The sin of assumption: motivation in adult learning

I've really been meaning to post up this presentation, done at TESOL Spain earlier this year, and finally have had a chance to run through the slides and update them slightly so that they make sense - without my voice giving instructions or explanations!


Here they are:




To scroll through the slides, use the arrow keys at the bottom of the presentation:

What do you think?

• Are textbooks too pedagogically based?
• Is it important to design materials that take in the differences between adults and children? Why?
• Do you think that children can also benefit from an "andragogical* approach"?

Do let me know what you think, and/or don't hesitate to ask questions if you have them!

Best,
Karenne

p.s. one of my teacher-trainees in a professional development course last week thought that the term shouldn't really be called andragogy because it really means "man-leading" and instead should have a term that refers more to "adult-age-learning/leading." Google and Wikipedia haven't been too helpful on finding sources for these differences however - thoughts, ideas?

• More posts on Teacher Training
• More posts on Motivation

Another post on motivation

In the ELTchat last week, a few tweeters raised the issue of grades being motivating for students...

and I mentioned that I'm not a fan of them myself.

In fact, pretty much, quite passionately, I hate 'em.   They've got little place in my classroom today.

(thankfully I teach adult Business English -

don't know what I'd do if I was in a institutional setting...

die?)

Maybe because as a dyslexic with, apparently a high IQ, (whatever that means, yet another test, one could argue) I was consistently either given an A+ one day and an F- the next...  The teachers said I was a lazy child, obviously, who couldn't be bothered to work - because, see, the rhyme and the rhythm to all that yo-yoing depended, usually, on whether or not I was able to adequately memorize.

(I used a color system and could learn entire chapters off by heart;  

entire Shakespearean plays but life got way more difficult once I hit Higher Ed.) 

And the thing was... even by the age of ten I realized that if I used all my attention, gritted my teeth and clenched in my stomach to concentrate and then regurgitated facts in the format required by the teacher I could make it come out like they wanted it... yet doing this never proved whether or not I had made any sense of what I was supposed to be learning.

I knew this at ten, I tell you, sitting on a cushion 

with my colour felt-tips memorizing stuff off by heart 

so my parents wouldn't get mad at me, again...

So grades?

Pah and double pah to that.  Nice for competitive types who need the psychological assurance that they've been in a room doing something but really, very much not for those seeking any kind of deeper learning experience.  They're just not that motivating..

Anyway.. don't get your nose out of joint if you're someone who likes them... lots  and lots of people do...

This week, Larry Ferlazzo posted up a video of Alfie Kohn's take on motivation and aside from its sheer brilliance and deeper teaching, it made me laugh out loud so I hope it will you too:

Says it all really...


Useful links related to this posting:

• More on motivation by me (links here) 
• Joel H Josephson Don't Give Up (as per comments below)
• StrictlyNicky's "Are tests biased against students..?"
• Daniel Pink on Drive & Motivation (RSA animate mentioned by Q.E in comments)
• Joe Bower on abolishing grading: numerous, excellent posts (as mentioned by NJ in comments)
• Have you written something on motivation? Let me know below 

ELT Chat

ELTChat is a fantastic global initiative for live discussion on current issues in the TEFL industry and is moderated by Berni Wall in the UK, Jason Renshaw in Australia, Marisa Constantinides in Greece and Olaf Elch in Germany and, of course, masterminded by the brilliant do-everything-be-everywhere Shelly Terrell.

The chats take place every Wednesday: at 3 and 9pm (London) -see world clock for your own time zone. Transcripts/podcasts summarizing the events are posted on their website after each session.

Best,
Karenne
education


p.s. I love hearing from you!
Please add your thoughts if you feel like there's something you would like to say - don't worry about perfection, It's just nice to hear from you.   

Worried about spamming me?  What is spam = you haven't read the discussion but yet you want to come to my page to advertise yourself... 

Contribution = you've read the post and discussion from various other educators and you would like to add/share your own thoughts and experience.  You've written about this subject as well?  Do please add your link, I welcome the opportunity to participate in your conversations too!

Education has always been political

I bought Mark Pegrum's From Blogs to Bombs the other day, for my own research and deeper reflection into the IATEFL LT-SIG day back in April where he presented via SecondLife.


 Right away, in the first few pages, this sentence of his jumped out at me.

Education has always been political.  At its best, it walks a tightrope between reproducing the status quo and providing open democratic spaces for challenging it.

