Adult learning is a unique form of education. Adult students want to be treated as grownups, and the facilitator has to possess the right skills to impart knowledge while maintaining respect. The class I observed was part of a local church outreach program created to help adult Hispanic immigrants to learn new skills and English language. The church is located in a part of the city with a high population of Hispanic immigrants; the church created the outreach program to assist its members with their English language and career goals.
The class I observed was an Enhanced Language Training (ELT) class. The class was created to sharpen the mastery of English language among a group of professionals Latinos. After they arrived in the US, they found themselves working odd jobs to make ends meet because they cannot pursue their careers unless they have the right mastery of the English language.
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Class Context
The class took place in a spacious room in one of the buildings within the church compound. The class had seven students, five female students, and two male students. The class was brightly-colored with visual aids and a projector. The students sat next to each other at the front part of the class. The chairs had individual tables, but they were not far apart to enable class discussion.
After interacting with the students, I found out that they were between the ages of 21 and 53. The students had been in America for a while, one female student had been in the US for six years but had never perfected her English language skills because she was busy raising her children. Most of the students had been in the US for 1 to 4 years. The students had made an effort to learn English language on their own. Some of them speak almost fluent English, but they want to
The students had different backgrounds, motivation, and approaches to learning. For instance, Mark is in his mid-20s, he came to the US in search of better opportunities. Mark only finished high school before moving to the US to be with his cousin. Mark has taken various construction and maintenance jobs, but he realized that he could not progress in his career unless he can speak and write fluent English. Mark has worked for his current employer for over one year, and he has earned his trust. Mark believes that the ELT class will give him a shot a junior level managerial position. Mark also wants to further his education; he wants to study a business related to a managerial course.
Anna is 36 years old. She came to the US from Mexico to join her husband after he found an excellent job in the US seven years ago. Anna worked as a nurse before, but on arriving in the US, she could not secure a job due to the language barrier. She enrolled in an ELT class, but she soon got pregnant. Anna now has two young children, and she wants to work to help her husband support the family. Anna wants to look for work as a registered nurse at a local teaching hospital, but she must pass a Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) among other requirements. Anna acknowledges that passing the English language proficiency test will be the first step to working as an RN in the US. She has to have the right educational requirements, obtain a credential evaluation, and sit for the National Council Licensing Exam. The other students have their different stories, but they are all attending ELT class with to foster their career development.
The class takes place between 4 to 6 pm from Monday to Friday. The ELT program is a three-month program, but students who do not pass the test at the end of the three months are welcomed for remedial classes. During the three month period, students are taught about grammar and communication skills, particularly business communication skills.
The Facilitator
The facilitator, Brian Suarez*, has been working as a facilitator for the ELT program for two years. Suarez is also a high school English teacher with over ten years of experience. Suarez is a trained adult learning facilitator; he did a master’s program in adult education. Suarez acknowledged that working with adult students was challenging at first, but he is now used to it. At the beginning of every class, Suarez takes time to personally greet students and inquire about their days before beginning the lessons. According to Suarez, the key to teaching adult students is recognizing that they are adults and creating practical lessons and activities to meet their needs.
Observation
During the classroom observation, I used notes and a small checklist to guide the observation process. Taking notes would make it easy to evaluate whether the class was a success or not. Lastly, at the end of the lesson, I met with the facilitator to thank him for allowing me to observe his class. The pre-observation questions on my checklist include:
I. What are the objectives for the lesson?
II. How will you achieve the objectives?
III. How do the objectives of today’s lesson relate to the entire course?
The class began at 4:03 pm with the facilitator welcoming students to class. All students arrived on time showing that they take the class seriously. The students settled down quickly because the facilitator was already in classes. The facilitator introduced me to the class and told the students that I would be observing the lesson from the beginning to the end. Then the facilitator handed out handouts on the topic. The facilitator was continuing the chapter of “Writing Skills,” he had a lesson plan detailing the goals and the content of the lesson. The facilitator started the class by asking the students about the previous lesson. The chapter entailed different genres of writing, with the previous lesson focusing on writing news items. Today’s lesson focused on advertising writing. The teacher asked the class to give examples of some of the famous written and TV adverts. One student answered by giving an example of the eye-catching print advert by McDonald's and other students chimed in to give examples of adverts. The facilitator engaged with the students as they described the adverts; before asking them to differentiate between advertising writing and regular writing. One student answered that advertising writing is concise and catchy by giving examples of catchy phrases used in some of the adverts. Another student responded that advertising writing tends to be funny.
