Tuesday, May 29, 2012
I was taught that individuals are responsible for their actions, their choices, the consequences of those choices, and that you have to work hard to succeed in life. I have always believed the same thing about learning. I know this flies in the face of the entitlement society we live in, but we are not entitled to an education. We have to work hard financially, emotionally, and mentally to be successful learners. Adult learners make the choice to further their education and are ultimately responsible for doing so. However, I now have a better understanding of learning styles and preferences and believe that both the teacher and learner share in the responsibility of learning. The first step is for both to be aware of the differing learning styles and to decide which one they prefer. If the teacher does not teach to the strength of the way the learner learns, this should not be used as an excuse by the learner to not do well. Also, the teacher needs to realize that everyone does not learn the same way she does and should deliver the content in a variety of ways (when the content allows). Even if the teacher does not feel she should have to "cater" to all learning preferences, delivering the content in a variety of ways will just make the class more interesting in general. The goal of student success should always be in the forefront. I think this can be done without compromising the belief that the student is ultimately responsible for learning. As an instructor, I can use lectures, pictures, charts, videos, demonstrations, etc, but I can not make the student want to learn.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI am trying once again to respond to your post! Those darn letters just don't like me. I responded to the post you left on my blog--I hope you get a chance to read it.
Jan
Hurray! I finally got one to go through! I ignored the direction to leave a space between the "words" and it worked!
ReplyDeleteHi Amy, I completely agree with your statement that both the learner and the teacher share in the responsibility for the learning. It is frustrating that we cannot make others learn, or give the desire to learn to others. As instructors this is probably the most difficult hurdle. There is nothing more frustrating than pouring your energy and passion into your training just to have a person you are training stare at you like you have three eyes! Do you think that might have something to do with their learning style? (Great blog!)
ReplyDeleteAdults can be a very tough audience. I agree with you on making sure that we try our best to hit all 3 learning styles. I am with Cindy on how frustrating it can be to put a lot of time, effort, and work into a class and to just have the participants look right through you. what do you think we should do differently ( if we are already using all learning styles) and still not feeling we are getting through to the audience? Not all learners make the decision to go into the classroom, some are forced those are the classes I am talkig about.
ReplyDeleteI would love to know where this sense of entitlement comes from. I wonder if the difficult adults discussed above were also difficult as children? My experience has mostly been with elementary kids and their lack of drive and desire to learn is extremely frustrating! I agree with what Laura said. What do you do when you have done everything? I suppose you hope for the best and know that there will always be the students who get it and will have great success.
ReplyDeleteGreat job!
Here's an example of entitlement. I have an adult learner who is taking courses to better understand technology. I would say that he is professional student, taking classes to learn but not really concerned with applying them to a career.
ReplyDeleteHis idea of entitlement is this; he pays for the class, he expects to learn in that class and he expects the class hours to be completely filled, no shortened course hours.
There have been times when everyone else had completed the lab (this is a night class) and yet he'll sit in his chair until the 4 hour class time ends. So as a dutiful instructor I sit in my chair until the class time ends. It makes me wonder what his motivation is?
Wow! That is unusual for a student to not want class to end early! I don't think I have ever heard of that one! But you are right, that is the attitude I am talking about. I had a student who disagreed with my enforcement of one of our clinic policies say "I pay your salary . . ." That didn't go over too well with me!
ReplyDelete