Developing Adult Learners: Strategies for Teachers and Trainers

"An absolutely indispensable trove of practical, concrete ideas for teaching and training adults. Enough theorizing and mythologizing! This is the real stuff!" —Laurent A. Parks Daloz, associate director, the Whidbey Institute, and author of Mentor: Guiding the Journey of Adult Learners "This book gives us educators and trainers of adults a solid framework for intentionally incorporating into our practice what we believe to be a central tenet of what we do help learners develop and change. The wealth of practical strategies provided within this framework affords us a rich and well developed bank of materials from which to draw, no matter the content we teach or the setting in which we work. It is a highly useful resource that both new and experienced educators of adults need to pay attention to and apply in their practice as instructors and facilitators of learning." — Rosemary S. Caffarella, professor, Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Northern Colorado, and coauthor of Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide " Developing Adult Learners will be an invaluable resource for teachers and trainers wanting to build their practice on sound knowledge of adult development and learning. Its strengths are its practicality and its jargon–free style. The many helpful exercises and strategies suggested throughout the book can be used immediately to support adult development and learning in a range of different settings." — Stephen Brookfield, Distinguished Professor, University of St. Thomas, and coauthor of Discussion as a Way of Teaching "Most training is based on ideas about adult learners that are vague and often just plain wrong. Here is a book that will put you on target. Drawing on the best and most recent research on adult learning and development, the authors provide ways to align your training and development work with the ways that people actually learn and grow. A very solid and useful book." — William Bridges, author of Transitions, Managing Transition, and JobShift "The authors have achieved the rare feat of masterfully linking applied examples and explanations with scholarly literature a balance that should prove equally valuable to beginning and experienced adult educators. This book should be a welcome addition to the libraries of teachers and trainers, as well as adult education policymakers and theorists worldwide." — Philip C. Candy, professor and deputy vice–chancellor (scholarship), University of Ballarat, Australia

Preface. The Authors. PART ONE: CONCEPTS AND FOUNDATIONS. Chapter 1. Linking Learning with Development. Chapter 2. Key Theories That Inform Practice. Chapter 3. Teaching with Developmental Intentions. PART TWO: STRATEGIES AND EXERCISES. Chapter 4. Assessing. Chapter 5. Collaborating. Chapter 6. Experimenting. Chapter 7. Imagining. Chapter 8. Inquiring. Chapter 9. Performing–Simulating. Chapter 10. Reflecting. PART THREE: BECOMING AN EFFECTIVVE TEACHER OF ADULTS. Chapter 11. Teaching and Training Matters. Chapter 12. Observing our Practices. Chapter 13. Accepting the Challenges of Growth. Appendix A. An Experiential Theory of Development. Appendix B. Constructive–Developmental Theories. Appendix C. Relational Models of Development and the Ethic of Care. Appendix D. Orientations to Teaching and Learning. Appendix E. Typology of Learning. References. Index of Strategies. Name Index. Subject Index.

KATHLEEN TAYLOR is professor in the School of Extended Education and chair of the Department of Portfolio Development at St. Mary′s College in Moraga, California. She also writes and consults in the areas of adult development and learning, learning and transformation, prior learning assessment, and women′s development. CATHERINE MARIENAU is professor and faculty mentor in the School for New Learning at DePaul University in Chicago. She teaches, writes, and consults in the areas of adult learning and development, experiential learning, outcomes–based curriculum and assessment, self–assessment, and women′s development. MORRIS FIDDLER is professor and faculty mentor in the School for New Learning at DePaul University in Chicago. He teaches, advises, writes, and consults in the areas of adult and experiential learning, competence–based curriculum and assessment, prior learning assessment, online education, and medical genetics.