"Reflections"
Wilisha Scaife
EDAC 634 The
Adult Learning
Ball State
University, Dr. Bo Chang
May 2, 2013
Introduction
The
journey through Ball State University’s EDAC 634 online course has been an
inspiring and exhausting experience and I will also interject some thoughts and
experiences from my EDAC 635 course, as there were similar themes and connected
learning for me. These two classes have required focus, commitment, and an
important self-examination of concept understanding and beliefs about myself,
and the adults in my world. My passion is for servicing children through
working with adults on their behalf; I was excited that this “adult learning”
course taught me how to better understand and serve children even though that
was not the specific aim of the course (it reached me where I was). Through this
journey, I have been captured, challenged, consoled and called to action. This
final paper gives me the opportunity to share what I have learned, what I have
enjoyed, what I felt could have been better and a bit about my experience in
this online course and the process of my project.
What I
learned from this course.
I
learned general information about many adult learning theories and concepts.
Below is a brief description of each:
·
Andragogy – An
adult learning theory that refers to practical and academic aspects of adult
learning. Andragogy makes “assumptions” about adult learners. These
“assumptions” are the very stamps that highlight the difference between the
traditional learning of children (pedagogy) and that of the adult as a learner
and the process of adult learning.
·
Self-directed/Individual Learning – A process in which individuals take the initiative, with
or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating
learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing
and implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning
outcomes.” Being self-directed signifies that adult students can and should be
allowed to participate in evaluating their learning needs, planning and
implementing the learning activities, and evaluating those experiences.
·
Experiential Learning – Experiential Learning can be defined as "the process
whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.” Knowledge
results from the combinations of grasping and transforming experience."
Concrete experience provides the information that serves as a basis for
reflection. From these reflections, we assimilate the information and form
abstract concepts. We then use these concepts to develop new theories about the
world, which we then actively test. Through the testing of our ideas, we once
again gather information through experience, cycling back to the beginning of
the process.
·
Spiritual Learning— Even though spirituality is generally seen as an
individual's experiences of what is perceived as sacred, how one frames or
understands those experiences can strongly influence one's beliefs and
behaviors. In living out their spirituality, some people focus more on its
inward activities such as prayer, meditation, and experiences of
wholeness; others focus more on how it influences their outer action in
the world, and they might not discuss spirituality per se unless asked about it
directly.
·
Narrative Learning—Narrative learning is creating a "narrative" or
story about what we are learning in order to make sense of something, to
discern its intern logic, and figure out how it relates to what we already
know.
·
Cognitive – Two
key assumptions underlie the cognitive approach: (1) that the memory system is
an active organized processor of information and (2) that prior knowledge plays
an important role in learning. Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to
explain brain-based learning. Cognitivists consider how human memory works to
promote learning.
·
Adult Learning Theory for the 21st Century – The Adult Learning theory for the 21st Century (briefly
put) is the layering of many learning theories (old and new, in study) an
application of varied approaches is a way if meeting the multidimensional needs
of the of adult learning in the 21st Century.
What I liked
and disliked about the course.
I liked many things about this course.
Learning about the variety of learning theories and styles of adult learning
had been a great experience. The general idea of Andragogy is what excited me
the most. My excitement was not as much about the details of “adult learning”
(although that was new and extremely helpful information), but about those
details in the very point that makes adult learning “adult learning” – the
differences identified between adult learners and children.
Andragogy makes “assumptions” about
adult learners. These “assumptions” are the very stamps that highlight the
difference between the traditional learning of children (pedagogy) and that of
the adult as a learner and the process of adult learning.
This
explanation and related principles (i.e. experience of adult learners,
motivations on adult learners) stirred my passion and mission to continue to
say to all that these considerations should NOT be limited to adult learners. We
have suffered and, more importantly, our children have suffered because little
to know considerations our made in our preparation and practice of pedagogy. Much
of the content (“what is taught”) of child learning, but the method (how it is
taught) should also be considered. The “how” should begin with understanding
and considering learning style, personality, etc. of children. In adult
learned, we are encouraged to take the time for this early on in a learning
environment, children (who are likely much more reluctant to learn) should be
pursued in this way especially (since adults often voluntarily come to the
learning environment and thus, may be much more self-motivated by intrinsic
rewards).