He goes on to say:

When teaching through digital technologies, educators have a responsibility to help students explore the power of these new tools to craft individual and community stories, but also to help them perceive and compensate for their limitations and dangers...  It's vital that today's students graduate with the creative skills to make the most of digital technologies, as well as the critical skills to evaluate the freedom or lack of freedom to which they may lead.  

I believe, of course, that we shouldn't only be looking at today's youth but at all students  - no matter their ages and at ourselves, as educators - especially, especially those of us, the early adopters who are exploring digital media  and its applications in the classroom.

As passionately as we feel about education  and technology and technology in education, we know enough of the world to know that there are times of great differences in opinions and many generations have lived through the consequences of those beliefs.   

What political statements do we actually make by speaking and what statements do we make by remaining silent?

Recently, passionate twitter exchanges of a political nature were captured and posted on Mark Andrews's blog.   Within his PLN and his connected others with their own PLNs  (including mine) members exist  who are from all the countries involved.   The world has never, ever been changed by silence.

But being globally connected, how does one speak or not speak without causing cultural offense?

We've gone through this when I discussed truth-telling in classes so you can probably guess my thoughts:    no matter which way you flip it, the choice involved in speaking out or deciding not to is simply a flip-side of exactly the same coin and makes a statement.

Both are political decisions to be taken very seriously however  via our newly networked lives these conversations are now no longer limited, no longer private - these conversations we once would have had within families, circles and communities are recorded for the entire, very wide world out there. 

Does this put us in danger?  

What advice do we give to our students if they ask?  How public do we allow their opinions and discussions to be?

The decisions we make today about education, technology, and technology in education must be informed by a consideration of the long-term social, socio-political and ecological consequences: in short, what kinds of stories - individual, local, national and global - they'll enable us to write. 

It's up to us to shape our technologies as much as they shape us.   And given the pace of ongoing technological development, we have to start now.

What divides might we end up creating or enhancing or bridging?   

Best,
Karenne
image credit: Nuclear Bomb by jtdjt on Flickr.com

education

8 radical technological changes which (shock!) rocked education

and caused us to deeply question our pedagogical practices and principles:


1. The candle

Reading was suddenly possible all the way through the night.

This was followed by the light bulb and the florescent tube.

Eyestrain created eyeglasses.








2. The scroll

These aren't in historical time reference order, by the way.

Recording text which could be stored and shared.

This was followed by the mind-blowing concept of paper.









3. The fountain pen

Preceded by the quill, followed by the biro.

Not dirtying our fingers every time we wrote a sentence was a breakthrough, indeed, shame about their environmental impact.

Actually shame about the environmental impact of all these technologies.







4. The blackboard and chalk

Granting our teacher vanities with the power of erase.

Followed by, more recently, the whiteboard and markers... bringing colour to education (and therefore losing quality because learning is a serious business).





5. The typewriter

Uniformity! Clarity!

Carbon copies!

Followed by computers and photocopiers.




6. Scissors. And not pictured: Glue

Like I said, not in historical order.

Cutting.

Pasting.

The things we could make to teach!





7. Calculators.

Now these really did cause a furor.

An uproar.

Completely responsible for the atrophied working brain, the demise of intelligence and the loss of math forever as times-tables disappeared.







8. Tape recorders.

Fast forward and going backwards.

Record and play back.

Playing texts again and again and again meant our learners no longer had any need to pay attention.

By the time these were followed by the Walkman and CD player, all was lost.





What else changed teaching?

'cause you know, like, obviously, the list above isn't comprehensive...

Do you know the pedagogical principles behind the use of each item as applied to education?

I most certainly hope you do.

Were you worried about your methodology, whenever you pressed that green button on a photocopier?

Well, really.

Tsk. Tsk.

You know, if you like me are of a certain age and you just (shock!) used these things as mere tools to get from A-2-B in whatever it was you were teaching, then by golly, you couldn't possibly have been effective.

Winging it, you were.

What is changing the way we teach today and tomorrow?

Are we really forgetting to pay attention to how our students learn?

Are we stumbling blindly, right alongside life, getting lost in bells and whistles?

Hmmmmmmmm...

Best,
Karenne

Useful links related to this posting:

• Lest we forget by Graham Davies
• Start using technology or go ahead and retire (guest post for Alex Case)
• Where are all the horseshoe makers now?
• Tech tips for teachers of ELT

Advice for N00BIE bloggers in ELT

Carnival Reminder

Have you got sumthin' to say to all a us 'bout what iz like being a blogger and a' English Language Teacher?

