My Philosophy as an Instructional Designer using Social Justice and Constructivist Approaches
My views about ‘how’ education and learning best take place are from looking at and thinking about a lot of different established methods, and from experiences I have had in my life.
During a lifespan, people learn in different ways and for different reasons. While some aspects of our personalities may be ‘set’ from an early age, ones motivation, need and enthusiasm to learn something new may vary during life.
Depending on our situation in birth and life, in terms of economics, culture, livelihood, ability status, geography etc., people are often presented with differing levels of opportunity to learn. I believe in promoting and advocating for all adults to receive accessible education.
My philosophy is that when people manage to enter a learning situation, we should value their time and resources and honor their motivation by giving them the best chance of success, while also recognizing their individuality.
How do we increase chances of success while recognizing and valuing individuality?
One way of laying this out was done by Richard T. Walls in what he called the “Four Aces of Effective Teaching”.
These are comprised of; Outcomes, Clarity, Engagement & Enthusiasm. My interpretation of these ‘Aces’ is as follows:
Outcomes;
A goal, an aim, a target and the way we are going to get there should be laid out from the start.
To “begin with the end in mind” is a phrase often attributed to Stephen Covey, but it’s also a big part of Criterion Referenced Instruction, which is a framework for instructional design, originally conceived of by Robert Mager. I think that it’s important that everyone knows what they’re getting into from the outset, what we hope to achieve together and about how much work it might be. Most adult learners have a purpose.
Clarity;
As well as being clear about learning goals, every step of the process should be clear. Instructions and materials should be easily accessible and reminders should be provided. Part of the skill of the facilitator is to ‘meet people where they are’. This idea is akin to what Vygotsky might term understanding an individual’s ‘zone of proximal development’.
Engagement;
This is where I would like to incorporate the ideas of Margery Ginsberg Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching and aspects of Universal Design for Learning/Universally Designed Instruction (UD). These concepts include (1) having consideration and respect for all learners, (2) providing a safe and welcome environment, (3) learning from each other, (4) valuing efforts and offering meaningful feedback and relevant resources, and (5) providing a place where we feel able to express and discover what works for us and how we learn best. UD in adult education is based upon 7 principles outlined by Chickering and Gamson (1987):
Encourage contact between students and instructors.
Develop cooperation among students.
Encourage active learning.
Provide prompt feedback
Emphasize time on task
Communicate high expectations.
Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.
Enthusiasm;
This is two-pronged, as the facilitator needs to really have enthusiasm and motivation toward the subject and learning goals as well as the mission of adult-education itself, but also...the learner will be enthused by the experience of inclusion and success.
As an instructional designer, I want to be able to use my experience working with diverse learners, combined with what I have learned about effective facilitation and environments, to keep learning and to create meaningful learning opportunities.
REFERENCES:
Chickering, A.W., & Gamson, Z.F (1987) Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education, American Association of Higher Education Bulletin vol.39 no.7 pp.3-7
Ginsberg, M. B. (2015). Excited to learn: Motivation and culturally responsive teaching. CA: Corwin.
Mager, R. (1975). Preparing Instructional Objectives (2nd Ed.). Belmont, CA: Lake Publishing Co.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard university press.
Walls, R.T. (1999). Psychological foundations of learning. Morgantown, WV: WVU International Center for Disability Information.