Catering to a range of student needs
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project 2005 managed by Lynne Stallard, ICVET
The key to teaching well is to enjoy what you do. If you're enjoying teaching, students really respond. But if you're not enjoying it, if you've been in the system too long and have lost your enthusiasm, students really respond to that as well.
Brigitte Collins
Summary
main meaning of 'learning style' = spoon-fed vs learning independently + differences relating to age and ethnic background
student interest best served via mix of 'nurturing' eg writing everything down for young students and 'extending' eg getting students to find own information
illustrates difference between 'wants' and 'needs':
- some students may want to dress as they like and arrive when they like, but
- to be employable, they need to adhere to dress requirements and be punctual
there is close relationship between:
- a teacher's willingness and capacity to accommodate student needs and
- their general enthusiasm and enjoyment as teachers
Teacher stance
Enthusiasm, enjoyment, openness
Background
Most of our hospitality students are between 18 and 25. Some of them are straight from school, and some have experience in the workforce. We also have a big contingent of overseas students, from Asia and the Middle East. Added to that, there are a small number of mature-aged local students wanting to get extra skills and complete a Certificate. So it's quite a mix.
Accommodating the needs of school leavers
Basically, the younger students want to be taught like they were at school. They haven't been used to independent learning.
Our challenge is to turn them around, so they realise it's not all spoon-feeding. They're expected to provide a lot of information in the classroom. Because they don't have much of their own experience in the workplace, when I teach, I relate a lot of the material to what's happened to me personally.
My teaching approach with young students is a bit different. For example, I use PowerPoint, because they like a lot of technology. PowerPoint is available in our practical teaching areas, and you can show pretty pictures of products like alcohol.
Students are also expected to get onto the internet and research products, restaurant menus, and so on. The younger ones zoom around on the computer, and they love to see the different web-sites with all this information. There's far more current information on the web than they'd find in books if they went to the library.
I write on the board a lot with this group, because they're used to being spoon-fed with information. But as I just said earlier, we also try to turn them around. I try to get them to track down and contribute their own information.
Accommodating the needs of students in their 20s
The students in their 20s have typically been out in the industry for a while, they can relate to what you're talking about. A challenge is to find out what they know and, in some cases, they know a lot. If so, I try to use them to nurture the younger ones. They take on a mentoring role, which gives them a sense of importance.
For example, in a bar class, they might be dealing with how to pour beer. So you might ask someone in their 20s to show the group, and then to demonstrate to the school leavers. At other times, I'd take the experienced person aside, get them to demonstrate what they know and, if they're experienced, exempt them from some of the practical classes. You don't want them to just get bored.
In all of this, it's important to talk with your students. You can't just go into the class and say 'Hi, this is what we're learning today.' You need to get to know the students a lot better.
Accommodating 'older' students (late 30s, early 40s)
This group are closer to my own age, and you need to treat them differently. Sometimes, the older ones find it hard being in a group of mostly 18 to 25 year olds. They can feel left out, so it helps if they can relate to the teacher better. They don't feel so isolated.
In terms of ability to learn independently, they vary a lot. Some of the ones in this age range have a lot of experience, but others (particularly from overseas) are very hesitant and unsure of the technology. Even using computers to get information from the library can be a problem, and we have to arrange for them to get some mentoring.
Accommodating international students
We have to adjust our approach quite a bit to accommodate the beliefs and backgrounds of our international students. For example, we get a lot of people who, for religious reasons, don't drink alcohol. When we do wine tastings, they're not able to participate. To accommodate their backgrounds, we've had to find other ways, to judge the wine by looking and smelling.
There are also big cultural differences in the types of food. Korean students in particular don't eat a lot of the food we eat, so when we're reviewing different types of products, we have to physically bring in the product, so that they can touch, feel and look.
For those with limited English, exams can be very hard. For someone who has the knowledge but is held back by poor written English, we would sometimes sit down and test them verbally.
In the service industry in Australia, the norm is that females get served first. But we find it's very hard for Asian students, who would always serve males first. Cultural differences like that are very hard to instil.
Of course, there are some good things about having people from different regions. We do subjects that involve different countries, and we get them to talk about their food, and to bring in examples. They get quite excited about being able to share their information.
Learning styles
I'm aware that I prefer to learn in particular ways and, when I'm with the other staff here, I see that other staff have different preferences as well. The same applies to students.
We don't use a particular learning styles approach. Instead, we just use intuitive categories, based on things like age, experience and level of English. Personality comes into it, too.
If you just walked into the classroom and just 'taught', you wouldn't know about students or their learning styles. But if you find out more about each individual, you get to know their needs as well.
The limits of accommodation
In some areas, we wouldn't just accommodate what students want to do. For example, the younger students have left school, and can be out at night drinking and partying. So you need to be a bit strict, to lay down the law. We're trying to get them adjusted to this industry.
Punctuality is another area where we're more strict. In the hospitality industry, you're expected to be on time, and the same applies at college—students need to be on time for class. Also, we try to get them into the industry as soon as possible, so they can start to get hands-on experience and relate to what we're covering.
There are other areas where we wouldn't just go along with student preferences. For example, Asian students like to learn in their own language groups, but I generally split them up so that they're forced to communicate with people from other backgrounds and to help each other.
Even if students prefer to learn alone, I'd get them to join a group. Hospitality has no room for loners—it's very team-oriented. So I always steer them in that direction in class. In this industry, you have to work with others—receptionists, bar-staff, a whole team of people that you've got to be able work with.
Another area is general industry dress requirements, including wearing uniforms for practical classes. They're non-negotiable.
In terms of pacing, some subjects are self-paced, but the practical ones are generally not. The only accommodating we do there is to give people exemptions if they can demonstrate that they have the skills we'll be covering.
Overall, we're fairly flexible. The training package materials support flexibility, and this has been good for our industry.
Final comments
The key to teaching well is to enjoy what you do. If you're enjoying teaching, students really respond. But if you're not enjoying it, if you've been in the system too long and have lost your enthusiasm, students really respond to that as well.