What's the best part?

When you wake up in the morning are you simply buzzing with ideas?

How do you organize these? Is your desk a lost cause of endless stickies with post ideas for next week and for all the weeks leading 'til next Easter?

Or is it harder to find inspiration? How do you get through bloggers' block?

Have you learned any html or css?


Is there anything that really, really gets on your nerves about the companies (or other bloggers) who visit your page? What?!

What's your opinion on blog rolls? Why?

How do you market your posts? What's proven to be most effective, what hasn't?

Have you learned anything interesting about yourself as a teacher, teacher-trainer or author? Has blogging made any kind of impact on your life professionally?

• Are you an old hand at all this with some fab advice you'd like to share with those newly entering the blogosphere?

• Are you a mid-lifer facing a blogger's crisis and would like to moan about why this is/ warn the others off or share how much you've grown as a professional?

• Are you a fresh pup, eager to share a new trick you just learned but wish you'd known 2 months ago when you started?

Write up a post on your own blog, mention that the posting is part of the blog carnival on giving advice to ELT new bloggers (link to this page) and enter it in the blog carnival here.

Important details
Deadline: July 15th
A summary posting of the best advice will be posted up end July/early August.

Can't wait to read it!


Best,
Karenne
(p.s. if this type of blog posting doesn't fit the theme of your own page however you'd still really like to contribute - ask to do a guest-piece for one of the techie+ELT bloggers - the summary will link to both your own blog and the host site's).


Useful link:

Original posting about the blog carnival
- lots of suggestions if you're lacking inspiration ;-) + find out what a blog carnival is.

How it will work
Using the blog carnival program, I will then collate all the postings and create a summary + analysis of the best advice given from English teachers bloggers to English teachers who'd like to set up a blog.

This posting will be sort of similar to the monthly wrap-up postings, (see here and here ). Each entry selected will link back towards the blogger's own blog.

What advice would you like to give a new blogger blogging in ELT?

This post is aimed at Bloggers who are writing about learning or teaching English and is an invitation to take part in a Carnival!

Except that this particular carnival won't be about learning or teaching English as a second or foreign language but instead, about blogging...

How easy was it for you to make the transition from English teacher/ teacher trainer to ELT Blogger?

What do you now know that you wish you had known six months, 2 years ago? A lot, I bet!

Do you have a special trick or tip to share with others who are thinking about doing this?

Would you like to share a surprising or shocking result of having become a blogger?

Instead of commenting below, which you are also welcome to do, how about writing up a post on your own blog, sharing your knowledge, experience and opinions with your readers about one or more of the following:

• why be a blogger
• the hardest thing about blogging is...
  
• the best thing about blogging is...
• the bloggers who inspire you & why

• blogging with students
• blogging as a freelancer
• blogging as an author/ teacher-trainer
  
• blogging in corporate ELT
  

• choosing a host site
• rss feeds & feed readers, email subscribers
• widgets, gadgets or things that go flash
• choosing the right template
• changing a template/ changing the host site

• getting your own domain name
  
• analyzing site statistics

• marketing your blog and postings
  
• networking with other bloggers
• back-links, in-bound linking
• blog-roll policy
• net-i-quette
  

• choosing a theme or specific topic for your blog
  
• writing great content
• guest-blogging
• creating an editorial calendar

• using creative commons materials
  
• learning html

• dealing with comments
  
• making money from blogging
• fending off the freeloaders
• dealing with copyright issues
  

or

• anything else that you think is important and would like to share!

And then what?

Submit the URL to your own blog and specific posting by July 15th to a themed blog carnival I've set up...

UPDATE 19 JUNE 2009 = this link has been reported as broken. I have been in touch with the blog carnival people but haven't had a reply yet. If you already submitted a posting, I already have your listing. However, for now, you can send me an email directly.

UPDATE 25 June 2009 = the new link here.

I'll then collate your posts, extract the very best advice and post up links to your sites at the end of that month.

And if you're not a blogger but you'd like to have one soon - or you've just started out - what sort of advice would you like to read?

Jot us a note in the comments below.

Useful links
What is a blog carnival?

Previous blog carnivals on teaching/learning English
Nik Peachey
David Duebel
Alice Mercer
LarryFerlazzo


Really looking forward to reading your submissions,
Karenne
p.s any questions, don't hesitate to email!