Seven Voices, Seven Developers, Seven One Things that Guide Our Practice (original) (raw)

Facilitating transformative learning. Department of Adult and Community Education NUI Maynooth

2004

I recognize the power of change and the subversive nature of these courses. … In all these classes in the courses, there's been a dialogue going on, almost at village level-in communities-which is beginning to talk of a different society. And carrying it forward is a considerable responsibility because the change isn't finished. It's just begun. I see myself as a change agent for equality-I think a counselor must be. Joe, Counselling Skills Tutor Whatever it is, we're doing it together-and for me it is about doing something together-it's working, because people are going out there with changed lives. It's effecting change in adults. Ursula, Counselling Skills Tutor I got all the people on the course to write a little book, and twenty-three of them wrote a chapter about themselves. They explored the impact that the course had had on their lives and it was absolutely astounding and astonishing. Jack, Counselling Skills Tutor. I am passionate about this course. If that was gone, I wouldn't do it. Moira, Counselling Skills Tutor. intact. Pedagogy, in this context, is a matter of 'principle and purpose, rather than mere technique' (Crowther, Martin and Shaw, 2000: 174). A key to liberatory knowledge is seen as transformative learning or the development of transformative awareness. Attempting to define and theorise transformative awareness is not straightforward, but it is a felt and recognised phenomenon in adult education circles, referred to by both students and tutors. It is preferable to attempt to theorise it, than to leave unacknowledged the power of what happens when people experience learning, awareness, movement and insight into their lives and their circumstances. These processes and their outcomes often leave us 1 with a sense of agency, that is, the ability to effect change in our worlds. for example the dangers of this being co-opted? Key concepts in adult education, which inform methodologies in the classroom, include the needs of mature learners, varieties of learning theories and styles, the significance of transformative learning, the importance of experience in learning, the fact that learning is an emotional as well as an intellectual event, and the importance of collective and group forms of learning (Chappell, Rhodes, Solomon, Tennant and Yates, 2003; Preece, 2001). Counselling skills training in a context of adult education The epistemological and methodological principles of adult education are interwoven with generally accepted methods of active, experiential counselling training. Johns (1998:11) sets out three core elements of such training: a student-centred ethos in which acceptance and trust are central; the willingness to be alongside students' unique learning journeys; and the valuing of 'readiness to learn' as the starting point (ibid).

Theories of Learning and Studies of Instructional Practice

"Though there have been numerous calls for educational researchers to attend more closely to the details of how teaching is actually done, instructional practice remains an inadequately studied topic. 'Theories of Learning and Studies of Instructional Practice' seeks to remedy this by helping construct a foundation for a practice-based science of instruction. It focuses on the fundamental question, what roles should theories of learning play in the study of instructional practice? In educational research, learning theories represent alternative conceptualizations of what we take learning to be. This volume examines three contemporary theories of learning with particular relevance to the study of practice, namely, situated learning, dialogic theory (or dialogism), and Deweyan transactionalism. Drawing upon a panel of internationally-prominent social scientists, psychologists, philosophers of education and teacher educators, the book critically evaluates the potential contributions of each of these three theories to a science of instructional practice. Rather than considering these matters in the abstract, chapter authors illustrate their positions by applying the different treatments of learning to selected samples of instructional practice. The data analyzed come from a particular fifth-grade classroom in which an innovative way of teaching math was being tested. Extensive transcripts, images and exhibits are provided, enabling the reader to follow and evaluate the analytic arguments being presented. This collection, therefore, delivers precisely on the book's title—it provides both an articulation of current theories of learning and a series of carefully constructed studies of instructional practice, seeking to explore the relationship between the two. In so doing it offers no easy answers. The purpose of the book, rather, is to bring areas of controversy and confusion to the surface. For researchers and graduate students in the learning sciences, this provocative volume opens the door to the next crucial round of dialogue and debate."

Enhancing, Teaching and Learning

2023

This assignment evaluates theoretical perspectives in teaching, learning, and assessment practises; based on two lesson observations, A and B, delivered by a teacher in the ESOL Entry 2 subject. I will use learning theories to evaluate the teaching and learning strategies used in both lessons: behaviourism, cognitivism, social constructivism, and humanist approaches. Using these theories in the learning process allows teachers to improve their

Dissertation submitted for the degree Magister Educationis in Teaching and Learning

The Development of a Modularised Curriculum for Computer Competency Courses for Technikon Learners, 2003

This dissedation is dedicated to all the people who care enough about education to evaluate and examine this work; to all those who cared enough to persistently encourage me to complete this research; and to the Lord, our Light and Salvation. The development of a rnodularised curriculum for computer competency courses for technikon learners Key words: action research, block module, enduser computing, experiential learning, integrative assessment, IT slo'lis/iteracy/competency. learningfieaching strategy, modularisation, outcomes-based education This study investigated the implications that the scheduling of a block module for a computer competency course over two weeks, has had on the curriculum. The block module was presented at the start of the first semester, 2001 at the Vaal Triangle Technikon. The objectives were to: develop a flexible, outcomes-based curriculum in which the learners had to demonstrate capability and employability by integrating computer competencies in ot...