Strategies for Learners with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education

1. Strategies for Learners with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education Paula Freiermuth Osseo ABE Summer Institute August 2012

2. Objectives Identify some of the assumptions we have about learning and how they differ from the assumptions of our students Explore individualistic versus collectivistic culture as it pertains to learning assumptions Identify strategies to address differences in assumptions

3. Who are we? Name In what country did you do your education? How many years of education have you had (from kindergarten on)?

4. Some Core Values of Mainstream Education

5. Who are our students? Where have they had their education? How much education have they had? What are their core values or assumptions of education?

6. Iceberg Model of Culture VISIBLE food dancemusic architecture literature holidays clothing ways of learning ways of teaching concept of time assumptions about teacher/student roles importance of print role of group role of individual HIDDEN

7. Test Your Knowledge What do dogs and rabbits have in common? What is a tree? True or False—Washington, D.C. is the capital of the U.S. True or False—New York City is the capital of New York State.

8. Academic Knowledge Based on logic and hypothetical Focused on abstractions Immediate relevance not necessarily important Not tied to specific culture or environment Static Pragmatic Knowledge • Based on experience • Accumulated over generations • Passed down orally • Focused on concrete, functional • Concerned with immediate relevance • Culture or environment specific • Changeable

9. Recite the months of the year. Recite the months of the year in alphabeticalorder.

10. Two Different Learning Paradigms

11. Scenarios In your group, choose one of the two scenarios to read and discuss. What’s happening in the classroom? What are the teacher’s assumptions?

12. Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm

13. Rick’s class The class has been working on measurement concepts such as inches to feet. Students have been struggling with the language of math problems. A student has a new job laying carpet and tile. His boss wants him to help measure as well as lay the carpet and tile.

14. A. Accept Conditions for Learning • I am making this lesson immediately relevant to students. • Using real-world problem from one of the students • Linking math to specific skills students can apply where they live or work • I am helping students develop and maintain interconnectedness. • Students share experiences with building materials • Teacher shares home workshop photos and experiences

15. B. Combine Processes for Learning • I am incorporating both shared responsibility and individual accountability. • Students work together on the first problem calculating the amount of tile • Each team is responsible for at least one room of the house for the second problem • Teams combine into large groups to add up their results • Each student is individually accountable for at least one additional problem

16. B. Combine Processes for Learning • I am scaffolding the written word through oral interaction. • Teacher narrates video while taking notes on board • Students work out problems aloud while team members write • Students read their work out loud while team members read along and check for accuracy • Student present results orally to class with visual representation on board

17. C. Focus on New Activities for Learning • I am focusing on tasks requiring academic ways of thinking. • Students focus on the sequence of steps and the importance of a specific order • Students consider how operations must have the same units to obtain the correct answer • Students learn about checking their answers to see if they make sense

18. C. Focus on New Activities for Learning • I am making these tasks accessible with familiar language and content • Teacher provides video with his own narrative in familiar language and pauses video to write key concepts on board • Teacher provides sentence frames to guide the use of language to describe steps of the problem • Teacher uses familiar content of a construction activity for all the problems in the project