NIFL-AALPD:669
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From: AndresMuro at aol.com
Subject:[NIFL-AALPD:669] Re: Qualities of a good facilitator?
Date: Thu Sep 25 2003 - 13:33:47 EDT
I am not necessarily a good facilitator, but this is what I recommend teachers to do in their classes.
The most important thing is to always remain flexible and don't expect things to go the way they planned and have the ability to turn anything into a "teachable moment". This means that any discussion can be ultimately related in some way to a specific learning goal. Also, teachers need to be aware of the cognitive needs of the students, and adapt the information to those cognitive needs.
Adults, unlike children, tend to be very logical and want to classify things into little taxonomies. So, while taking about breast cancer might be a useful learning experience, adults will not see it as a GED learning topic (for example) unless it is presented in some sort of GED learning format. So, if a discussion about breast cancer, for example, were to unexpectedly emerge in a GED class, the flexible teacher ought to be able to turn the discussion into a "teachable moment" allowing the students to learn more about breast cancer, while continuing to learn specific skills needed for the GED. This, is an essential tool of good adult ed teachers. If they can do this, they can introduce topics into the classes that are useful to the students, or allow the students to do this, while turning the topics into useful adult education lessons. In addition, this can save the cost of books since anything becomes learning materials. Also, because teachers can use local resources students can access local services that they may need.
Andres
