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Towards a New Pluralism in ABE/ESOL Programs: Teaching to Multiple 'Cultures of Mind.' NCSALL Research Brief.

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Towards a New Pluralism in ABE/ESOL Programs: Teaching to Multiple 'Cultures of Mind.' NCSALL Research Brief.
Language: English
Authors: Kegan, Robert, Broderick, Maria, Drago-Severson, Eleanor, Helsing, Deborah, Popp, Nancy, Portnow, Kathryn, National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, Boston, MA.
Availability: For full text: http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu/research/brief19.pdf.
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 4
Publication Date: 2002
Sponsoring Agency: National Inst. on Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and Lifelong Learning (ED/OERI), Washington, DC.
Intended Audience: Practitioners
Document Type: Information Analyses
Descriptors: Acculturation, Adult Development, Adult Education, Adult Learning, Adult Literacy, Adult Programs, Adult Students, Change, Cognitive Style, Cultural Context, Diversity (Student), Educational Research, English (Second Language), Family Literacy, Group Dynamics, Inplant Programs, Learning Processes, Literacy Education, Role, Second Language Instruction, Student Attitudes, Transformative Learning, Two Year Colleges
Abstract: A study explored how adults perceived program learning; whether program learning helped them enact a particular social role; and whether they changed while participating in the program. For a year or more, researchers studied experiences of learning and change of 41 adult learners enrolled in three programs--at a community college, family literacy site, and workplace--intended to enhance English language fluency, content knowledge, and effectiveness in roles as students, parents, or workers. The research approach used a constructive-developmental perspective. Findings indicated adults changed in at least these three important ways: informative, transformative, and acculturation; cohorts were important to supporting and challenging adult learners; differences in complexity of meaning systems were not highly associated with level of formal education; and development level shaped adult learners' choices, preferences, and experience of program learning. Implications were that teachers and program developers should be prepared to engage developmentally diverse learners; awareness of meaning systems can inform teachers' expectations of learners; teachers should use a range of pedagogical approaches to collaboration; program designs should bring learning groups together at the same time, preserve the group's continuity, and have a common goal; and research regarding adult basic education teachers' ways of knowing would be beneficial. (YLB)
Entry Date: 2003
Accession Number: ED471976
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:A study explored how adults perceived program learning; whether program learning helped them enact a particular social role; and whether they changed while participating in the program. For a year or more, researchers studied experiences of learning and change of 41 adult learners enrolled in three programs--at a community college, family literacy site, and workplace--intended to enhance English language fluency, content knowledge, and effectiveness in roles as students, parents, or workers. The research approach used a constructive-developmental perspective. Findings indicated adults changed in at least these three important ways: informative, transformative, and acculturation; cohorts were important to supporting and challenging adult learners; differences in complexity of meaning systems were not highly associated with level of formal education; and development level shaped adult learners' choices, preferences, and experience of program learning. Implications were that teachers and program developers should be prepared to engage developmentally diverse learners; awareness of meaning systems can inform teachers' expectations of learners; teachers should use a range of pedagogical approaches to collaboration; program designs should bring learning groups together at the same time, preserve the group's continuity, and have a common goal; and research regarding adult basic education teachers' ways of knowing would be beneficial. (YLB)