship between the teacher and each student is paramount in creating a feeling of safety in the classroom. But the reality is that almost every teacher has had at least one student who was very unlikable, often to the point of creating tension within the class setting. If you have had already had a "difficult" student, how did you handle yourself? If you have not yet had a "difficult" student, what could you change about yourself at this point in your teaching career that would help avoid escalating tension between yourself and a "difficult" student? (Principle 3)
4. Sequence + Reinforcement = Adult Learning. Give two examples from your classroom experience: The first example is one in which you failed to provide either/both a logical sequence or sufficient reinforcement for a class activity; the result was that students were frustrated and the teacher was discouraged. Your second example is one in which you succeeded in preparing your students for what turned out to be an enjoyable and very effective classroom learning activity. Be specific in identifying what you did differently in the two situations. (Principle 4)
5. "Praxis is a process: doing-reflecting-deciding-changing-new doing." (pg 12) Use the four open questions of praxis to focus on one aspect of your classroom behavior (for example, integrating new students at the beginning of winter semester into already-established student/teacher relationships, etc.). (Principle 5)
6. One evidence that teachers respect their students-learners - is that the learners are presented with many opportunities for making choices. Ms. Vella cautions teachers to: " Don't ever do what the learner can do; don't ever decide what the learner can decide." She goes on to explain that "... learning is in the doing and the deciding. Teachers must be careful not to steal that learning opportunity from the adult learner." (pgs 13-14) Have you ever "stolen" a learning opportunity from your students? At what point did you realize what had happened? Were you able to recreate that learning opportunity at a later time? (Principle 6)
7. Ms. Vella concludes her description of taking her first computer course with the words, "The mass of information frightened me off and I became another statistic: another adult learner who began a course and then dropped out." (pgs 14-15) How does the following formula relate to Ms. Vella's story: Cognitive + Affective + Psychomotor = Learning ? Do you have a story of a time when your ideas, plus your feelings, plus your actions produced a very painful learning experience? (Principle 7)
8. Most adults have very little time in which to acquire a large amount of information, whether that information is about learning a new language or about passing the GED test. For some, a date forced on them by an outside force (for example, an employer, government agency, need to find a job, etc.) is the strongest motivation for attending adult education classes. What can a teacher do to make each class period of immediate value to the students? (Principle 8)
9. Educator Paulo Freire said, "Only the student can name the moment of the death of the professor." (pg 17) Explain this in your own words and tell how, or if, it applies to you. (Principle 9)
10. Ms. Vella warns that "... negative energy can destroy the learning effort . . . Our task is not to make a perfect team but to perfect ourselves in the effort to make our team work effectively . . . perfect systems are not the end of learning. The end of learning is the personal development of the learner." (pgs 19-20) An "optimal field" exists in your classroom when you create a "win/win situation" for all students. Have you ever turned some "negative energy" into a "win/win situation?" What was different about your classroom before and after the negative energy was rechannelled? (Principle 10)
11. Engagement between learners and what they are learning is a teacher's goal, but how do you as a teacher feel when learners are more engaged in what they are already learning than in what you want to teach them next? (Principle 11)
    
12. According to educator Thomas Kuhn (1970), a paradigm shift "will only occur when the present pattern has proven itself ineffective and impossible to live with." (pg 22) What present pattern exists in your classroom that is both ineffective and impossible to live with? What are three possibilities you might incorporate in your teaching and/or behavior that would create a paradigm shift in that situation? (Principle 12)

Next | Table of Contents