In the 90s, as a TESOL teacher, I had been teaching students educated in their own country for more than 20 years. However, when uneducated adults started to appear in my class, it became very apparent that I needed to radically change how I taught.
The processes and strategies I had been using were no longer affective for this type of learner. This resource focuses on the changes I made.
Description of adults with no or minimal education:
Have no ‘learning to learn skills’
Are 100% teacher dependent
May have experienced trauma, torture or persecution
Learning and Teaching Challenge
Studies show that the brain is plastic and malleable. The adult brain may have to work harder, but with constant practice it can be trained. So, I knew these adult students with no education and no ‘Learning to Learn’ skills would need a different type of training.
The following processes and strategies, which I have developed as a result, lead adult students to:
1. Use ‘Learning to learn skills’ without the intervention of a teacher.
2. Understand and use strategies and processes more accurately and quickly.
3. Demonstrate the ability to read simple words and write simple sentences with minimal aid from teacher.