Diversity

 

Randy Miller states that 'cultural competency for all teachers means recognizing and understanding the norms and tendencies of their student populations which are dictated mostly by societal, ethnic and socioeconomic influences. Teachers must be able to forge meaningful realtionships with students' (Miller, 2010). 

Developing a relationship with each student on this programme is a critical part in the successful outcome for students. Being able to overcome  barriers to learning is a major factor influencing whether or not they will succeed. If the tutors and lecturers can relate to the students, form a bond and understand what is happening in their lives we will have much greater success with supporting them.

Another factor affecting equitable access to learning is the design of the programme and the teaching environment. Universal Design for Learning sums this up as 'more equitable access to general education for all learners' (UDL, 2012). The goals of UDL are improving access, participation and achievement, eliminating or reducing physical or academic barriers and valuing diversity through proactive design. This includes accommodating different learning styles and multiple means of assessment,  engagement and delivery. We have to think very carefully about how to accommodate the learning needs of our students when we design the programme, so we are not creating more barriers to learning. One example is the difficulty dyslexic students have. Our expectations for coursework and assessment are based heavily around text. Dyslexic students have difficulties with material presented in written form. What alternatives can we or do we provide to meet their needs?

An example of minimising academic barriers is Otago Polytechnic's open entry courses initiative - removing the requirement for academic qualifications as a prerequisite to enrollment.

Why are so many young people disengaging from the school system, and leaving school with such low levels of literacy and numeracy? There are very obvious academic achievement gaps in the school system. Education in its current form is more accessible to some learners than it is to others. Our learners are among those who have not been able to access it sucessfully. 

References
Miller, R. 2010   The Importance of culturally competent teachers  Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-miller/the-importance-of-cultura_b_787876.html

Universal Design for Learning: A framework for access and equity

National Center on Universal Design for Learning   www.udlcenter.org

Expert learners

Knowing how to learn, and knowing which strategies work best, are valuable skills that differentiate expert learners from novice learners.

Wild and Heck, on their website ID 4 the web (2011), state that there are three key characteristics of expert learners: they take responsibility for their learning, they actively engage with material to be learned, and they practice self regulated learning. 

Taking responsibility for learning includes initiating opportunities to learn; seeking out information. Self-regulating learning  requires planning, setting goals, monitoring, evaluating and reflecting on the learning. Actively engaging with the material to be learned may include activating prior knowledge and utilising critical thinking and metacognitive skills.

Characteristics of expert learners that I already have include:

Planning, working independently and autonomously, taking control and setting goals

Having flexibility, being proactive, take responsibility for my learning

Collaborating and learning from others

Characteristics that I would like to strengthen, to develop on my journey as an expert learner:

Learning from mistakes

Articulate thoughts and ideas

Monitor and evaluate progress

Organise and analyse information - locate and process relevant information

Metacognitive skills - identifying strategies which work best

The cycle of SLR as identified by Wild and Heck

Developing these skills comes with practice and having an enquiring mind about the way that I learn. I find that I struggle with certain aspects of learning and studying, especially this course! It requires a great deal of self-discipline, the ability to  articulate my ideas clearly and succinctly, and I need to develop efficient and effective ways to study. Setting goals is critical; breaking the learning down into manageable and achieveable chunks.Support from tutors and other students is of great value and as I proceed the learning becomes smoother and easier.

The learners on my course are novice learners. They are all on the journey to developing skills such as self-management, goal setting, planning and reflection. They are often stopped in their tracks when they have difficulty with something; many of them have learned behaviours and strategies they have developed that are not very helpful. Many of them are unable to ask for help or support. Being able to recognise the characteristics of novice and expert learners means that I can identify areas that my students can be guided to develop.

References

Wild, M. & Heck, J.(2011). Expert learners. ID 4 the Web.

Literacy and numeracy

One of the key understandings of The Tertiary Education Commission's Theoretical Framework for Strengthening Literacy and Numeracy is that adult learners develop their literacy and numeracy most effectively in contexts that have meaning to them. As learners develop their expertise, their increasing awareness of their knowledge and skills allows them to apply them in a wide range of contexts. Learning is more easily transferred where learners are aware of the “underlying principles, patterns and relationships” within content (Gillespie, 2002). Learners are also more likely to gain transferable knowledge when the instruction is meaningful. Instruction is meaningful for learners when it is engaging and the tasks enable learners to see that their learning will be of use to them in their everyday lives.


Another of the key understandings is that successful approaches to embedding literacy and numeracy clearly link literacy, numeracy and vocational components of the course. Research into effective embedded literacy and numeracy approaches demonstrates that to be effective, literacy and numeracy support needs to be delivered as it is required for the instructional or vocational task at hand (Bates, 2005). This ensures that the learning is relevant and learners can link it to what they are doing.

The challenges with meeting the literacy and numeracy needs of the learners come from the disparate levels that the students begin their study with. Many students are reluctant to receive extra learning support because of negative experiences  in school and not wanting to be targeted as been different from the others in the group. Anxiety affects their learning, particularly if they have experienced previous failure at school or have low levels of confidence.

Another challenge is preparing the students for employment or further study at the end of the programme. Due to the nature of the programme, the students are interested in different fields of employment and avenues of further study. Some students need to have appropriate skill level to enter Level 4 trades programmes, some require more focus on academic writing preparation for courses such as Social Sciences.
Careers NZ states that according to Business NZ, among the top 10 skills employers look for are literacy and numeracy skills. If we can adequately prepare our graduates they will possibly stand a better chance of gaining employment and will have better success coping with the literacy and numeracy demands of the workplace.



References


Careers NZ   The 10 skills most valued by employers. Retrieved from:

http://www.careers.govt.nz/plan-your-career/not-sure-what-to-do/skills-employers-are-looking-for/

Bates, S. (2005). Integrating Literacies: The CAVSS approach. Reflect, 26–27.

Gillespie, M. K. (2002a). EFF Research Principle: A Contextualized Approach to Curriculum and Instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.

Tertiary Education Commission (2009)  Strengthening Literacy and Numeracy: Theoretical Framework

Learning preferences

Daniel William, cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist, states that learning styles do not exist; rather, using the example of the VARK theory, some people have better visual or auditory memories than others. According to Mo Costandi in 'The myth of learning styles' there is no scientific evidence that children do indeed acquire information more effectively if it is presented to them in their preferred learning style. 

Many researchers do however, agree that we do have various learning styles and preferences. The research tends to agree that it is more important to providing correct learning methods, strategies, and context, rather than matching individual preferences (Coffield, et. al., 2004).
David Merrill's (2000)  philosophy for using learning styles is that teaching strategies should first be determined on the basis of the type of content to be taught  and secondarily, learner styles and preferences are then used to adjust or fine-tune these fundamental learning strategies. Finally, content-by-strategy interactions take precedence over learning-style-by-strategy interactions regardless of the instructional style or philosophy of the instructional situation.Merrill states that most students are unaware of their learning styles and are unlikely to start learning in new ways without teacher input. Thus, knowledge of one's learning styles can be used to increase self-awareness about their strengths and weaknesses as learners. In other words, all the advantages claimed for metacognition (being aware of one's own thought and learning processes) can be gained by encouraging learners to become knowledgeable about their own learning and that of others (Coffield, et. al., 2004).
According to Don Clark, we should be showing students how to select the best style or modality for the task on hand. Choosing thebest learning method is part of meta learning i.e. learning to learn. Meta learning is a key principle of Foundation Learning. Having come from backgrounds of not very successful learning experiences, a strong focus of the Foundation Studies Trades programme for each learner is finding ways to learn that suit them. Learning and retaining information is usually most effective when the information is delivered in more than one form. Consider Mel Silberman's  Active Learning Credo (1996):

What I hear, I forget.
What I hear and see, I remember a little.
What I hear, see, and ask questions about or discuss with someone else, I begin to understand.
What I hear, see, discuss, and do, I acquire knowledge and skill.
What I teach to another, I master.

For example if a student reads instructions, sees the activity demonstrated and has a go themselves, they are more likely to remember than if they had just read the instructions. I have seen the enormous frustration of some students who are unable to understand  a concept without further instruction or alternative modes of delivery. Practical activities such as carpentry provide opportunities for learning in context. For our students the most successful activities seem to be those which are contextual that they can relate to something in their lives. Enjoyment of learning, I believe, is a key component to successful learning; if a student enjoys hands-on, practical learning in a workshop they will possibly have more success than in a classroom-based learning environment.

My learning preferences no doubt do impact on my teaching style. I know that I learn best when the information is contextual and I can relate it to something tangible. I prefer to learn face to face than online.I like multiple modes of delivery and to have the opportunity for discussion, practice and sharing of ideas.

As lecturers and tutors on the programme we often ask ourselves 'How can we deliver this in a way that the students will respond well to? How can we change the delivery so it is not like school?' If we are hoping to turn around negative learning experiences, we need to critically examine how we teach and how we can improve on our delivery for these learners.We need to vary the delivery style and expose learners to diverse learning opportunities.

References

Clark, D.  (2000).  Learning Styles and Preferences. Retrieved from:

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/styles.html

Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., & Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning: A systematic and critical review. www.LSRC.ac.uk: Learning and Skills Research Centre. Retrieved from: 

http://www.lsda.org.uk/files/PDF/1543.pdf

Costandi, M.  (2013). The myth of learning styles. Retrieved from:

 http://thinkneuroscience.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/the-myth-of-learning-styles/

Merrill, D. (2000). Instructional Strategies and Learning Styles: Which takes Precedence? Trends and Issues in Instructional Technology, R. Reiser and J. Dempsey (Eds.). Prentice Hall.

Silberman, M. (1996). Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Willingham, D. (2008) Learning Styles don't exisit. Retrieved from:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIv9rz2NTUk&feature=youtube     

Introduction

Kia ora, I am Michelle Ashbury and I work in the department of Foundation Learning. I am a lecturer on the Certificate of Foundation Studies Trades programme, although the title 'lecturer' has never really sat well with me - it brings to mind images of someone standing at the front of a room and delivering a talk to students, which is very far removed from the work I do with my students.
The students on this programme are 16 and 17 years old, and have all disengaged from school for various reasons. They come to do this course to learn new practical skills, develop good work and study habits and decide on a future pathway. Most of them really hated traditional  classroom learning, so one of my challenges is to deliver a programme  in a way that is very different from their schooling.
As well as teaching, my role is to mentor and provide learning support to these students, who often have a raft of  issues in their lives that have got in their way of success at school. I also coordinate the programme, out together the timetables, liase with other Polytech departments, external agencies and industry experience providers.

I am keen to get started on the Graduate Diploma. I am really interested in learning as much as possible about teaching and learning, and experimenting with different methods of delivery and student engagement. I am especially keen to look at how factors such as confidence and social issues impact on people's ability to learn and how this can be turned around.

I am the mother of two beautiful girls and am married to Tony - my family come first and foremost in my life! I also love the outdoors and travel.  I have lived in several countires including Japan and Korea and really love being immersed in different cultures. I have a background in youth work, outdoor education, adult literacy tutoring and  ESOL.

Josephine and Mila



Photograph by Dani Jeske/Animals Animals-Earth Scenes



This is an ayeaye, from Madagascar.  My 9 year old daughter Josephine came home from school one day and had been studying animals - we Googled it together and she told me about what she'd learned. I learn a lot from my students, my family and other people around me.