{"id":45,"date":"2017-11-04T03:08:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-04T03:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sadiethompson\/?p=45"},"modified":"2017-11-04T03:08:18","modified_gmt":"2017-11-04T03:08:18","slug":"unit-6-learning-activity-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sadiethompson\/2017\/11\/04\/unit-6-learning-activity-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Unit 6, Learning Activity 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Teaching is a profession in which the employees are constantly learning. Every year, there are new challenges that force us to learn new strategies, tools and processes. What may work well for a group of students one year, can also fail with another group the next year. I have personally experienced this many times in my career and have learned from these experience. These learning experiences are defined as andragogy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Malcom Knowles shares six assumptions about andragogy: <\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. An adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience, which is a rich resource for learning.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I know this statement to be true because I have personally experienced it. I have had the opportunity of starting my career with teaching grade 4 and I have continued in this same grade. I am now in my fifth year. Every year, I feel like I vastly improve. I am a higher quality grade 4 teacher now than I was in my first year. I can only imagine that this would continue each year in my teaching career. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his or her social role.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      As a new teacher starting out, I focused on the skills and lessons required to teach my students and achieve positive results. In my first year, my focus was very narrow. It was about my classroom, the students and when I was teaching specifics of the curriculum. As the years have passed, I am more comfortable in my role. I have become a much more confident teacher. Last year and this year, I have spent more time volunteering at church and in the community. I feel as though my focus has moved from a broader view. \u00a0As I learned more about my strengths and my weaknesses as a teacher, I identified some professional goals that would help me improve my skills and took specific professional development courses to target my areas of need. Now, I also take professional development based on things that are interesting to me, even though they aren\u2019t specifically related to my teaching career.<\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. There is a change in time perspective as people mature \u2013 from future application of knowledge to immediacy of application. Thus, an adult is more problem centered than subject centered in learning. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        As children, we are taught certain things in school because we have to learn them. This is subject based learning. As an adult, learning tends to be more problem focused. For example, if a person decides to start their own business, they need to take courses to learn how to manage a business. In my profession, I discover areas that are weaknesses for me and I take professional development activities based on those weaknesses. Developing skills around weaknesses, helps us improve so that we can be more effective teachers. <\/span><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Adults are mostly driven by internal motivation, rather than external motivators.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          I believe that teachers are intrinsically motivated. Knowles suggests this as the fourth principle of andragogy. Naturally, there is external motivation in teaching which includes evaluations, testing results and praise from staff who are higher in the division. Although rewarding, these are not the motivators that drive teachers to be good teachers and to learn. Teachers want to be good learners so that they can provide students with the highest quality of education to their abilities. <\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Adults need to know the reason for learning something. (Merriam & Bierma, 2014, p. 47)\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Adults need to have a purpose for what they are learning. An example of a time that I have experienced this in my own career was two \u00a0years ago. My boss wanted to send me to a conference on Down Syndrome. At the time, I did not have any students in my class with Down\u2019s Syndrome. She informed me that there was a student in Kindergarten with Down\u2019s Syndrome. It was decided that this student would start in grade 4 half way through the year. Once I knew that there was a reason for me to become more knowledgeable and skillful in this area, I was more motivated and interested in developing those skills. <\/span><\/p>\n

            This unit in particular has really made me reflect on my learning experience as an adult. It is a very different situation for me compared to when I attended university full time shortly after graduating high school, I realize now that I was not as focused as I could\u2019ve been as I was not sure what I wanted to do in my future and as a result, I \u00a0took the process of education and learning for granted. \u00a0Now that I work full time and have experience in my profession, I value my education much more. I am more focused, more serious, and I want to achieve specific goals. Time is at a premium when you work full time, so I view my education as a gift to myself. \u00a0I am much more driven. My current studies are very relevant to my profession.<\/span><\/p>\n

            I am also inspired by this opportunity to learn as an adult because I have realized that the term \u2018adult\u2019 is extremely broad and can mean so much. Every adult in this course is so unique and comes from a unique background of experiences and knowledge. We have different interests, careers and are different age groupings. It is interesting to read how each person is experiencing adult learning in this course. <\/span><\/p>\n

            Reference:<\/span><\/p>\n


            \n<\/span>Malcolm Shepherd Knowles- Theory of Andragogy<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Teaching is a profession in which the employees are constantly learning. Every year, there are new challenges that force us to learn new strategies, tools and processes. What may work well for a group of students one year, can also fail with another group the next year. I have personally experienced this many times in … <\/p>\n

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