Guidelines for Working with Adult Learners. ERIC Digest - 0 views
www.ericdigests.org/...working.htm
teacher pd professionaldevelopment onlinelearning facilitation opd etlo guidelines
shared by Dianne Krause on 06 Mar 10
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Known as the andragogical model, the use of learner-centered instruction--which supports addressing the needs and interests of learners--is regularly championed in the literature as the most effective way to teach adults.
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Adults have a rich reservoir of experience that can serve as a resource for learning.
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tend to have a life-, task-, or problem-centered orientation to learning as opposed to a subject-matter orientation
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motivated to learn due to internal or intrinsic factors
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herefore, adult learning in formal institutions can be viewed in terms of the direction and support needed by the learner in the following ways: learners need both direction and support, learners need direction, learners need support but are reasonably self-directing, or learners are moderately capable of providing their own direction and support
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Even though learners may need both direction and support, they can still be involved in designing and directing their learning in meaningful ways.
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Adult learner involvement in needs assessment initiates a partnership with the instructor
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WWW question: Who needs What as defined by Whom, in which Who is the learners, WHAT are their needs, and WHOM are the definers
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"How do we listen to adult learners before we design a course for them, so that their themes are heard and respected?
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Developing an atmosphere in which adults feel both safe and challenged should be the goal
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An ideal adult learning climate has a nonthreatening, nonjudgmental atmosphere in which adults have permission for and are expected to share in the responsibility for their learning.
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Capitalize on the first session
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Incorporate group work
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Break the traditional classroom routine
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-Use humor
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Support opportunities for individual problem solving
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equitable learning environment.
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Consider their attitudes toward and knowledge about the variety of people they teach.
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nstructors have a professional responsibility to accept every adult learner as of equal worth regardless of race, gender, ability, or background.
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Think through the way they present their subjects or topics. T
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Instructors must act on the belief that change and development are possible for all people and that their role is to assist the process in all learners
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"Learning is part of a circuit that is one of life's fundamental pleasures: the [instructor's] role is to keep the current flowing" (p. 38). Instructors who have successfully engaged adults as partners by providing direction and support will have succeeded admirably.
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""Adults vote with their feet," a favorite adage of adult educators, is frequently used to describe a characteristic of adult learners. In most circumstances, adults are not captive learners and, if the learning situation does not suit their needs and interests, they will simply stop coming. In discussing adult education, Knowles (1980, 1984) distinguished between teacher-centered and learner-centered instruction. He promoted the latter because it viewed learners as mutual partners in the learning endeavor (Merriam and Caffarella 1991). Known as the andragogical model, the use of learner-centered instruction--which supports addressing the needs and interests of learners--is regularly championed in the literature as the most effective way to teach adults. However, Merriam and Caffarella (ibid.) assert that "adult learning in formal settings, for the most part, is still instructor designed and directed" (p. 26). Given the wide support for learner involvement, the discrepancy between adult education theory and practice is perplexing. How can instructors of adults become more learner centered in their practice? This ERIC Digest suggests guidelines and strategies that can be used in formal settings by instructors of adults to involve learners more effectively. "