My
passion for children and community was fueled by the opportunity to learn more
about narrative learning. Families come together through and stay together
(connected with their own history) through story-telling; that power can be
shared abroad with intentional community efforts of narrative sharing and
learning. I was reminded of people in my own community like Dr. Maude Jennings
and her Oral History Club. They are a group of seniors who want to give the
“gift of story-telling” to the children of our community. Andragogy and Narrative
learning together are exciting to me. The two combined suggest that sharing and
learning can be done in a way that reaches adults and children, even at the
same time.
In
terms of things I “disliked” about the class all I can really say is that it is
a matter of learning style. I absolutely understand that reading is essential
to any course and especially on the collegiate level. Adult learners are
expected to be able to read large portions of text, critically analyze the text,
and then share thoughtful opinions and reflections. This is an important part
of the adult learning process. Unfortunately, the reading assignments were
longer than my style, personality and attention span could handle. This is not
something that I would suggest be changed (again, I understand the
expectation), I am only sharing that this was a very, very difficult part of
the course for me. I am also not suggesting that the reading wasn’t enjoyable
and, in some cases, extremely inspiring; but I did struggle tremendously with
reading some of the authors writing. As an auditory and visual learner, I was
able to fill in voids with the suggestion video clips. I appreciate the
sensitivity to my particular learning style, as I am sure others did as well.
My
final thoughts on my “dislikes” of this course have to do with online courses
and what might be a general expectation from the educational institution on
them. There seems to be an overload of work expected, for online programs,
especially towards the end. In any college level class (and certainly in a
graduate program) it is expected that the workload would increase with the
assigned end of semester papers and projects. It is those things, along with
the continued weekly assignments and the added “reflection” over every part of
the process, which made this a heavier more tedious ending. I do not say this
harshly because I recognize that I would have missed some wonderful ideas,
beautiful illustrations, and life-changing video footage had we not bee
assigned all of this reflection, however, keeping up with it all literally
became a scary, daily calendar checking event for me.
Dr. Bo
did make many adjustments to help make the above process a bit more manageable
and I do thank her for that. I am hoping that instructors are able to find ways
to give this even greater consideration early on in their syllabus preparation.
Then again, maybe not; maybe it was my attention deficit, crazy busy life and
lack of discipline and priority.
What I liked about the
online discussions.
Online
discussion was one of the most significant parts of this course for me. In the
beginning, it seems as if it would be the most tedious (and it did become
tedious at times) but overall, that is where I found connection with my
classmates by getting to know a little about them through their life example,
etc. The sharing of my classmates opened my understanding of concepts that I
had read and struggled to grasp. Their examples of using those concepts
provided “ah-ha” moments for me; things “clicked” when they shared.
My
classmate taught me how to apply many concepts in my own life even as practice
for later use. They were the professionals who proved or disproved the validity
of things suggested as true in the text. I learned to trust them and their life
examples; I did not devalue the efforts of the expert writers of those textbooks
but again, the practice of it share-out by a classmate, meant a lot to me. My
classmates helped me to evaluate whether I really “got it.” When I wrote my
thoughts that revealed my understanding of a concept, it was my classmates who
said “Yes, and…” or “Maybe, but…” That helped me to know if I needed to go back
and reevaluate what I read, reevaluate my understanding of what I read, and/or
whether I expressed it the way I wanted to or not. These things were so
important to me. With all of the other great experiences this class offered, it
would have been limp without the online discussion and it’s purpose of
connecting students in an online learning environment. My “relational”
personality desperately needed online discussion as a part of this online course. I would not have survived without it.
My suggestions to better
support my learning?
I really believed I
have shared these things through sharing my expressions and answers to other
questions. To put it clearly and concisely I would start with this statement: I
understand and appreciate the intention of all adult educators to take the time
to learn about various learning styles and to find ways to ensure that all
learning styles are represented in the development of their curriculum. I recognize
that takes time and is a grand assignment for the instructor all by itself.
