What Would be The Two Most Valuable Skills?
You Could Ever Learn or Teach?

by Anthony Gabriel

As many of us are apt to do , either by custom or habit, the beginning of the new year marks a time in our lives we generally look to make bold or well intentioned proclamations of how we want to change or improve ourselves . If many of us are honest, by mid-year those proclamations have been replaced by the immediacy of pressing other issues that ultimately prevent us from accomplishing our well intentioned goals.

Additionally, there’s the specter of fear and uncertainty that also gives us ammunition in our rationalization of why we haven’t reached or even seriously attempted our goals.

For many adult learners this process takes on an even more depressing result in that many have been promising themselves that they would make changes in their lives,( get a GED, find a job, learn to speak English, etc.), but for whatever reason ,they have not been able to accomplish their goals. However, unlike some of us, they have more serious barriers (emotional/motivational, educational, and financial) that must be overcome in order for them to become more successful in their drives to change their circumstances.

Fractured Learners

Many adult learners are participants in a frustrating process that begins and ends with a continuous and circular journey of starts and stops when it comes to pursuing their aspirations. As an adult educator for many years, I’ve witnessed hundreds of students that have started and stopped attending my adult education or workforce development classes at various times because of personal or financial reasons.

Furthermore, I have seen the absolute fear and physiological effects adult learners demonstrate when trying a different path for themselves. They come to the table of change with bits and pieces of themselves that are in various stages of educational and emotional development, thus the term “Fractured Learners”. I then began to ask myself how do I help the students I see one week , then not see again until maybe a month or two later. Problematic to this scenario is that these students have legitimate reasons for missing class. How can I successfully impact someone that’s not present? How could I help them not become victims once again of all the challenges they continue to face in life? How do I help them overcome the two most important challenges many of us face: Fear and Change?

“Fatigue makes cowards of us all” Vince Lombardi

While Hall of Fame Coach Lombardi speaks of fatigue, we can easily change this quote to read “Fear and Fatigue makes cowards of us all “. Adult Learners come to their learner environments with a number of fears they battle as well as the burdens of daily life that wears on their energies to be effectively and consistently engaged in their learning. Some of my learners would come to class and simply just want to sleep or talk because of the stressors or fears they were trying to handle. At that point, I would allow the class to decide what they wanted to do or simply let the individuals in question get the relief they were seeking. Helping adult learners embrace their fears by talking about them, voicing them to their peers, or just allowing them mental and physical rest were ways I helped them mitigate some of their circumstances.

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating you.” George Bernard Shaw

Change is a hurdle we all are tasked to deal with at some point in our lives. For me, Mr. Shaw’s quote reminds us that change must start with the idea of creation which demands finding out what gave birth to our past, then how that past impacts the present and future possibilities of creating ourselves anew. The question then becomes how we honestly use this knowledge to transform or change our conditions.

Many of you are familiar with Jack Mezirow, the noted adult education psychologist and his ideas of “Transformative Learning” which see change as a result of perspective and meaning shifts for the individual. He speaks of ten phases that provide a window to this change process:

• A disorienting dilemma • A self-examination with feelings of guilt or shame • A critical assessment of epistemic, sociocultural, or psychic assumptions • Recognition that one’s discontent and the process of transformation are shared and that others have negotiated a similar change • Exploration of options for new roles, relationships, and actions • Planning a course of action • Acquisition of knowledge and skills for implementing one’s plan • Provision trying of new roles • Building of competence and self-confidence in new roles and relationships • A reintegration into one’s life on the basis of conditions dictated by one’s perspective

Jack Mezirow

Even if you are not familiar with Mezirow’s ideas, a simple investigation or discussion of just one of the ten phases can be beneficial to your adult learners. Of course, this must be done in an environment of trust and comfort that allows your learners to speak freely and not have their personal challenges or past become weapons for others to use against them.

Ultimately, trying to change the mindset and life steps of an adult is a precarious undertaking that involves risk for all involved, and it must be done with the utmost sensitivity and understanding.

Best Practices The “Adult Learning and Retention: Factors and Strategies “(2010) report published by the Cultural Orientation Resource Center, Center for Applied Linguistics. (2010). COR Center Web site: http://www.cal.org/co/ notes the following suggestions for working with adults:

When working with adults, keep in mind those adults
• Are self-directed
• Are practical and problem solving
• Need to know why something is being learned
• Need adult-appropriate content
• Have previous experience as a resource
• Need to demonstrate background knowledge and abilities, and
• Need to be able to apply learning immediately to real-life situations

Many factors affect adult learning. These include the learner’s
• Age
• Language background
• Level of prior education
• Degree of first language literacy
• Cultural background and related views regarding adult learning
• Individual learning preferences and styles
• Emotional and psychological issues
• Disabilities
• Motivation, and
• Personal situation and stressors

As an adult education instructor, administrator, or simply a champion of adult learners, helping them deal with their fears and adaptations to change are the two most valuable skill sets they should learn and you should teach.

Anthony Gabriel is the Director of GABRTEACH/GABRWORKS , an educator, consultant, trainer, and activist deeply committed to Adult Education, Workforce Development, Emotional Literacy, and Fatherhood Advocacy. Current projects underway are Emotional Literacy and Father Engagement curriculum development. You can contact Mr. Gabriel at gabrteach3831@gmail.com or gabrielliteracy@gmail.com