Personal Philosophy Of Adult Education

Students have their own best way in effectively learning the lesson. With the diversity of students, the problem is each student has a preferred learning style. It becomes undeniably one of the reasons that make it difficult to achieve the best expected outcome out of teachers’ effort. However, teachers try to incorporate various teaching techniques to make every learning opportunity become productive, meaningful, and relevant for the learners.

The development of social responsibility begins with family and continues with many external influences that include, but are not limited to, friends, siblings, peers, religious influences, and societal norms within the society you live. That learning continues as we grow and it is argued that universities play a central role in continuing to foster social responsibility, citizenship skills, and leadership skills in their students. To achieve this it is acknowledged that an active learning pedagogy must be adopted in the nation’s colleges and universities because active learning methods are effective in helping students develop critical and creative thinking skills as well as problem-solving skills (Laws, 1999; McDermott & the Physics Education

Each child in different stages has different behaviors and interest. Based on my observation of children in the middle childhood stage, I have seen them think more differently and logically than early childhood stage. In this stage they like to choose what they want. According to Piaget, at this stage a child develop logical thinking, hypothesizing abilities, possibilities to grow in understanding and knowledge, develop critical thinking and analytical skills and choose what is appropriate for them. Therefore, in the museum we need to create protective strategies and think about ways to make them learn better, supplement their

“The strong push for a learner-centered paradigm of instruction in today’s schools reflects our society’s changing educational needs. We educators must help our schools to move into the new student-centered paradigm of instruction that better meets the needs of individual students, of their workplaces and communities, and of society in general” (Duffy, 2010, p. 147). The drive for learner center model that shows the change in the instruction of the nation’s new education needs because our global society, and students must take the skills they have learned and use it in their homes, and jobs (Duffy, 2010). According to Duffy the old methods are no longer effective and working for the general population to be successful in society

In conclusion, planning, having a range of different teaching styles and controlled behaviour can result in a positive environment where learning is enhanced and good practice can

Basically, in a traditional classroom the teacher embodies all the classroom's authority. On the other hand, a teacher in a de-centered education shares his authority with the entire class. The authority of a teacher in a de-centered classroom manifests itself as responsibility. This responsibility occurs through the practices of giving tests, maintaining classroom order, and looking out for all of the students' well being. The shared authority comes in the form of computer interaction and other multimedia stimuli. Due to this shared authority, students in de-centered classrooms usually do much of their learning on their own. Teachers in de-centered classrooms, usually embody a passion and dynamic attitude for their subjects. Teachers who are passionate about their subjects usually spend more time developing their presentations. Thus, the de-centered presentations incorporate more than just book knowledge. This extra knowledge usually takes place as visual stimuli such as videos, and hands-on experience. Overall, dynamic visuals and interaction characterize a de-centered classroom. Now, before one can see why a transition in education is necessary one must first comprehend the benefits and drawbacks of each type of education.

According to Dr. Patricia Alexander teaching and learning are interrelated. Teachers and students learn at the same time. As Dr. Alexander mentions in the video that actions and characteristics of one affect the other. For example, if a teacher in a classroom is not preview prepare for class, students will lose interest in the class. Students have to perceive that the teacher is mentally and intellectually well prepare in order to show some interest in the class. One of my teacher’s actions affected me when I was in middle school. I remember that when I was in 7th grade one of my teachers used to say to his students that they are very dumb to learn. I as student felt like I really was dumb. Even though, I tried to learn everything he taught us, I did not retain any information. As a result, my grades dropped a lot, so I refused to go to that school until my mother moved me to another school. In the other hand, if there are students that do not show any interest in learning, teachers’ performance is affected. For example, there is anything a teacher can do when a student does not really want to learn. Some teachers use a variety of strategies without any result of learning, but is does not mean that the teacher is not well prepare; it is more about what the student want. Dr. Alexander also mentions in the video that the factors that determine success are the same for teachers and students. I believed that it is connected because teachers and students are in constant

According to Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator and philosopher, the current education lacks teacher-student communication. In his article he reveals that, “Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently perceive, memorize, and repeat. This is the “banking” concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits.”

Over the past 25 years the movement to adopt learner-centered pedagogy has gained main stream acceptance, to the point that all higher education faculty are expected to include such methods in every class. Educational critiques, opinion editorials, research and data have driven policy and practice towards the universal application of active learning techniques in place of traditional lecturing. In the Report to the President (2012) the executive summary committed to evidence-based teaching strategies, namely active learning strategies, to increase student learning. Although this report drives the curriculum for STEM disciplines, this same push is occurring across disciplines. The commitment to adopt active learning has become a mantra reverberating across disciplines “lecture less”/ “include more activities” in your classroom.

For each family, education has a different level of importance. Sometimes education is not seen as an important use of time, so they go straight into work. Adult education is necessary though because people should be given the chance to change their decision about education at any given time. In 1968, Henry McNeil had just turned sixteen and thought that he was prepared for the workforce, so he quit high school. After he dropped out, a job was easily achieved even without a high school diploma because of his hardworking attitude. The ability to adapt to his job gave him employment until he was fifty-eight. However, when the economy took a downward turn, the companies that had once overlooked the education of the applicant in place of a good mentality, now were not able to take the risk. Insurance that the potential employee was educated weighed in more than the experience gained from prior jobs. Henry McNeil needed a new path for his life and decided to go back to school to achieve it. Every person does not go through the same intellectual stages of life at the same time. Every person is different, so diverse options for education are necessary. Therefore, adult education systems in Caldwell County and the United States of America deserve as much attention as youth education systems.

I believe that every child learns differently and therefore must be taught in a different way. By using scaffolding I will ask questions and give cues to help the children make the connection between new and old information. With group work, they will be exposed to different teaching techniques from group members and myself. When a child is exposed to different material, they are more likely to achieve the equilibrium process of assimilation and accommodation. While using progressivism, I can allow my students to explore through experience and interest. It will be up to the students which project we do in class and when we do it, but it will be material that is required to be covered. From my experience if students get to pick what they learn, they feel more apart of the classroom.

Active learning is productive, enhances opportunities and is supported or directed by technology. However, that is not to say that active learning is the best option of learning for all.

Therefore, some of the students might feel lost especially during the early stages of implementation of this approach as they are used to be spoon-fed and depend solely on the teachers to give

Overall, there are two types of teaching methods used today: teacher-centered and student-centered. The teacher- centered approach means that the teacher is the main model and his or her students are meant to receive information passively. In other words the teachers lecture and the students absorb the information, which later is tested and scored objectively to force self-learning on the students (Teaching Methods n.d.). This form of teaching is primarily used in United States classrooms. The other approach, student-centered, focuses on two different learning methods: inquiry-based and cooperative. Although teachers are still considered that main model, the students play a major role in learning, which is hands-on. The teachers give group assignments, portfolios, and expect a class where every child participates. Grades come from many aspects of the requirements, but constantly change as the teacher instruction fluctuates (Teaching Methods n.d.). This teaching method is found in many schools abroad, most notably in Finland. Researchers have found that this teaching style is most beneficial to students, and students agree. When asked about the qualities of a good teacher students responded, “a good teacher challenges you… or wants you to challenge everything” (TheFineBros 2014). Teacher-student interaction is imperative to proper learning, and without it, the education system will never grow, rank higher, and most importantly, better serve students.

Traditionally, instructors used to focus on what they did, rather than what the students were learning. Just few decades ago, teaching revolved only around the teacher, putting the learner out of the game. The learner was seen as no more than a jar being filled with information. Besides, all the conversations and debates at that time argued that the active element in the teaching/learning process could be anything except the learner. Knowledge was considered to be poured by the teacher into the learner’s mind meanwhile all what the learner could do inside the classroom was to watch, having a passive role in the construction of his own knowledge. Recently, and in order to cover the drawbacks of teacher-centered approach, education has adopted a new approach to learning, particularly language learning calling it the learner-centered approach.