What makes our alternative high school program unique?

I appreciated the comments of another blogger as I gave thought to this question. Rob Barton shared his thoughts on the differences between pedagogy and andragogy (a word I became aware of this year).  I liked best his comment about there not necessarily being a set age line between pedagogy (a teacher-centered approach of teaching commonly used with younger children) and andragogy (a student-directed approach for adult learners).

While I have a responsibility to be the person "behind the curtain," making sure students are involved in learning that reflects state and national standards, many of the things identified as principles of adult learning seem very appropriate for my alternative ed students.

The principles of adult learning (most often credited to Malcom Knowles) are:

• Self-directed, autonomous learning.
• Students bring life experiences and knowledge to the learning situation.
• Learners are goal-oriented.
• The learning needs to be relevant to the learner.
• The learner is practical.  They want to know stuff they can see a use for.
• They need to be shown respect.

Well, yeah.

What about this list wouldn't apply to my high school students?  It is true that there are different levels of maturity among my students that make some more ready to be self-directed than others.  I think that is a matter of experience.  If we create scaffolding for students to give them the opportunity to develop skills which support them as self-directed learners, then those who have not quite gotten to that point can be enabled.  Those who are already able to direct their own learning will simply be able to engage in self-directed learning more quickly, while those who need to have this modeled will be given plenty of help.

I think this is where setting every student up with an iGoogle account, and having them create tabs within that account as part of creating their own Personal Learning Environment (PLE) fits in.  It is also where setting up a blog and using it to journal about their learning experiences comes into play.  Later, when our students move on to post-secondary education, whether it be a college, trade school, certificate program, or some other setting, they will have the tools to manage their own learning.

Our plan to use project-based and problem-based learning situations also fits very well with these principles.  We know our students are not blank slates to be written on.  They have their own experiences and knowledge to bring to the table.  Remembering that they are still teens, we can invite them to use the knowledge they already have while helping them to gain the knowledge and skills they will need as adults.

Each time we approach the standards and topics that are part of a high school education, we will also look for the ways in which they are relevant to our students.  If they can see they are not just doing rote learning, but are discovering things that make a difference in their lives, they will be more engaged and motivated to master new concepts and skills. In this way, also, we intend to help students to see the practical use of the content they will be mastering.

As for showing respect - well, of course.  Kids know if you are talking down to them.  I think this goes beyond just presenting lesson content.  I think it also goes to not gossiping about the kids and not letting them gossip about one another.  The idea of "respecting the absent" is shared in the book Top 20 Teachers by Bernabei, Cody, Sweeney, Cole, and Cole.  They advocate being a problem solver instead of a problem bringer.  What they meant by this had to do with those conversations teachers often have about students...where they complain and criticize the student but bring no solution to the table.

That made sense to me.  It is easy to become frustrated with a particular person or situation and to engage in conversations where you are really just venting about the person.  You might really care about the person - but you feel so frustrated that your conversation isn't about finding a solution, but about complaining. 

So,

• Self-directed, autonomous learning.
• Students bring life experiences and knowledge to the learning situation.
• Learners are goal-oriented.
• The learning needs to be relevant to the learner.
• The learner is practical.  They want to know stuff they can see a use for.
• They need to be shown respect.

These are some of the things that make our program unique.  They are not just principles to be applied to the 20-somethings and older group.  They also have their place in the alternative high school setting.

Finally, I have to share this video!  In my search for more information about adult learning principles, I ran across a project a fellow Full Sail University student produced for the Musical Theory and Educational Applications class.  I just had to laugh - been there, done that!  Not quite ready for prime time, but the content was good and I just had to empathize with a fellow EMDT student!