Sacia Stiles
Eliciting information from students: How do you learn best?
While it became clear by the end of the course what helped some learners and what motivated them to be more active (as mentioned before), when asked specifically to share what helped them learn, many still responded, "I must study very much," or, "I listen to the teacher," without being able to offer specific examples. When asked what they liked or disliked, what helped them or didn't help them, some learners always responded positively: they liked everything, everything helped them and that I shouldn't worry because I was a very good teacher.
After learners at Knight Memorial reported three times not to have completed any activities on the Practicing English On Your Own sheet, I asked them what they thought about the sheet: Was it too difficult? Were the examples boring? Was it irrelevant? Julio responded, laughing, "Itıs not important things!" Others in the group laughed, some nodding. We all agreed that this was a good reason not to do something, so I suggested that we brainstorm ideas of "important things" to practice in small groups, with markers and newsprint. However, the activity was not very fruitful; two ideas came from it: 1) study every day 2) look in the dictionary. It seemed clear that ideas needed to come from learners themselves, not from a sheet I had offered them, but getting learners to offer this input was not always successful.
Furthermore, I realized that just because I saw little progress made by learners that I saw as passive did not mean that the learners themselves were disappointed with their progress. While some neither retained much material from one class to the next, nor participated much in class, they still came consistently to class and reported on evaluations and in discussions that their English had improved. My initial conceptions of what approach would empower learners and help them gain a sense of accomplishment did not necessarily relate to the learners' own perspective of what they wanted from the program.
Conclusion
I began this year with the goal of implementing a participatory curriculum. However, once acquainted with my particular learners, it seemed to me that using the approach suggested by Auerbach would be difficult in a beginner ESL group. My learners sought a foundation on which to build and looked to me for clear direction. Posing questions and asking for their input seemed to frustrate them more than help them. For the purposes of this project, I felt the need to take a step back and focus instead on how I could encourage some of my students to be more active and autonomous in the learning process.Now, as I look over the data that I have collected since October, I recognize that what best worked toward my aim, in fact, took the shape of a participatory approach. It's clear that carrying this out simply took a bit more time, patience, and adaptation to the needs of different learners, but in the end it did develop and was successful in motivating most learners to be more active in the learning process.
Through the process of this teacher inquiry project, I enjoyed employing a variety of strategies and evaluating their outcomes. In the future I would greatly simplify them to flow better with the work that we were already doing, rather introducing something foreign and unfamiliar. In retrospect, the activities and concepts that I attempted to integrate with relation to learning experiences and reflection on learning styles and preferences largely served to complicate this inquiry project and the classes.
I had hoped that delving into ways in which one learns best and keeping learning journals would encourage more self-directed, active learning. For some it did during those months; for others it may in the future. However, because the activities were not carried out with the time and direction that was needed, some students found them confusing, and possibly irrelevant, rather than helpful. Had we met more hours per week with a structure that better lent itself to establishing rituals and extending these techniques, this might have been different. As it was, this aspect of my plan was not fully executed in a way that proved meaningful to the learners.
I also noted that, in developing participatory curricula, learner input could be taken a step further to deciding ways to measure their progress, although this would also depend on the way in which it was presented and carried out. The idea of using a learning journal as an assessment tool was my own and some learners responded to it as such: they completed it for me rather than for themselves.
The biggest challenge with this approach was finding a balance between utilizing student-driven objectives, materials and activities, and offering the foundation and direction that students expressed needing. After having experienced this process and finding those moments of balance, I now see how providing a solid framework, while keeping one's eyes and ears open for opportunities to use student input, can help learners build a foundation from which they naturally become more active and autonomous.
Above all, in the process of doing teaching inquiry, I found extremely beneficial the exercise of constant reflection on learner experiences and my teaching methods through my journal writing and feedback from peers, which I hope to continue in the future.
References
Auerbach, Elsa Roberts. Making Meaning, Making Change: Participatory Curriculum Development for Adult ESL Literacy. Center for Applied Linguistics and Delata Systems, Inc. Illinois: 1992
Auerbach, Elsa Roberts & Wallerstein, Nina. ESL for Action: Problem Posing at Work. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Reading, Mass.: 1987
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New rev.). Continuum. New York: 1993
Florez, MaryAnn Cunningham (2001). Beginning ESOL Learners' Advice to Their Teachers, Focus on Basics.
Holt, Grace Massey (1995). "Teaching Low-Level Adult ESL Learners," Adjunct ERIC Clearing house for ESL Literacy Education Washington DC.
Imel, Susan (2000). "Contextual Learning in Adult Education," ERIC Digest.
Mullane, Laura (2001). "Innovations: Beyond the 'Vessel': Active Learning and the Adult Student," American Council on Education.
Hands-on English: A periodical for teachers and tutors of adult English as a second language. P.O. Box 256, Crete, NE 68333. Vol. 9, No. 2 & Vol. 10, No. 4.
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