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CLASSROOM DYNAMICS IN ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION

CLASSROOM DYNAMICS IN ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION Hal Beder and Patsy Medina Rutgers University NCSALL Reports #18 December 2001 Harvard University Graduate School of EDUCATION 101 Nichols House, Appian Way Cambridge, MA 02138 NCSALL Reports are funded by the Educational Research and Development Centers program, Award Number R309B60002, as administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, Department of EDUCATION , through contract to Harvard University. The content of NCSALL Reports do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, or the Department of EDUCATION , and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

emphasizes teacher–learner collaboration, uses authentic materials, and views the teacher as a facilitator rather than a conveyor of information. The better of the types of instruction depends on the perceived objective of adult literacy education. If the essence of becoming literate is the acquisition of

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Transcription of CLASSROOM DYNAMICS IN ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION

1 CLASSROOM DYNAMICS IN ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION Hal Beder and Patsy Medina Rutgers University NCSALL Reports #18 December 2001 Harvard University Graduate School of EDUCATION 101 Nichols House, Appian Way Cambridge, MA 02138 NCSALL Reports are funded by the Educational Research and Development Centers program, Award Number R309B60002, as administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, Department of EDUCATION , through contract to Harvard University. The content of NCSALL Reports do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, or the Department of EDUCATION , and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

2 NCSALL Reports #18 December 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ..i EXECUTIVE CHAPTER ONE: SAMPLE DATA DATA CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE THE EMPIRICAL LITERATURE ON ADULT Prescriptive Participatory LITERACY ADULT EDUCATION and Learning LITERATURE ON ELEMENTARY Evolution of CLASSROOM Interaction Initiate, Reply, Evaluate (IRE)..27 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH THE WHAT TEACHERS TRY TO Meeting Learners Developing Life Fostering a Learning Interesting and Engaging Supporting/Encouraging Independent, Self-Motivated Preparing for the GED TEACHERS PERCEPTIONS OF NCSALL Reports #18 December 2001 CHAPTER FOUR: THE CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF GROUP-BASED Opening a INDIVIDUALIZED A TYPOLOGY OF Discrete Skills Making Meaning CHAPTER FIVE.

3 CLASSROOM Positive Negative DIRECTING AND EXPRESSING VALUES, ATTITUDES, AND OPINIONS AND EXPLORING FUNCTIONING AS A Learners Collaborating with Other teacher Support of a Community Factors that Facilitate Factors that Impede CHAPTER SIX: SHAPING ENROLLMENT FUNDING CLASSROOM Ethnicity and CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS AND THE CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF MEETING LEARNERS NCSALL Reports #18 December 2001 TARDINESS AND TUNING LEARNER-CENTERED CLASSROOM SHAPING Enrollment Funding Professional APPENDIX: THE LITERACY TEACHERS KNOWLEDGE AND CLASSROOM CONTINUOUS ENROLLMENT AND MIXED SKILL TABLES TABLE ONE: SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS OF SAMPLE TABLE TWO: NUMBER OF SAMPLE CLASSES BY FIGURES FIGURE ONE.

4 COMPONENTS OF THE TYPOLOGY OF NCSALL Reports #18 December 2001 DEDICATION This report is dedicated to the 20 ADULT LITERACY teachers who graciously and unselfishly participated in this study and to the several hundred ADULT learners we observed in their quest for LITERACY . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to acknowledge Alisa Belzer, Ujwala Samant, Perrine Robinson-Geller, Betty Hayes, and Marilyn Gillespie for their important and much appreciated contributions to this study.

5 I NCSALL Reports #18 December 2001 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This, the first major study since 1975 to investigate CLASSROOM behavior in ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION , examines questions critical to understanding the field: How is instruction delivered, and what is its content? What processes underlie teaching and learning? And what external forces shape CLASSROOM behavior? A better understanding of these issues can influence policymakers decisions, teachers CLASSROOM strategies, and researchers agendas.

6 Methodology In this qualitative study, we provide a detailed description of CLASSROOM behavior by observing 20 ADULT LITERACY classes in eight states and interviewing the teachers of these classes. We selected a methodology known as grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1990), in which data are collected from a limited sample of cases (in this case, classes) and analyzed to find commonalities, themes, and categories that describe the phenomenon in question. Unlike in research using representative sampling and quantitative data, the findings are not meant to be generalized to an entire population.

7 Instead, they help generate understanding and theoretical propositions for future research. The Content and Structure of Instruction Based upon our CLASSROOM observation, we divide the content and structure of instruction into two general types: discrete skills instruction (found in 16 of the 20 classes) and making meaning instruction. Discrete skills instruction is characterized by teacher -prepared and teacher -delivered lessons conveying factual information and obtaining literal recall from learners; use of commercially published materials; lessons with clear beginnings and ends; and a focus on reading, writing, math, and GED test preparation.

8 In contrast, making meaning instruction (found in only four of the classes) focuses on developing higher-level abilities as well as basic skills, emphasizes teacher learner collaboration, uses authentic materials, and views the teacher as a facilitator rather than a conveyor of information. The better of the types of instruction depends on the perceived objective of ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION . If the essence of becoming literate is the acquisition of concrete skills and factual knowledge, the norm has merit. Indeed, it would be expected that highly systematic efforts focused on factual, discrete skills instruction would yield good gains on most tests used to measure learning because these tests tend to measure this kind of skill acquisition.

9 Ii NCSALL Reports #18 December 2001 If LITERACY also entails critical thinking, problem-solving ability, oral as well as writing proficiency, creativity, and an understanding of how society works, the norm we observed is substantially deficient. Given that teachers provide instruction in ways they know best and learners expect, changing their behavior may require protracted and intense resocialization. Despite a proclaimed emphasis on meeting learners needs, we saw little evidence of teachers systematically assessing learners needs or evaluating whether instruction was meeting individual or group needs.

10 We concluded that teachers are so intensely socialized into a teacher -centered form of instruction that they cannot avoid it, regardless of their desire to be learner centered. However, we found that teachers behaved in learner-centered ways in their affective relationships with learners. Social Processes in the CLASSROOM We have identified seven CLASSROOM processes important to understanding what happens in ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION classrooms: sanctioning, engagement, directing, correcting, helping, expressing values and opinions, and community.


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