Liz's Model of an Effective Adult Learning Facilitator

First and foremost, the image of the Sainte-Exupery quote from The Little Prince has always been one of my favorites. I love the reminder that there is more going on, even in a class, than what can be viewed on the surface, and not just for the facilitator. Just as instructors do, students bring in their own thoughts, ideas, fears, challenges, cultures, and any number of other things that are not going to be readily apparent. Being mindful of that is something I find very important.

Next, also from the text, came the very first thing I highlighted in the book: the question 'can you really help me?' I added the word 'How' to the beginning because I always want to remember that's what I'm striving for. I want to be able to help my students, and I think the concepts that I have listed here are keys to help me do that. I had a student in a classroom recently who arrived an hour before the class officially started, and said part of the reason he was so early was because he hadn't slept well. He was nervous, he said, because the last time he was in a classroom, he was in college, and the fact that he was now in his late 50s, he had no idea how to behave, no idea if he'd be able to learn. It was just as well he had come in early, because I was able to use that time to reassure him that my classroom is very informal and light hearted, and that I'd be able to give him a variety of information that would help him in his day to day job as he administered the software product that he now supported. By humanizing myself, taking his concerns seriously, and ensuring that he'd leave the class with information that he needed, he mentioned later that he had a much easier time of things, and ultimately, proved to be one of the classroom's leaders for the three days of the session.

As mentioned, the other items on the page are either tools that I want to be sure to use, or characteristics that I want to embody.

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On the left, I have the idea of feeding the brain, wanting to engage a student's mind. When a learner is engaged and interested, they are more likely to learn and retain. Part of feeding the brain is also ensuring that no one falls behind, by making sure that class materials and activities are easy for everyone to understand, but also specific and relevant to what's being taught.

The bridge is discussed in the Wlodkowski text, and I love the imagery that it produced: the facilitator as the bridge between unfamiliarity and knowledge, and helping guide the students across.  Clarity is when traffic (or information) flows smoothly across the bridge, so the goal should be not only to build the bridge, but to keep the traffic flowing.

The image of the cheerleader is probably obvious; I believe that enthusiasm and passion as an instructor are as important as a good depth of knowledge in the subject being taught. The text also goes into this as well, thus promoting the idea that how you say it takes priority over what you say (p.71). Not only that, it's very easy to see when teachers are as disengaged as the students. I'm lucky in that it's very easy for me to get enthusiastic about the software that I teach: not only is it fascinating from the technology perspective, it's also ultimately in the service of making the lives of hospital clinicians and patients easier. Enthusiasm can be infectious, just as disinterest can, so by making sure that my enthusiasm is obvious, I hope to make sure that my students not only learn but remember.

Reference:

Wlodkowski, R. J. (2017). Enhancing adult motivation to learn. 4th Ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass