SayPro PROVIDING GUIDANCE IN A SENSITIVE, CARING AND PROFESSIONAL MANNER

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SayPro PROVIDING GUIDANCE IN A SENSITIVE, CARING AND PROFESSIONAL MANNER

Educators can encourage learner participation by providing support and assistance in a sensitive, caring and professional manner this in turn promotes independent learning.

Learner independence is a concept where learners are involved in their own learning process.  By being involved in this process, they start to make meaningful connections with the world outside the “classroom”.   Instead of relying on the tutors/lecturers/facilitators/ or educator to do the thinking for them, they take responsibility for thinking and learning themselves.   Learning then becomes more than the rote memorization of a series of facts and continues in the learner’s career progression process. Learners can only be independent where support and assistance is provided in a sensitive, caring and professional manner. No one participates where they feel they are “not welcome”; in these situations learners will flee, freeze or fight.

Independent learners are much more likely to succeed with their studies than those learners who are heavily dependent on the educator.  If learners are to achieve maximum success and cope with a world which is ever changing, they need assistance in acquiring skills which will help them to be more independent.

How to promote independent learning

There are a number of ways that learner training can be weaved into regular “classroom” activities in order to promote more independence in learners. Educators can assist with this process and promote lifelong learning skills.

1.  Give choices
Giving learners regular opportunities to make choices will encourage them to reflect on their own interests and preferences.  It will also make them start to take responsibility for learning. 

Examples of choices could be:

· ‘Choose activity A or B for homework’, or

· ‘Choose someone to work with’ or

· ‘Answer 8 out of the 10 questions’ or

· ‘Choose one of these three essay topics.’ 

The educator could take the opportunity to reflect with the learners on why the choices are there and why learners made certain choices.

2.  Encourage group work
Group work is beneficial in that it provides learners with an opportunity to learn from each other in an active, involved way. In addition, it temporarily takes the control away from the educator and gives it to the learners thus, encouraging independence.

3.  Encourage learners to predict how well they did on tests

Before educators return a test paper to their learners, they could encourage the learner to consider how well they did. For example, educator may give a blank copy of the test paper to students to review in groups.  This will start them reflecting about their strengths and weaknesses and the progress they are making.  The reflective aspects of this process could help the learners make an appropriate learning plan.  It will also help learners see that they are responsible for their learning.

4.  Set some learning goals

The leaner may have never had the opportunity to set learning goals. Initially setting learning goals will require a lot of help from educators but it is a worthwhile exercise which encourages learners to reflect and self-evaluate.  The learning goals should be visited regularly and re-assessed.

5.  Use authentic texts

Authentic texts are materials which were not originally designed for learning purposes.  They might include newspaper or magazine articles, TV, radio recordings and so on.  These materials can be motivating as they connect the “classroom” with the outside world and make the learners see that learning does not take place only in the classroom.  Educators can encourage learners to bring in their own authentic texts to contribute to classroom activities in order to make them more meaningful.

6. Involve learners in lesson planning

Educators could invite their learners to help plan the lesson from time to time. This will ensure that the lesson is interesting and relevant for them.   In addition, it involves the learners in the learning process gives them the opportunity to reflect on their needs.

7. Encourage learners to keep learner diaries

These diaries can form a dialogue between the educator and the learners which is mutually beneficial.  It is an opportunity for educators to see which areas learners find interesting and where they might be having problems, and also it is a vehicle for learners to reflect and write (or draw) honest comments about their learning.  The diaries can be semi-guided initially but gradual ownership will give learners a sense of responsibility.

8. Encourage self and peer editing

Before learners hand in their work for marking, educators could encourage them to check it carefully with a friend.  Educators could help them to make an editing checklist which encourages learners to check for errors that they frequently make.

9. Create a self-access facility in the “classroom”
A self-access facility can be as simple as a cupboard or shelf containing activities that learners can do on their own in order to give them extra practice or extension to what they do in class.   Materials could include: magazine articles with questions and answers; puzzles; quizzes; graded readers and so on. 

Learners could even be encouraged to bring in and or produce materials for the self-access facility. Self-access materials have the advantage of allowing the learners to work at their own pace on an activity targeted to their needs which is not always possible in a regular classroom.  If learners finish their class work early or want to work on something during their free time, they can choose something from the self-access facility.  As learners become more self-aware they will recognize that they need extra practice in certain areas and this facility will make sure that educators assist them with finding appropriate activities.