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Sep. 24th, 2012 09:27 amI have noticed over the years that the students who are reluctant learners (argue with the need to do work, are passive in their learning style, think they know a lot before they begin) are the most likely to give negative comments on a course. This is not the reluctance shown in the first week, but how much recalcitrance they demonstrate along they way. I'm not sure they *want* to be taught.
I need to hone my mechanisms for getting past their recalcitrance, I fear. I need to find ways of turning reluctant learners into good learners. I can do it when I teach teenagers, but, sometimes, when I teach adults, nothing I do works. Since the likelihood is high that - whatever path I choose - I will discover more reluctant learners who are positive they are participating fully in a class, I need to improve my teaching skills in this regard.
One thing that fascinates me is that the doodling I do in a classroom to keep me from talking all the time (for I tend to get excited about learning and am a danger as a student in some classrooms) is used as a technique by other adults to distance themselves. They don't take in what I'm saying and so when it comes to exercises or discussion it takes them an extra few minutes to pull themselves back into verbal mode. This affects all the students in their vicinity.
So, what I need first are techniques to pull students out of whatever strategies they're using to distance themselves and to bring them into the classroom with the other students. Along with that, I need to think about how safe they feel, for such strategies must have a cause and my students all choose the class.
What I need is an in-service, but the ANU doesn't do this for CCE staff. My teaching qualifications didn't even begin to cover this kind of thing, so going back to my notes is not useful. I shall use the powers of the interwebz! I shall also talk to my mother, who was a teacher of many reluctant students before she retired. She got students at the most difficult school in the state through sciences. I shall also chat about it over the next few weeks, with friends who teach or have taught.
I need to hone my mechanisms for getting past their recalcitrance, I fear. I need to find ways of turning reluctant learners into good learners. I can do it when I teach teenagers, but, sometimes, when I teach adults, nothing I do works. Since the likelihood is high that - whatever path I choose - I will discover more reluctant learners who are positive they are participating fully in a class, I need to improve my teaching skills in this regard.
One thing that fascinates me is that the doodling I do in a classroom to keep me from talking all the time (for I tend to get excited about learning and am a danger as a student in some classrooms) is used as a technique by other adults to distance themselves. They don't take in what I'm saying and so when it comes to exercises or discussion it takes them an extra few minutes to pull themselves back into verbal mode. This affects all the students in their vicinity.
So, what I need first are techniques to pull students out of whatever strategies they're using to distance themselves and to bring them into the classroom with the other students. Along with that, I need to think about how safe they feel, for such strategies must have a cause and my students all choose the class.
What I need is an in-service, but the ANU doesn't do this for CCE staff. My teaching qualifications didn't even begin to cover this kind of thing, so going back to my notes is not useful. I shall use the powers of the interwebz! I shall also talk to my mother, who was a teacher of many reluctant students before she retired. She got students at the most difficult school in the state through sciences. I shall also chat about it over the next few weeks, with friends who teach or have taught.