BEST PRACTICES IN ADULT LEARNING
BEST PRACTICES IN ADULT
LEARNING
Stephen Brookfield
University of St. Thomas
Minneapolis-St. Paul www.stephenbrookfield.com
Session Objectives
• By the end of this session you will …
• (1) Implement the Circle of Voices exercise to increase learner participation
• (2) Implement the Critical Incident
Questionnaire as a Feedback Tool
• (3) Implement the Chalk Talk exercise to construct a map of learners’ knowledge
Session Objectives
• (4 ) Implement the Circular Response exercise to focus discussion
• (5) Implement the Snowballing technique to widen student participation
• (6)Utilize further resources online
Buzz Groups
•
What, if anything, are the typical characteristics of an adult learner?
What Makes Someone an Adult
Learner?
• Is it their …..
• Age?
• Developmental Stage?
• Adult Roles?
• Experience?
• Method of Learning?
• Cognition?
CIRCLE OF VOICES
• Quiet, private reflection on the topic or question
• Each member takes up to 1 minute to say whatever they wish to say in response to the question - NO INTERRUPTIONS
• Group moves into open conversation members can only talk about what someone else said in the opening round of the conversation
QUESTION
• As a trainer, when have you been treated as an adult?
What did a supervisor or leader do that made you feel you were being treated in an adult way?
An Adult Approach
•
Respect
•
Research
•
Responsiveness
CRITICAL INCIDENT QUESTIONNAIRE
• Most engaged moment in session
• Most distanced moment in session
• Most helpful action
• Most puzzling action
• What Surprised You Most
ADMINISTRATION
• Last 5 minutes of last session of the week
• Anonymous
• Mandatory when possible
• Frequency Analysis
• Reported back to group
• Negotiation not capitulation to majority opinion
CHALK TALK
• Trainer writes a question in the middle of the board
• 5-10 minutes of silence is declared
• Participants write responses to the question on the board whenever they feel ready
• Participants & trainer draw lines between similar comments & add reactions
QUESTION
•
What does an engaged adult classroom look, sound or feel like?
ENGAGEMENT
Learners’ Perceptions
• Involved in some way
• Different modalities used – silence/speech, small group/whole class, visual/oral, abstract/specific, teacher/student
• Teacher modeling & scaffolding
• Students provide frequent examples
• Immediate feedback on progress
• Participation in activities – responsibility for learning
RESEARCH - MODELING
• Modeling Particularly Important for
Students Learning to Think Critically
• When Teachers Talk Out Loud Their
Assumptions Behind Practices
• When Teachers Do Regular Assumption
Audits - Say When Their Assumptions are
Confirmed & Challenged
RESEARCH - MODELING
• When Teachers Use the CIQ to Check
Their Assumptions in Front of Students
• When Teachers Bring in Real Life
Experience When Assumptions Were
Confirmed & Challenged
• In Team Teaching - When Team Members
Take Different Positions and Clarify Each
Others’ Assumptions
CIRCULAR RESPONSE
• 1st person speaks up to 1 minute on her response to the topic or question
• 2nd person (to left of 1st speaker) speaks for up to 1 minute - what she says must respond to, or build on, the 1st speaker’s comments.
This can be a question about the previous comment or a disagreement
• This process continues once around circle then moves into open conversation
QUESTION
• What do you want your students to say about how you train when they are out of earshot?
TRAINER CREDIBILITY
• EXPERTISE AT A HIGH LEVEL
• EXPERIENCE OF REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS
& TEACHING
• RATIONALE : A THOUGHT OUT APPROACH TO
WHY THINGS ARE ARRANGED THE WAY THEY
ARE
• CONVICTION : RE. THE IMPORTANCE OF A
CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF CONTENT &
SKILLS
TRAINER AUTHENTICITY
• CONGRUENCE OF WORDS & ACTIONS
• FULL DISCLOSURE OF EXPECTATIONS &
CRITERIA
• PERSONHOOD VIA AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
EXAMPLES
• RESPONSIVENESS TO LEARNERS’
CONCERNS
• ACKNOWLEDGING ERROR
SNOWBALLING
• Begin with individual reflection
• Share with another person
• Pairs join with pairs & share in quartet
• Quartets join with quartets …. & so on
SHARE …
Emerging differences
Questions & issues raised
Contradictions revealed
QUESTION …
• What emotions and feelings have hindered or stopped your own learning as an adult?
RHYTHMS OF LEARNING
•
Impostorship
•
Cultural Suicide
•
Lost in Limbo
•
Peer Supports
FURTHER RESOURCES
• POWERFUL TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING
ADULTS (2013 – Forthcoming)
• TEACHING FOR CRITICAL THINKING
(2011)
• THE SKILLFUL TEACHER (2006, 2 nd Ed.)
• DISCUSSION AS A WAY OF TEACHING
(2005, 2nd. Edition) with Stephen Preskill
• All published by Jossey-Bass/Wiley
• www.stephenbrookfield.com