The facilitator explained what advertising writing is all about using the class text and other materials he had prepared. The facilitator made use of visual material by incorporating PowerPoint into the lesson. Some of the adverts were in Spanish, and this appealed to the students. The facilitator asked the class to translate some of the adverts in Spanish into English. Later on, the class was divided into two groups. Each group was given 15 minutes to create a simple advert for a product in English. The students took time to brainstorm before doing the assignment. By the end of 15 minutes, each group presented their advert to the class. The facilitator applauded them and offered constructive feedback.
With 15 minutes left to the end of the lesson, the facilitator took time to summarize the lesson. The facilitator also gave students an assignment to create a simple advert for the different professions they represented. The facilitator also introduced the topic for the next class and asked students to come prepared. When the class ended, the facilitator took time to engage with students informally.
Evaluation
The class was one of the most active classrooms I have witnessed. From the beginning, students were engaged in the learning process. The facilitator had a lesson plan detailing the goals and the content of the lesson. I will evaluate the lesson using the following factors: preparation, language use, presentation, classroom management and use of technology.
The facilitator came prepared; he had notes and media content to illustrate the topic. Students learn differently, some prefer the use of technology and others are used to traditional approach to lessons (Knowles et al., 2014). The topic was also appropriate for a media presentation. The facilitator also gave the class handouts detailing the entire lesson. The handouts made it easy for students to keep up with the facilitator because some of them had a problem with difficult English words. The facilitator had gone through the lesson in advance, and he taught almost the entire lesson without referring to the handout. I can say that the facilitator was well prepared and he met his goals for the lessons.
Another significant factor to consider is language use. Being an ELT class, the facilitator had to be careful with his language use. Most of the students could speak English, but they did not know difficult vocabularies. The facilitator gave the class the handouts in advance, and in the handouts, he defined vital terms relating to the topic making it easy for the students to keep up. The facilitator used simple English appropriate the class. Throughout the lesson, the students seemed to have understood what the facilitator was saying.
The lesson presentation was also flawless. The lesson had a definite beginning, middle, and end. The facilitator defined the topic before telling the students about the objectives of the lesson. The facilitator gave a short outline of the topic, before asking the students what they knew about the topic. The facilitator used the hand out to plan the lesson, after teaching the subject; he gave students a group exercise to do. The lesson presentation allowed students to learn about the topic first before engaging in a group activity to test what they had learned. The facilitator gave students many opportunities for dialogue by asking open-ended questions throughout the lesson to enable students to share their knowledge and experience on the topic.
The lesson presentation took into consideration some of the factors that are unique to adult learners. Adult learners tend to be free, and they prefer to engage with the facilitator and other learners during class. Adult learners are also problem centered, and they apply newly acquired knowledge to real situations. The group activity made the lesson exciting and challenging. It gave students an opportunity to use their creativity and internalize the lesson.
The facilitator did not have trouble managing the class. The class was quite small, and it did not present many challenges. The facilitator was audible, and he made contact with all the students throughout the lesson. The students occupied the front seats right next to each other to enable easy classroom discussion. The lesson was more of a lively conversation than a lecture. The classroom atmosphere was active, open and accepting. Each student had a chance to contribute to the discussion while other listened. The facilitator engaged with the students from the beginning of the class to the end. Students were involved in a group activity; they presented their group work as the facilitator critiqued. The facilitator aimed to ensure everyone participated in the class by asking questions.
The facilitator used appropriate technology to help students understand the topic. The PowerPoint presentation simplified the subject and made it enjoyable. The presentation had visual and audio materials on the topic. Technology enabled the facilitator to summarize and share information with the class so that the students can refer to them for individual study.
To sum up, the lesson was very efficient. Being a small class, the facilitator engaged with the students on a personal level. Students did not hold back; they shared ideas even if they did not have a proper mastery of the English language. The facilitator took time to plan the lesson well and presented it impeccably. The teacher reported having achieved his goals at the end of the lesson.
As much as the class was lively, I think the 2-hour lesson is long especially for specific topics that do not require much time. The facilitator probably exhausted all the information about the topic and had to add additional activities to the lesson. Additionally, I only gave the facilitator the observation checklist. I cannot tell whether the students felt that the lesson was effective or not.
Relating Models/ Theories of Adult Learning with Classroom Observation
There are established models/ theories used to guide adult learning. According to Speed et al. (2015), the models acknowledge that adult learners are different and they respond to different learning strategies. Before applying the models, it is essential to recognize that adult learners are individuals responsible for their own decisions. Adult learners can choose to engage or not to participate in the learning process since they are in charge of their lives.
Adult learner puts adults in subordinate positions, and it can be quite tricky at the beginning. The facilitator has two years of experience, and he reported that adjusting to teaching adult students was a challenge at first. Adults are demanding, they are goal-oriented and they will not hesitate to tell the facilitator that the lesson/course did not achieve the set goals. Adults are also more disciplined, and they can sustain a higher level of motivation as seen in the class. The students engaged with the facilitator through the 2-hour period, and they choose to participate in activities that helped them achieve the lesson’s goals (Marshall & Young, 2009).
Adult educators should apply the characteristics of adult learners with theories of adult learning to foster active learning. Cognitivism is deemed as a better theoretical approach to adult learning in comparison to behaviorism. While behaviorism focuses on events cognitivism focuses on patterns as a whole. Cognitive learning theory posits that the brain is behind learning and it is responsible for processing information. The human brain is continuously learning and growing, and as it grows, it changes its response to stimuli.
Cognitivism was developed as a critique of behaviorism. Cognitivists wanted to show that the human mind is not a passive exchange system as suggested by behaviorists. Gestalt cognitivism is the earliest form of cognitivism, it compared human mind to a computer, claiming that human beings are capable of processing information. Gestalt approach can be used to explain the adult learning process. When students are mentally active during a class by listening keenly and asking questions, they are more likely to process the subject matter better than students who are not mentally engaged in the learning process. The facilitator engaged with students by asking questions, encouraging discussions and through visual aids to effectively engage the students’ minds in the learning process.
Over the years, cognitive theory of human learning was developed further. Bandura’s social learning theory attempted to bridge the difference between cognitive and behavioral approaches to learning. According to the social learning theory, human beings learn through observation, imitation, and modeling. By observing others, human beings learn how certain behavior is performed, and they store it in their brains. The theory shows that learning is a reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral and environmental stimuli. In the adult ELT class, the facilitator started the lesson by explaining the topic and later gave an exercise to the class to demonstrate their understanding of the topic. The students modeled behavior and they also applied their cognitive abilities by thinking outside the box.
Other cognitive approaches such as Ausubel’s meaningful versus rote learning also influenced the learning process. According to Ausubel, learning is useful when it can be related to concepts already in one’s cognitive structure. The subject of the lesson was something familiar, which is why the students participated in the learning process from the beginning to the end. When learners connect with the content, they are more likely to understand and retain information. The facilitator gave various examples of adverts and also asked the class to contribute. The facilitator also used images and visual aids to make the learners connect with the content. The facilitator also applied Bruner’s cognitive model of discovery learning by giving the students an assignment to do after class. The assignment required students to transform new information into different scenarios to discover new insight.
Conclusion
The classroom I observed made adult learning interesting. The facilitator took time to plan and present the lesson effectively. My presence in the classroom did not seem to affect learning; the students participated in the learning. The students freely shared ideas, jokes, and questions, and the facilitator managed the discussion well. After observing the classroom, I found out that adult learning teachers apply learning theories to achieve their goals. Cognitive approach is the prevailing adult learning theory, but teachers also use behaviorism by creating conducive learning environments. The most significant lesson from my observation is that adult classes are built on mutual respect, students and educators respect each other, and this creates a positive experience for everyone.
References
Knowles, M. S., Holton III, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2014). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development . Routledge.
Marshall, B., & Young, S. (2009). Observing and providing feedback to teachers of adults learning English. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. Retrieved September , 10 , 2009.
Speed, S. A., Bradley, E., & Garland, K. V. (2015). Teaching adult learner characteristics and facilitation strategies through simulation-based practice. Journal of Educational Technology Systems , 44 (2), 203-229.
