Transcript 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?
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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
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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
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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, 2nd Ed.)
• DISCUSSION AS A WAY OF TEACHING
(2005, 2nd. Edition) with Stephen Preskill
• All published by Jossey-Bass/Wiley
• www.stephenbrookfield.com