STUDY GROUP OUTLINE
Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach:
The Power of Dialogue in Educating Adults
by Jane Vella, published by Jossey-Bass, Inc., Publishers, c 1994.
Part Two: The Principles in Action - Across Cultures and Around
the World
Chapter 6 - Sequence and Reinforcement: Knowing Where and How to Begin
- The chapter begins with the statement, "Sequence and reinforcement
are a set of principles that work remarkably well in language learning
and in every other kind of teaching as well." (pg 78) Have you used
sequence and reinforcement in a language learning setting, and, if so,
what type of material (greetings, response to commands, etc) did you present
that way?
- Ms. Vella was asked to design an English language and literacy training
program for Haitian migrant workers. She sacrificed part of the time she
had for instruction at the beginning of the summer so she could learn about
migrant workers and life in a migrant camp. (pgs 78-79) Why was this "delay" such
a key part of the success of the training problem that evolved?
- "Sequence means begin at the beginning: move from small to big,
slow to fast, easy to hard." (pg 80) Think back to your childhood
and teen years. How did you learn to read or ride a bike or dance the latest
steps? What hobby have you mastered and how did you go from dabbler to
master?
- Sometimes teachers feel that everything they teach must be "important" and
of significant long-term value to their students. Ms. Vella would disagree,
(pg 82) She feels that what we as teachers teach should be of immediate
satisfaction to the students so they will experience two things: the pride
of learning something new and the desire to reinforce their new knowledge.
What have you taught your students in the past month that they really wanted
to learn, enough that the students surprised you later with their integration
of that new information with other, previously learned information?
- "I am convinced that fidelity to the principle of sequence is harder
on the teacher than on the adult learner." (pgs 82-83) When have you
been bored or frustrated by how often your students need to repeat something
before they have mastered it? Have you ever quit teaching the material
before the students finished learning it?
- Ms. Vella says that a needs assessment "has to be open at both ends." (pg
84) What does she mean by that? After a needs assessment has been completed
on your students do you re-evaluate it to see if it needs to be revised
or broken into smaller categories?
- How do you feel inside when you look at your students and one or more
of them look dazed, confused, scared, embarrassed? (pgs 85-86) Do you blame
them for not paying attention? Do you blame yourself for being a poor communicator?
- Ms. Vella believes that the size of a group, especially one that is smaller
than 10, has a significant bearing of the effectiveness of the instruction,
(pg 86) In the real world of adult education, few teachers ever have such
small classes. Consider the size classes you have taught; how has class
size impacted positively or negatively on the learning opportunities available
to your students?
- The application of humor and rhythm to classroom instruction is often
neglected. (pg 86) If these are methods you have used successfully, when
and how were they used? If you have not used humor and/or rhythm how might
you try it in a lesson next week?
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