In chapter two of The Skillful Teacher by Stephen D. Brookfield, four core assumptions are presented.

1. Skillful teaching is whatever helps students learn
2. Skillful teachers adopt a critically reflective stance toward their practice
3. The most important knowledge that skillful teachers need to do good work is a constant awareness of how students are experiencing their learning and perceiving teachers’ actions
4. College students of any age should be treated as adults

(Brookfield, 2015, pg 15)

My own summation is that, if we are to become a skillful teacher we should create a space that is safe for students to give honest, anonymous feedback, especially near the beginning of the course. This will build trust and lead to more open communication in the future. We should recognize that our students will come from a range of backgrounds and age groups, but they should all be treated as the adults that they are, or are becoming. Reflecting on our own teaching will help us to be more creative and fluid in our teaching practice, instead of becoming complacent which will reflect in our connection with students and impact their experience. We should collaborate with our peers to co-teach or evaluate our practice so we can have perspective and gain insight. In order to achieve the first assumption of doing whatever is needed to help students learn we may need to step outside of what is considered professional, while remaining ethical and unbiased.

In my own experience, I can relate to sometimes having to do things that may be outside of what would traditionally be deemed professional. Brookfield’s example of stepping out of his classroom while his new students meet with past students on the first day of class is something that I would embrace. I can see where administration or some peers may find this verging on unprofessional, but I think it is simply just unconventional at best. Allowing your students to get honest information about the course material and you as an instructor is beneficial and shows your students that you are confident enough in your abilities to allow for critique. I do believe that this may be easier done as a seasoned instructor and that a new instructor may have their own complications with doing this. I say this because I can reflect back to when I first started teaching. You need to gain some confidence in yourself and with the course content before being comfortable enough to hear honest feedback without it feeling like an assault. I feel like one of the biggest challenges as an instructor is being okay with the fact that not every student is going to praise your every move and that they are going to discuss this with their fellow students. You are not a bad teacher, you are a human teaching other humans.

With increasingly diverse classrooms I agree with Brookfield that it is vital we treat our students with respect and as the adults that they are. How disappointing would it be for you, as an adult learner, to go into a college classroom only to be treated like a child? I do not think you would appreciate it, and it would not garner your respect or trust in the instructor.

Brookfield presents insight into what a skillful teacher should be and forces us to ask questions of ourselves that can be uncomfortable, but critical to our professional growth. Being a skillful teacher is so much more than creating interesting classroom activities and giving a great lecture. His message, at its core, is one of humanity and humility.

This post was created for PIDP 3260: Professional Practice as part of the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program at Vancouver Community College. You can access their website here. To access the School of Instructor Education Facebook page click here.

Reference list:

Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The Skillfull Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

If you are in education you probably already understand that there is a distinct difference in teaching adults over children.

In my own experience, I recognized this many years ago but found that the institutions I taught for did not embrace this. Courses were very centered around instructor directed education, and did not leave room for self exploration and thought on the part of the learner. I found that students often were very dismissive of what was being shared with them because they had no input into the information, nor was there any reasoning given to them. They did not understand why they had to learn these things, so there was no value to the information.

Andragogy is the name given to the assumptions of the adult learner. One cannot talk about andragogy and not also talk about Malcolm Knowles and his six assumptions of the adult learner.

1. Self-direction: as we mature into adulthood, we evolve into a being that is self-directing. No longer requiring the same leadership style found in pedagogical settings.
2. Experience: adults bring with them all of their life experiences, and this influences their behaviour towards learning.
3. Social roles: an adults social role impacts their readiness to learn something.
4. Perspective: adult learners tend to be more problem centered as opposed to subject centered in their learning. They have the desire to put what they are learning into perspective, in that they need to know when and why the knowledge will be applied to their life.
5. Motivation: adults tend to be internally motivated. Again, this goes to the desire to apply their knowledge.
6. The need to know: adults need to understand why they must know something.

If we really think about those six assumptions we can gain a lot of insight into how the adult mind works over the mind of a child. Children typically require direction and organization. They have not yet matured into a self sufficient person, so pedagogy works for them because they are used to being told what to do and how to do it. One thing that I must note is that there are some children who are more self aware, just as there are some adults who are not. Adult students crave being “treated as an adult” but are quick to turn their choices and actions onto their instructor or institution in some situations, specifically when feedback does not go in their favour. Knowles’ assumptions of andragogy are valuable, and set the foundation for us, but also seem to operate on the assumption that adult learners are self-directed in their learning. I think this is actually a common misconception of andragogy in that we make the assumption that everything is put into the hands of the learner and left to them, that we are simply facilitators as adult educators.

All of this is very interesting, but how does this translate to the classroom?

In my search for more information on the subject I came across a really great post, titled Contrasting Classrooms: Instructional Differences Between Pedagogy vs. Andragogy by Point Park University on the subject. It takes the theories of Malcolm Knowles and expands into Jack Mezirow‘s theory of transformational learning. They suggest that when we understand both theories, and marry the two, that we can meet the needs of the adult learner.

In my own experience I have found that adding self reflection, self assessment, and eliminating traditional testing has been very effective in improving the experience of my students. The nature of what I teach must be instructor led, but that does not mean that there is not room to allow the student to still have control over their own learning experience. Adult students that I encounter are typically experiential learners. I often look to the approach of the constructivist learning theory and cognitive apprenticeship when designing course materials as these theories allow for experiential learning to happen, but are led by an expert or mentor. Case studies and physical demonstration of skills that include feedback and involve reflection by the learner are ways that I encourage self exploration and critical thinking.

So, here is my case for andragogy…

It is, without a doubt, true that how we instruct adults needs to differ from how we instruct children. It is a field that continues to be studied and expanded on. The more we learn about it and implement it’s theories into our classroom, the better the learner experience.

I implore all adult educators to truly look at how they deliver their course materials. The world is constantly changing, and so should we. Do not fall back on what you have always done. Instead, think about what you could do to evolve. You will grow from the experience, and isn’t that a wonderful thing?

-Audrey

This post was created as part of the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program at Vancouver Community College. You can access their website here. To access the School of Instructor Education Facebook page click here.