Have you ever walked into a learning environment and just knew that it was going to be a positive experience? Likewise, have you walked into a learning environment and thought it was going to be the longest few hours of your life? How the educator sets the stage for learning creates either a positive or negative (perhaps at times neutral) environment for the learner. Norris provides several relevant and effective ideas to create a positive environment such as having round tables so that learners can see each other, playing music, providing name tags, providing a welcome sign and having table decor available.
One thing that Norris mentioned that is kind of taboo is welcoming latecomers. I have been to many formal and informal learning environments, conferences, meetings, etc. where if someone late comes in the person speaking or presenting may let out a loud sigh or huff or participants give eye daggered looks. Norris states that by welcoming latecomers it sets a stage for learner safety. In essence it creates an environment where people feel safe and welcomed. This (feeling of safety) inevitably will transfer into other areas of learning.
"Remember, when you ask open questions, your learners don't have to seek and find your answer - they find their own" (Norris, 2003, p. 20). How many times in school (K-12 and undergrad) has your instructor encouraged you to find your own answer? Often, there is a right or wrong answer and the instructor is looking for you to give it to them. I have even said in class something along the lines of, "you're on the right track, but that's not exactly what I was looking for." Norris states that these kind of statements make learning about the instructor and less about the learner. We should be encouraging students to create their own learning experiences instead of searching for our answers. I have to say that this concept will be very difficult for me to incorporate because I see things as being very black and white, so to me there are right and wrong answers. There are areas for gray and I'm hoping to find more of them.
I know I am guilty of doing this in the classroom; sometimes I am so focused on my own goals that I end up asking the students to "parrot" my desired responses not they own.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the comment about latecomers. Recently, I was late (and had a very reasonable excuse) but the presenter made me feel unwelcomed and I was turned off for the rest of her presentation.