Assume positive intentions Actively listen to one another ...€¦ · • Assume positive intentions • Actively listen to one another ... PRINCIPLES OF ADULT LEARNING By Stephen

Carrie Ekey, Literacy Coaches Training, Feb. 2012 Day 1 Page 1

Norms for International Literacy Coaching Cohort #3

• Assume positive intentions

• Actively listen to one another

• Feel comfortable and respected if you disagree

• Be aware of your “air” time

• Honor peoples’ time with starting and ending times

• Feel free to take risks in our safe environment

• Keep our conversations confidential when needed

• Share food

• Operate in collegial, friendly, and supportive atmosphere

• Solicit sharing of ideas of everyone

• Be aware of group and individual goals

• Come prepared

• As a group, we can return to, review, and revise our norms


PRINCIPLES OF ADULT LEARNING

By Stephen Lieb

Senior Technical Writer and Planner, Arizona Department of Health Services

and part-time Instructor, South Mountain Community College

from VISION, Fall 1991

Adults As Learners

Part of being an effective instructor involves understanding how adults learn best. Compared to children

and teens, adults have special needs and requirements as learners. Despite the apparent truth, adult

learning is a relatively new area of study. The field of adult learning was pioneered by Malcom Knowles.

He identified the following characteristics of adult learners:

• Adults are autonomous and self-directed. They need to be free to direct themselves. Their teachers

must actively involve adult participants in the learning process and serve as facilitators for them.

Specifically, they must get participants' perspectives about what topics to cover and let them work

on projects that reflect their interests. They should allow the participants to assume responsibility

for presentations and group leadership. They have to be sure to act as facilitators, guiding

participants to their own knowledge rather than supplying them with facts. Finally, they must show

participants how the class will help them reach their goals (e.g., via a personal goals sheet).

• Adults have accumulated a foundation of life experiences and knowledge that may include work-

related activities, family responsibilities, and previous education. They need to connect learning to

this knowledge/experience base. To help them do so, they should draw out participants' experience

and knowledge which is relevant to the topic. They must relate theories and concepts to the

participants and recognize the value of experience in learning.

• Adults are goal-oriented. Upon enrolling in a course, they usually know what goal they want to

attain. They, therefore, appreciate an educational program that is organized and has clearly defined

elements. Instructors must show participants how this class will help them attain their goals. This

classification of goals and course objectives must be done early in the course.

• Adults are relevancy-oriented. They must see a reason for learning something. Learning has to be

applicable to their work or other responsibilities to be of value to them. Therefore, instructors must

identify objectives for adult participants before the course begins. This means, also, that theories

and concepts must be related to a setting familiar to participants. This need can be fulfilled by

letting participants choose projects that reflect their own interests.

• Adults are practical, focusing on the aspects of a lesson most useful to them in their work. They

may not be interested in knowledge for its own sake. Instructors must tell participants explicitly

how the lesson will be useful to them on the job.

• As do all learners, adults need to be shown respect. Instructors must acknowledge the wealth of

experiences that adult participants bring to the classroom. These adults should be treated as equals

in experience and knowledge and allowed to voice their opinions freely in class.

Motivating the Adult Learner

Another aspect of adult learning is motivation. At least six factors serve as sources of motivation for adult

learning:

• Social relationships: to make new friends, to meet a need for associations and friendships.

• External expectations: to comply with instructions from someone else; to fulfill the expectations


or recommendations of someone with formal authority.

• Social welfare: to improve ability to serve mankind, prepare for service to the community, and

improve ability to participate in community work.

• Personal advancement: to achieve higher status in a job, secure professional advancement, and

stay abreast of competitors.

• Escape/Stimulation: to relieve boredom, provide a break in the routine of home or work, and

provide a contrast to other exacting details of life.

• Cognitive interest: to learn for the sake of learning, seek knowledge for its own sake, and to

satisfy an inquiring mind.

Barriers and Motivation

Unlike children and teenagers, adults have many responsibilities that they must balance against the

demands of learning. Because of these responsibilities, adults have barriers against participating in

learning. Some of these barriers include lack of time, money, confidence, or interest, lack of information

about opportunities to learn, scheduling problems, "red tape," and problems with child care and

transportation.

Motivation factors can also be a barrier. What motivates adult learners? Typical motivations include a

requirement for competence or licensing, an expected (or realized) promotion, job enrichment, a need to

maintain old skills or learn new ones, a need to adapt to job changes, or the need to learn in order to

comply with company directives.

