Boy did I call that right!

I've got some downtime so I'm cruising the EDAE 692 blogs and if you've noticed on the left side I have links to almost all (?) the class' blogs. Some I renamed so I'd easily know who was who.

Anyway - Laverne has this ongoing 'ethical issues' case study (very popular.) On my link for her blog I labeled the link, "Laverne's Ethical Issues". Ya, I know why is that so special? It's the little things in life - like Patrick drumming up business for his blog. Patrick do you have a new survey? I've already voted on the Castaway survey.

It's really creative how Laverne has roped many of us in on her case study (why didn't I think of that!) It's like I knew she was so cleaver as an unfolding case study - thus why her blog link is Laverne's Ethical Issues!!! Stay tune - or better yet, hit her link!

Vella links

Being the somewhat obsessive compulsive individual I am - I have a tendency to do a lot of research on stuff. I'm usually not satisfied to just read an 'educational' textbook - I want more.

This happened with Jane Vella - I wanted more. I've posted some what I found to be interesting links to resources with Vella's 'dialogue education' in practice:

* WIC - Nutrition illustrates a clever 'recipe card' application
* Life Trek - uses a life coaching approach
* Habitat for Humanity/Latin America and Caribbean. Public Awareness Department. (September 2007) - Outlines the design steps
* Global Learning Partners - Vella's own company and a table illustrating 'How Dialogue Education is Different' between traditional training, dialogue education, and informal approaches.

New Day - New Attitude

Amazing what a good night's sleep can do for the ol' troubleshooting skills. I woke up realizing I needed to take all the formatting out of the book analysis post and start over. I'd copied the analysis from a Word document into a Google doc. I attempted to do like Amy had posted in class about uploading the file; but that wasn't happening either (the world kept spinning.)

So first thing this AM I tried something different and republished. The post now appears to have fewer additional lines (??) - but they are still there; definitely not there in the Google doc. I'm to afraid to even look at the 'edit Html'. I'm having my coffee first! Whoa - just hit something on my left-side of the keyboard and a 'developer tools' screen came up in a new window. This learning curve just continues.

Key Discussion Point

Supposing and Proposing

Vella's last chapter of her book has a question which ties this journey together and one I'd like to pose to you:

Suppose you hadn't heard about or read Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach (and many of you haven't) and you need to plan a course for adult learners. What do you do?

I'm so tired of trying :-(

Much apologies on posting my 'book analysis' - the edit Html feature is scaring the you know what out of me! There is so much code and I can't seem to be able to delete the correct line to delete the extra lines??!! What I see in Google docs is not what publishes in blogger :-(

Abstract

As described in the course syllabus, this paper is a personal analysis of Jane Vella’s, 2002 book – Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach. Vella has much to say and share about the implications of incorporating her principles and practices of ‘dialogue education.’ As one who ascribes to a Dewey influenced, constructivist approach to education, Vella’s principles make logical sense to me. It’s an affirming and validating feeling to know I’m not alone in my views towards facilitating learning for adults (and self.) Vella presents her own real life examples to illustrate her principles and practices. They are just that – her own, I need to explore applying the principles and practices to my ‘world.’ This paper is a revisiting of many long-held beliefs I have engaged while wearing the ‘hat’ of teacher, trainer, manager, boss, etc. – (and mother, too.) Vella has provided me a reawakening and mindfulness of just how dynamic ‘dialogue education’ can be and adds another tool to my ever growing toolbox of learning strategies that fit and strengthen my educational philosophy.

 

Vella book analysis

Introduction

The purpose of this analysis is not to discuss Vella’s vast 30-plus years’ experience with ‘dialogue-education’; but to look closely at what she proposes as the framework to her acclaimed twelve principles. Vella’s life work as a community education and staff development educator is a good read in Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach (2002). You are certainly transported to the settings she uses as case studies to illustrate and explain her work; but it can certainly be difficult for some to identify and apply the principles and action to their own work as an educator. I’m seeking a ‘take-away’ from this book; I am the learner seeking to learn.
The true test is putting learning into practice. It is one thing to passively read and at times cognitively reflect; but it is the embodiment of Vella’s ideas into practice. Vella is very deliberate and structured in her delivery; which is somewhat a misnomer because the structure ultimately leads to flexibility within the learning event.

Twelve Principles

Vella presents twelve considerations when designing a learning event – they are known to be called ‘principles of dialogue education.’ For my own analysis, I will review and discuss those I needed a bit more understanding.

Needs Assessment: Vella states, “Doing an adequate needs assessment is both standard practice and a basic principle of adult learning …” (p. 5). The nugget I take away from this discussion is the WWW question: “Who needs what as defined by whom?” (Vella, p. 5).

