the adult learner

The Adult LearnerSome thoughts…

The job of an educator is to teach students to see vitality in themselves.

-- Joseph Campbell

What is the job of the mentor/coach of adult

learners?

How are adult learners different from children?

How Do You Learn Best?What were the conditions for your most significant

learning experience as an adult?

“How do I Learn?”

What is the Context?The physical, emotional, and intellectual

environment that surrounds an experience and gives it meaning.

Am I safe? Am I being heard?Am I respected?

Learning By Experience“All genuine education comes about through

experience.” – John Dewey, 1938Not all experience educates…What is the difference between a learning

experience and an experience?The key is the ability to reflect honestly.

Andragogy

The science or methods for teaching adults

Six Principles of Andragogy

1. The learners need to know2. Self-concept of the learner3. Prior experience of the learner4. Readiness to learn5. Orientation to learning6. Motivation to learn Malcolm Knowles

Learners Need to KnowHow Learning will be conducted…

* Tied to motivation* Academic* Physical self-efficacy

What learning will occur… It is all about Choice!

Why the learning is important…

Personal AttentionThe Hawthorne effect – Elton Mayo (1927)

Improvements are gained through attention.

MentoringCoachingPositive Reinforcement

People’s feelings are the cornerstone for implementing change

What might be the most important aspect of

teaching adult learners?Your feelings?

Their feelings?

How might you group the adult learners in your

school?What criteria would you use to group these

learners?

Now think about how you would group a classroom of student learners?

What is the same? Different?

What is important is to keep learning, to enjoy

challenge, and to tolerate ambiguity. In the end there are no certain

answers.

-- Martina Horner

CommunicationIs it acceptable to send an email without the

name on the email?

Is acceptable to send an email titled “Hey”

What does it mean if a guy and a girl are talking?

How does Communication impact our ability to fulfill

this specialist role?

Effective Communication Techniques

Listen CarefullyTry to see their point of viewRespond to criticism with empathyOwn what’s yoursUse “I” messagesDon’t give up…But know when to take a break…

Seven Protocols for Professional Learning

1. Sustained Professional Learning: It’s not going away!

Give the adult learner the big picture, offer options for learning, support their practice stages, and they will take charge of their own learning paths.

Job-Embedded Professional Learning: Help When I Need it!

When support is visible, available, and accessible all day, every day, the rate of success for implementing new initiatives increases phenomenally.

Collegial Professional Learning: Someone to

talk to

Adult Learners want to work with colleagues (Knowles et al 1998; Zemke and Zemke 1981)

Interactive Professional Learning:

It’s Not a ‘Sit and Git’

Adult Learners don’t want theoretical or hypothetical learning. They want hands-on learning!

Integrative Professional Learning: Different

Strokes for Different FolksFace-to-faceInternetWeb-basedCollegialGroupBook StudiesAction Research

Practical Professional Learning: I can Use this!

Make the learning relevant for your adult learners.

Hold the learner accountable for the learning!

Results-Oriented Professional Learning:

The Data tell us so!The professional learning must be data-driven.

In other words, “Does this Work?’

“How do I know if this works?”

Your task…React to each of the Seven ProtocolsHow does this represent your own interest in

learning new information/material?How do you see this impact your ability to

provide professional development?

Strategies for Adult Learners

Brainstorming and DiscussionWhy? Dialogue enables adults to achieve deeper

meaning and understanding because they can utilize the skills of inquiry, reflection, and exploration (Gregory, 2003)

The brain’s thought processes are best challenged when quality questions are asked (Berlinger, 1984)

Drawing and ArtworkPresenters who draw add creativity to visuals,

which increases memory and attention (Jensen, 1998)

Expressing oneself artistically has extreme value for total cognitive and personal development (hannahford, 1995)

Field TripsResearch suggest that professional developers,

administrators, or college professors who plan and execute field trips enable their students to apply theory and knowledge (Jensen and Dabney, 2000).

They must be directly related to the standard or content objective.

GamesThe neuroscientifc research supports the idea that

having fun while learning meets the needs of learners.

Games utilize creative rehearsal, the most basic level of active processing in the brain (Caine & Ojemann, 1997).

Play establishes specific myelinated pathways between the frontal lobe and the limbic system, representing full integration of mind and body (Hannahford, 1995)

Graphic OrganizersGraphic Organizers heighten the memory

pathways for learning and retention.

Understanding of concepts, whether those concepts are concrete, abstract, verbal, or nonverbal, can be enhanced through the use of concept maps (Sousa, 1995)

Humor and CelebrationHumor enlivens participants, reduces tension,

and increases productivity and creativity (Feigelson, 1998)

The most powerful influence on the brain’s chemical composition may be positive feedback—a necessary element in the development of a healthy self-concept (Sylwester, 1997)

Manipulatives and ModelsThe most effective teaching techniques for

increasing intelligence unite both the mind and the body (Wilson, 1999)

An area of the brain’s cortex is stimulated when a person moves, just like a timed explosion in the head (Calvin, 1996)

Metaphors, Analogies, and Similes

Myelin is CriscoAmygdala:Emotion:Hippocampus:Long

Term MemoryThe brain is like Jello

Metaphors connect concepts that are complicated to understand with personal experience and foster a sense of creativity (Whitin &Whitin, 1997)

Reciprocal Teaching, Cooperative Learning and

Peer Coaching

Some of us are more effective than others of us.But non of us is more effective than all of us!

Johnson, Hohnson, Holubec, and Roy

StorytellingWould you like me to tell you a story?

Information is tied in our memories to the scripts that stories provide (Markowitz & Jensen, 1999).

Visualization

Mind First –Reality Second

TechnologyWork Study and Action Research