The best way to motivate adult learners is simply to enhance their reasons for enrolling and decrease the

barriers. Instructors must learn why their students are enrolled (the motivators); they have to discover

what is keeping them from learning. Then the instructors must plan their motivating strategies. A

successful strategy includes showing adult learners the relationship between training and an expected

promotion.

Learning Tips for Effective Instructors

Educators must remember that learning occurs within each individual as a continual process throughout

life. People learn at different speeds, so it is natural for them to be anxious or nervous when faced with a

learning situation. Positive reinforcement by the instructor can enhance learning, as can proper timing of

the instruction.

Learning results from stimulation of the senses. In some people, one sense is used more than others to

learn or recall information. Instructors should present materials that stimulates as many senses as possible

in order to increase their chances of teaching success.

There are four critical elements of learning that must be addressed to ensure that participants learn. These

elements are

1. motivation 2. reinforcement 3. retention 4. transference


Motivation. If the participant does not recognize the need for the information (or has been offended or

intimidated), all of the instructor's effort to assist the participant to learn will be in vain. The instructor

must establish rapport with participants and prepare them for learning; this provides motivation.

Instructors can motivate students via several means:

• Set a feeling or tone for the lesson. Instructors should try to establish a friendly, open atmosphere

that shows the participants they will help them learn.

• Set an appropriate level of concern. The level of tension must be adjusted to meet the level of

importance of the objective. If the material has a high level of importance, a higher level of

tension/stress should be established in the class. However, people learn best under low to moderate

stress; if the stress is too high, it becomes a barrier to learning.

• Set an appropriate level of difficulty. The degree of difficulty should be set high enough to

challenge participants but not so high that they become frustrated by information overload. The

instruction should predict and reward participation, culminating in success.

In addition, participants need specific knowledge of their learning results (feedback ). Feedback must be

specific, not general. Participants must also see a reward for learning. The reward does not necessarily

have to be monetary; it can be simply a demonstration of benefits to be realized from learning the

material. Finally, the participant must be interested in the subject. Interest is directly related to reward.

Adults must see the benefit of learning in order to motivate themselves to learn the subject.

Reinforcement. Reinforcement is a very necessary part of the teaching/learning process; through it,

instructors encourage correct modes of behavior and performance.

• Positive reinforcement is normally used by instructors who are teaching participants new skills. As

the name implies, positive reinforcement is "good" and reinforces "good" (or positive) behavior.

• Negative reinforcement is the contingent removal of a noxious stimulus that tends to increase the

behavior. The contingent presentation of a noxious stimulus that tends to decrease a behavior is

called Punishment. Reinforcing a behavior will never lead to extinction of that behavior by

definition. Punishment and Time Out lead to extinction of a particular behavior, but positive or

negative reinforcement of that behavior never will. (To read more about negative reinforcement,

you can check out Maricopa Center for Learning & Instruction Negative Reinforcement

Univeristy.)

When instructors are trying to change behaviors (old practices), they should apply both positive and

negative reinforcement.

Reinforcement should be part of the teaching-learning process to ensure correct behavior. Instructors need

to use it on a frequent and regular basis early in the process to help the students retain what they have

learned. Then, they should use reinforcement only to maintain consistent, positive behavior.

Retention. Students must retain information from classes in order to benefit from the learning. The

instructors' jobs are not finished until they have assisted the learner in retaining the information. In order

for participants to retain the information taught, they must see a meaning or purpose for that information.

The must also understand and be able to interpret and apply the information. This understanding includes

their ability to assign the correct degree of importance to the material.

The amount of retention will be directly affected by the degree of original learning. Simply stated, if the

participants did not learn the material well initially, they will not retain it well either.


Retention by the participants is directly affected by their amount of practice during the learning.

Instructors should emphasize retention and application. After the students demonstrate correct (desired)

performance, they should be urged to practice to maintain the desired performance. Distributed practice is

similar in effect to intermittent reinforcement.

Transference. Transfer of learning is the result of training -- it is the ability to use the information taught

in the course but in a new setting. As with reinforcement, there are two types of transfer: positive and

negative.

• Positive transference, like positive reinforcement, occurs when the participants uses the behavior

taught in the course.

• Negative transference, again like negative reinforcement, occurs when the participants do not do

what they are told not to do. This results in a positive (desired) outcome.

