There have been a few experiences in my life where I took the role of “mentoring” adult learners. I blindly went into it knowing that, however I proceeded the mentoring, it had to be much different than how I taught children. This experience was in Thailand where I mentored Thai English teachers how to teach English. I knew their perception of learning varied person to person and I had to accommodate that and their desires. I had to make the learning interesting and appealing to a group of adults who shared a vastly different culture than mine. Had I read the articles from this week before this experience, I think I would have approached the teaching much differently.
A few takeaways I learned from this week was that each adult has their own unique learning style and perception of learning. Years of experience means that most adults have pinpointed how they like to learn and what they like to learn. Sara and Natalie talked about mentoring and how this creates a balanced relationship between learner and mentor. Sara said, “As adults we want to share what we know and as kids we are trying to absorb as much as we can,” which I believe perfectly sums up the main difference between adult learner and child. Gerald talked about how he never had a mentor in his early years of teaching. That got me to thinking of how I am so fortunate to have a mentor during my first year, but why? I think the main benefit I am getting from a mentor/mentee relationship is reassurance and confidence. I am doing things in my classroom for the first time, and hearing someone say, “yes your are on the right track; you are doing this right,” is worth years of confidence and effective teaching. The contributions I made to this week’s learning was in the twitter discussion. I tried to ask questions that were thought-provoking to everyone. Although we don’t all teach adults, we can use the contrast and comparisons to help us better teach our own age group. I think this week we really emphasized the need for motivation to learn. Motivation happens best when there is interest, options, and self-directive opportunities.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Author2nd Grade teacher at Keet Gooshi Heen in Sitka, Alaska Archives
April 2017
Categories |