Safety: Is much more than creating a physically safe environment, Vella on pages 10-11 offers five considerations to create a feeling of safety for the learners:

1. Trust in the competence of the design


2. Trust in the feasibility and relevance of the objectives


3. Allowing small groups to find their voices enhances the power of safety


4. Trust in the sequence of activities


5. Realization that the environment is nonjudgmental

Sound Relationships: Personally, this principal was initially very abstract; although establishing a connection between the educator and learner for enhanced learning is within my realm of understanding. I do like the way Vella succinctly describes on page 85, “…for learning involve respect, safety, open communication, listening, and humility.” Tall order – big dividend.

Sequencing and Reinforcement: Arrange the content from simple to complex and allow for reinforcement of the learning. Vella states, “The more competent the teaching (with sequence and reinforcement), the more capable [fill in the identifier]…” (pg. 232).

Praxis: Learning by doing and reflection. I’d never heard this word until Fall Semester 2008; now it’s emblazoned on my brain. Vella describes praxis as “a collage of efforts: psychomotor, cognitive, and affective” (p. 232). As Vella discusses on pg. 233, praxis is vital in the design of learning tasks, it’s a combination of inductive and deductive learning, and it’s when learners begin asking questions and thinking critically not just about the content but also about the process.

Respect for Learners: Recognize learners as subjects of their own learning. Vella makes two points that I take away from this discussion especially in my work with disadvantaged/low income populations:

1) “Healthy adults desire to be respected as subjects and resist being treated as objects” (pg. 129).

2) “showing … our respect for them as subjects or decision makers of their learning.” (pg. 233).

Ideas, Feelings, and Action: Incorporate the three domains of cognitive (ideas), affective (feelings) and psychomotor (actions) in the learning event.

Immediacy: Design the learning tasks to have immediate usefulness to the learner. In a perfect world this would be the ideal. But as an example of myself as the ‘learner’, I am not in a ‘situation’ to immediately apply my learning; but I am gathering tools and strategies.

Clear Roles: It could be Vella’s word choice – she uses varying descriptors in different sections of the book. I need a few additional ‘cues’. Vella does offer very good examples with this principle in practice, one being of Freire and what I describe as the ‘banking’ concept. Vella also states, “…stresses that the roles must be clear and ambiguity must be avoided” (pg. 237).

Teamwork: Involve all the learners by using small groups. Vella states on page 238, “when you invite learners to find their own voice and not listen to only yours, you invite a quantum leap in learning.”

Engagement: Involve the learner in the educational process. Vella states on page 238, “Without engagement there is no learning.” This is the linchpin for me, “In dialogue education we design programs based on a competent learning needs and resources assessment that is engaging.” (Vella, p. 238.) Points directly back to principal #1.

Accountability: A mutual principle – teachers teach what they say they will and learners do the work of learning. If #11 is the linchpin, #12 is the show stopper and Vella provides two excellent quotes to sum up: “Accountability is a synthesis principle—it is the result of using all the other principles (p. 25) and “Dialogue education is as accountable as the design of it.” (Vella, p. 239).

Conclusion

After this process of reading, reflecting, and determining my ‘take-away’ of these twelve seemingly logical principles – I’ve gained some additional strategies to my ‘educational’ toolbox. Though at this time I am not actively able to engage in the application of these twelve principles, this paper has provided me just one more piece to that on-going journey of reeducating Linda. I can envision a time in the near future when Vella’s framework of dialogue education will serve my career endeavors well.

References

Vella, J. (2002). Learning to Teach, Learning to Listen. Revised Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Vella book summary

Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach is Jane Vella's vehicle to demonstrate through application her belief that adults learn best when engaged in dialogue. She is not the first to pioneer this approach; but her book does clearly explain her thoughts and methods of applying twelve principles and practices of dialogue-based learning.  Vella’s book does not read like a textbook. Her personal multicultural work from all over the world serves as the backdrop to demonstrate the application of her twelve principles through a myriad of situations and settings. The reader is not only taken on a journey of near and faraway places; but also called to engage and analyze the principles along the way.

Vella is also a strong believer that strong design through her ‘seven steps of planning’ (Who, Why, When, Where, What, What For, and How) will enable the ‘teacher’ to determine:

• the needs and experience of the participants
  
• the learning objectives
  
• the topics and activities to meet the objectives
  
• the materials needed for a successful learning experience

This book demonstrates the power and value of dialogue over monologue and active over passive learning when it comes to educating adults. Vella is able to craft a strong case that supports a framework of strong design, coupled with principles for dialogue-based learning equals extraordinary outcomes for all.