Transference is most likely to occur in the following situations:

• Association -- participants can associate the new information with something that they already

know.

• Similarity -- the information is similar to material that participants already know; that is, it revisits

a logical framework or pattern.

• Degree of original learning -- participant's degree of original learning was high.

• Critical attribute element -- the information learned contains elements that are extremely

beneficial (critical) on the job.

Although adult learning is relatively new as field of study, it is just as substantial as traditional education

and carries and potential for greater success. Of course, the heightened success requires a greater

responsibility on the part of the teacher. Additionally, the learners come to the course with precisely

defined expectations. Unfortunately, there are barriers to their learning. The best motivators for adult

learners are interest and selfish benefit. If they can be shown that the course benefits them pragmatically,

they will perform better, and the benefits will be longer lasting.











Principles of Adult Learning (from Judith Warren Little, 1987) Principle Implications for work with teammates or teacher

1. Adults will commit to learning something when the goals and objectives are considered realistic and important to the learner. That is, perceived as being immediately useful and relevant to their personal and professional needs.

2. Adult learners need to see the results of their efforts and need to have accurate feedback about progress toward their goals.

3. Adult learning is ego involved. There is always fear of external judgment that we adults are less than adequate, which produces anxiety during new learning situations.

4. Adults come to any new learning experience with a wide range of previous experiences, knowledge, skills, self-direction, interests, and competence.

5. Adults want to be the origins of their own learning; that is, involved in the selection of objectives, content, activities, and assessment.

6. Adults reject prescriptions by others for their learning, especially when what is prescribed is viewed as an attack on what they are presently doing.

7. Motivation is produced by the learner; all one can do is encourage and create conditions which will nurture what already exists in the adult.

8. Adult learning is enhanced by behaviors that demonstrate respect, trust, and concern for the learner.






Conferring with Students about Writing

The Teacher’s Role in a Conference

Research

In the first part of the conversation:

finding out what the writer is doing

• invite the student to set an agenda for the conference

• get on a line of thinking about the students writing work by asking research questions and reading the student’s writing

• decide what to teach the student

Decide

Teach In the second part of the conversation:

helping the writer do it better

• give the student critical feedback

• teach the student

• nudge the student to have-a-go

• link the conference to the student’s independent work

Record Take notes on what was learned and taught within the conference

(added by Katie Wood Ray)

The Student’s Role in a Conference

In the first part of the conversation:

• set the agenda for the conference by describing her writing work

• respond to her teacher’s research questions by describing her writing work more deeply

In the second art of the conversation:

• listen carefully to her teacher’s feedback and teaching

• ask questions to clarify and deepen her understanding of her teacher’s feedback and teaching

• have-a-go with what her teacher taught her

• commit to trying what her teacher taught her after the conference

adapted from How’s It Going, by Carl Anderson


Inquiry Study on Conferring

What does the teacher say and do? What does the student say and do?


What does the teacher say and do? What does the student say and do?

What is my greatest learning about conferring? How will this impact my work in my classroom (or others I work with)? How could this or another inquiry study be used in my school?




Pocket Guide to Probing Questions

The distinction between clarifying questions and probing questions is very difficult for most people working with protocols. So is the distinction between probing questions and recommendations for action. The basic distinctions are:

Clarifying Questions are simple questions of fact. They clarify the dilemma and provide the nuts and bolts so that the participants can ask good probing questions and provide useful feedback later in the protocol. Clarifying questions are for the participants, and should not go beyond the boundaries of the presenter’s dilemma. They have brief, factual answers, and don’t provide any new “food for thought” for the presenter. The litmus test for a clarifying question is: Does the presenter have to think before s/he answers? If so, it’s almost certainly a probing question. Some examples of clarifying questions:

• How much time does the project take?

• How were the students grouped?

• What resources did the students have available for this project?

Probing Questions are intended to help the presenter think more deeply about the issue at hand. If a probing question doesn’t have that effect, it is either a clarifying question or a recommendation with an upward inflection at the end. If you find yourself saying “Don’t you think you should …?” you’ve gone beyond probing questions. The presenter often doesn’t have a ready answer to a genuine probing question. Since probing questions are the hardest to create productively, we offer the following suggestions:

• Check to see if you have a “right” answer in mind. If so, delete the judgment from the question, or don’t ask it.

• Refer to the presenter’s original question/focus point. What did s/he ask for your help with? Check your probing questions for relevance.

