Assisting learners on a pathway to independence
TAFE
NSW VET
Pedagogy Project 2006 managed by Lynne Stallard, ICVET
After the first five weeks, our focus is less on students being in class than on getting through the work. The limit [to how flexible we’ll be] is that they need to regularly let us know how they're progressing.’
Margaret Gardner
Summary
- Main meaning of ‘learning style’ = a mix of general preferences (such as preference for a tutor, confidence, attitude to learning) and specific learner preferences (such as 'auditory' or 'kinaesthetic')
- Within one area – ‘General Education’ – students come with a wide variety of needs and expectations
- The challenge is always to balance, on the one hand, focusing on where the student is at and, on the other, encouraging students to stretch beyond their comfort zone and learn to handle things in a new way
Teacher Stance
Learner-centred, encouraging, building on small beginnings, helping learners understand their own learning style.
Overview
We are involved in a wide range of programs in the General Education area at Taree. One is a training program we run for adult literacy tutors. We put a lot of effort into matching tutors with people seeking tutoring. The training runs for 24 hours, plus some supplementary workshops on particular issues for the time they're active as tutors. We also provide them with a lot of support. The coordinator would meet with them from time to time, and provide support by talking with them by phone.
More generally, we use a wide range of teaching strategies - a mix of audio-visual, illustrated talks, self-paced, small group, one-to-one, project based. There might be a teacher up the front, or students might be working alone or in groups on self-paced packaged materials. They can stay in the classroom or leave, depending on their confidence levels.
We also get involved with other TAFE teachers who have students struggling with literacy and numeracy. It's the result of TAFE having to take all comers. We offer support in a range of ways, from trying to identify students early on who are likely to struggle, to having brief sessions or team-teaching with students to provide suggestions about coping with literacy and numeracy demands.
Main areas of need
The needs of learners vary enormously. They come in voluntarily, and they want a certain level of training. Some of them would like to go on to get jobs such as language tutors in schools.
The next level of training is small literacy classes. We assess students for this area very carefully when they come in, but the student never knows. There isn't a formal test, but we talk with them a lot and see how they respond. We're trying to gauge their level of literacy skills.
These students are often unemployed, and have had very negative experience with educational institutions. We work hard to show them how TAFE is different. We make it clear that they will be supported, they won't be tested, they certainly won't have to read aloud (which is their greatest fear). We also let them know that they have a choice about what they do. If they don't want to write, they don't have to. However, we will support them if they're willing to develop their skills.
Because of unemployment, they often have financial and family stresses. We let them know about the TAFE counsellor. We show them where the counsellor is, and bring the person in so they get to know the face. We also have a disability counsellor, in our case, intellectual disability. And in the North Coast Institute, there are counsellors with other specialties as well who can assist.
We have to deal with a wide range of needs. We've had students who are visually impaired. We've had people with real hearing difficulties, students with other physical difficulties. We're not called General Education for nothing: we get people coming in with a whole range of needs.
Providing individual support
In our Faculty, we have a strong track record of very intensive individual support for students - all sides of them are supported while they ease themselves into study. But from what I understand, University of New England and the other universities are getting better at responding to the kinds of needs we're handling. Mind you, lots of university students don't know that kind of help is available. And the typical student going off to university is more independent, more focussed, more motivated. Whereas we're trying to help our learners get to that point.
We think of what we're doing as a pathway from an assisted learner to one who's independent.
We conduct different levels of literacy and numeracy courses. As someone develops skills and confidence, they can move up to our Year 10 course (Certificate in General and Vocational Education). Typical students in this course are young people who've had very negative experiences with education. We give them a lot of support. Beyond that, we offer Year 12 (the Higher School Certificate), which opens the way for going on to university or areas like nursing.
Creating the right learning environment for Aboriginal students
We also run a fair mix of short courses for Aboriginals - for example, for young parents, driver education, art for Aboriginal people, office skills. We have an Aboriginal Support Officer, and she provides lots of individual attention.
Aboriginal students tend to prefer someone out the front telling them things. That's different from what we often do, which is to discuss in groups, to get everyone to contribute. But with some groups of Aboriginal students, discussion groups can just fall flat. I think it's because they don't like to feel singled out, or to appear as though they're big-headed or showing off. So we respect their preferences. We also bring Aboriginal Elders and community people in a lot as guest speakers, as a sign of respect but also because they have valuable knowledge to share.
The limits of flexibility
We set some limits on flexibility. For the Year 10 group, we insist on them being in the class for the first five weeks, so we get to know them and can provide support. But after that, our focus is less on being in class than on getting through the work. The limit is that they need to regularly let us know how they're progressing. If we don't hear from them for two weeks, we'd get in touch and explore whether they're still serious about continuing.
There are limits relating to government requirements as well. Many of our students are getting money from CentreLink, and we make it clear that they require evidence of progress and involvement as well.
We have had staff development in assessing learning styles, and we not only take learning styles into account when we teach our students, but we also help our students become clearer about their own preferred style early in their course. Our students (particularly those who've had negative educational experiences) feel relieved to discover that it is OK to be an 'auditory' learner or a 'kinaesthetic' learner. In the past, they'd just thought that they were inadequate because they couldn't cope with a textbook approach.
So we're saying: 'It's OK, that's your style'. But we also say, we want to help you develop other learning skills as well. So, for example, we help them to cope with other forms of information, like written handouts; we show them how to use a highlighter pen to separate out key information or how to reduce complicated information down to a simple summary.