With that said, for me, the following are things that help me to learn, be
inspired, apply and grow from a learning environment:
·
Opportunities for
face-to-face group contact and interaction
·
Many, many visual aids and
even reading material that is always available in an audio version
·
Opportunities for some
hands-on applications and/or experiences (immersive, full-body experiences such
as fieldtrips for observation, etc.)
·
Sensitivity for differing
busy lifestyles
·
Minimizing overkill on
anything. I mentioned it early specific to the online experience, it is
important to value the “life experience” of adults and thus to ask them to do
the same type of thing (simple things) over and over again makes them feel like
children or distrusted. It is as if more and more is added just to prove that
they are busy doing something or “putting our time in.” We are here (for the
most part) because we want to be and so overkill just kills are motivation and
make us do things mundanely and without purpose, emotion and enthusiasm.
What I liked about my process
and outcome of my project and how the project helped me understand the
practical field and the theories?
It
honestly took me several weeks to wrap my mind around our project. My teammates
truly took that lead and I am extremely grateful to them. The downside was that
I felt I felt I was not making significant contributions especially early on
because of my lack of seeing the connection. James and Aaron were able to see
an approach to using narrative learning that was outside of my limited box. I
am so glad they were. As I began to look at the program projects of others, I
could see that many of my classmates were able to do the same with their
learning selections. I was amazed by the ideas that came from learning
concepts. The narrative learning
approach, in my mind, would need to be limited to an educational or community
classroom and I could certainly see power and had ideas from those
perspectives; James and Aaron saw something different. They saw a more
challenging approach that made me dig a little deeper into my understanding of
the topic but especially of how it could be applied to other learning
environments. This was GOOD for me and I am so grateful.
I
learned about the therapeutic and healing aspect of the narrative approach to
learning. After exposure, I
realized the notion of using narrative as therapy for many levels of anxiety
and other ills (on many levels) is used very commonly and in fact, often used
in every day life. The power of narrative is therapeutic because it not only
helps to remedy personal/emotional issues but it also helps to diagnose and
identify the source. I can say I am much more mindful and intentional about it’s
use in multiple settings now.
In the
field of education, it is easy to see the importance of narratives in teaching
concepts as we allow them to live in our stories. The powerful revelation of
narratives in practice really for the purpose of healing hit home for me last
week. In one of my afterschool classrooms there were 2nd grade girls
dealing with bullying and some ‘mean-girl’ mentalities. We tried to resolve the
issue by calling parents, separating children, etc., none of these tradition
discipline measures worked. Finally, I showed up at the classroom, sat down
with the 3 girls and without a real plan of what I would say, stories of my
childhood and experience with being bullied began to flow. It believe it helped
the girls as tears began to well-up in the eyes of one and the look of
amazement on the face of another. But the most powerful revelation was how many
details I remembered and how much passion was expressed. Events that produced
so much pain (hurt from when I was only 7 years old) brought a great
understanding of who I am today and
healing.
Final Thoughts
Finally
and overall, this online class experience has meant much more to me than I
expected. I came into it unsure but determined to begin work on receiving a
certificate that states my completion of a graduate program. I knew I needed
connection to learn best, I knew I needed to be inspired but I was ready to
settle for a “less than” experience just to enjoy the reward of completion. I
am so happy to say, although my first online experience and my first graduate
experience, it has been a life transforming experience for me. Not only am I
more confident in moving on to more online graduate courses, but also I am
ready and expecting to learn and grow with great enthusiasm. I don’t know that
I will have other professors who are as considerate, accessible, flexible and
supportive as Dr. Bo but I am hopeful. More importantly, if I do not get that
support from an instructor, I feel I can still go forward and be successful
using the concepts and tools that I have gained in my two graduate courses of
which Dr. Bo is instructor for both. My classmates in EDAC 634 and 635 have
shared their lives with me and given me more than they could ever know
(support, encouragement, confidence, etc.). To all of my classmates and to Dr.
Bo Chang, I say, THANK YOU! Remember to DREAM BIG and live out your
GREATNESS!!!
Never
underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are
all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of
us.
–W.
Rudolph