• Check to see if you are asserting your own agenda. If so, return to the presenter’s agenda.

• Sometimes a simple “why…?” asked as an advocate for the presenter’s success can be very effective, as can several why questions asked in a row.

• Try using verbs: What do you fear? Want? Get? Assume? Expect?

• Think about the concentric circles of comfort, risk and danger. Use these as a barometer. Don’t avoid risk, but don’t push the presenter into the “danger zone.”

• Think of probing questions as being on a continuum, from recommendation to most effective probing question. For example [on next page— from an actual Consultancy session in which a teacher was trying to figure out why the strongest math students in the class weren't buying in and doing their best work on what seemed to be interesting math "problems of the week"]:

1) Could you have students use the rubric to assess their own papers? (recommendation re-stated as a question) 2) What would happen if students used the rubric to assess their own work? (recommendation re-stated as a probing

question) 3) What do the students think is an interesting math problem? (good probing question) 4) What would have to change for students to work more for themselves and less for you? (better probing question)

In summary, good probing questions:

• are general and widely useful

• don’t place blame on anyone

• allow for multiple responses

• help create a paradigm shift

• empower the person with the dilemma to solve his or her own problem (rather than deferring to someone with greater or different expertise)

• avoid yes/no responses National School reform Faculty, Harmony School Education Center, Bloomington, Indiana Gene Thompson-Grove, Edorah Fraser, Faith Dunne Further revised by Edorah Fraser, June 2002


• are usually brief

• elicit a slow response

• move thinking from reaction to reflection

• encourage taking another party’s perspective

Some final hints for crafting probing questions. Try the following questions and/or question stems. Some of them come from Charlotte Danielson’s Pathwise work, in which she refers to them as “mediational questions.”

• Why do you think this is the case?

• What would have to change in order for…?

• What do you feel is right in your heart?

• What do you wish…?

• What’s another way you might…?

• What would it look like if…?

• What do you think would happen if…?

• How was…different from…?

• What sort of an impact do you think…?

• What criteria did you use to…?

• When have you done/experienced something like this before?

• What might you see happening in your classroom if…?

• How did you decide/determine/conclude…?

• What is your hunch about .…?

• What was your intention when .…?

• What do you assume to be true about .…?

• What is the connection between…and…?

• What if the opposite were true? Then what?

• How might your assumptions about…have influenced how you are thinking about…?

• Why is this such a dilemma for you? Some Examples of Probing Questions:

• Why is a “stand-and-deliver” format the best way to introduce this concept?

• How do you think your own comfort with the material has influenced your choice of instructional strategies?

• What do the students think is quality work?

• You have observed that this student’s work lacks focus – what makes you say that?

• What would the students involved say about this issue?

• How have your perspectives on current events influenced how you have structured this activity?

• Why aren’t the science teachers involved in planning this unit?

• Why do you think the team hasn’t moved to interdisciplinary curriculum planning?

• What would understanding of this mathematical concept look like? How would you know students have “gotten it”?

• Why did allowing students to create their own study questions cause a problem for you?

• Why do you think the expected outcomes of this unit weren’t communicated to parents?

• What was your intention when you assigned students to oversee the group activity in this assignment?

• What evidence do you have from this student’s work that her ability to reach substantiated conclusions has improved?

• How might your assumptions about the reasons why parents aren’t involved have influenced what you have tried so far?

• How do you think your expectations for students might have influenced their work on this project?

• What do you think would happen if you restated your professional goals as questions?

• What other approaches have you considered for communicating with parents about their children’s progress?

National School reform Faculty, Harmony School Education Center, Bloomington, Indiana Gene Thompson-Grove, Edorah Fraser, Faith Dunne Further revised by Edorah Fraser, June 2002








International Literacy Coaches #3 Conference 2, Day 1, Rotterdam

Feb. 9, 2012 Reflection

1. Of all the activities and learning about working with adult learners, what was the most helpful? How will this learning impact your work at your school? 2. What learning did you take away from the inquiry study on conferring? How will this impact your work at your school? 3. You had a chance to share some work you’ve accomplished in your school. What insights did you gain about your work and the work of others in our group? How will these insights impact your work at your school in the future? What was the most valuable experience to you today? Do you have any recommendations for future days?

Documents

Assume positive intentions Actively listen to one another ...€¦ · • Assume positive intentions • Actively listen to one another ... PRINCIPLES OF ADULT LEARNING By Stephen