Corder, Nicholas. (1997). Learning To Teach Adults: An Introduction

	Corder, Nicholas. (1997). Learning To Teach Adults: An Introduction. NY: Routledge/Falmer. Pp. xiii + 154 $15.95     ISBN 0-415-276389-1 Reviewed by Deborah J. Smith Empire State College July 6, 2003 Nicholas Corder’s Learning To Teach Adults: An Introduction is a refreshing look at the teaching/learning process. If you are just starting out as a class instructor for adult students and feel like you haven’t got a clue about teaching the Big People, read Corder’s book. In ten chapters, Corder lays out the theory and practical side of adult instruction, guiding the reader through the reasons adults return to school. He looks at developing excellent teaching methods both in preparation and in the classroom. The wry humor in this book abounds; it’s what keeps the reader interested in dry-as-desert topics like overheads and grading. In the Acknowledgements and Preface you’ll begin to catch the author’s style of casual good humor (“…I’d like to thank you the reader for showing the taste and discernment needed to buy a book like this.”) Corder attempts to dispense needed knowledge rather than formulate prescriptions. In the Preface, he encourages the reader to use the book as needed (“Don’t worry about reading it in one sitting. You’ll only get fed up.”) disagree with him freely (“If you find my chapter orders daft, read it in the order you think most logical”) and see the book as a beginning step in teaching adults. Logically then, the book starts with “Adults as Learners” and attempts to formulate a definition of an adult. Corder reviews Levison’s (1978) stages of adult life with a thumbnail description of the primary tasks of each phase of adulthood. He persuades the reader to look at their own life to also see the characteristics of an adult. Corder offers his own perceptions: adults are above the age of compulsory education, have life and work experience, and come to the educational pursuit with family, financial and domestic responsibilities. Adults are reasonably independent and capable of making their own judgments with more sophisticated taste than children. But most of all, states the author, for an adult, this is not their first learning experience. (p.5.) In Chapter 1 “Adults As Learners” Corder examines the role of knowledge, experience, commitment and confidence for the adult—including positive and negative implications of these characteristics. The author imposes no value judgments on how adults-as-students acquire their learning. An adult is seen as someone who may have learned through formal classroom exposure to a subject. Or, an adult can arrive in the classroom with an interest sparked by life experience or informal learning that has finally ignited a desire to know more. This chapter has one of the most balanced and well-written exposes of why adults return to the classroom and establishes the foundation for the teaching-learning enterprise. Motivation and the sometimes circuitous nature of learning begins Chapter 2. Special learner needs—sensory impairment, basic literacy, dyslexia, age—and practical suggestions on how to help your students are offered, including commonsense (but sometimes not commonly-practiced) tips for being an excellent teacher. Learning is defined in Chapter 2 by the skill domains—cognitive, affective and psychomotor—with an explanation of the role of memory in the learning process (p.12.) Peter Honey’s (1992) theoretical approach is used for the basics of educational theory, but the author also touches on Kolb’s Experiential learning theory (1984), Bloom’s well-known Taxonomy (1965) and others, encouraging the reader to pursue further a study of specific theorists as they deem appropriate to their teaching practice. The Bibliography contains further references to the educational theorists mentioned in the text. Chapters 3 –5 of the book focus on the mechanics of actual teaching: groups, methods and resources. Chapters following include teacher preparation, evaluation and class planning. Chapter 3, entitled “Learning In Groups” looks at group roles and group process as well as the instructor’s part in establishing good classroom communications. Diagrams are given to illustrate room setups for a variety of instructional delivery modes. The chapter concludes with a bulleted task list to consider when creating an effective learning group. Corder looks individually at each teacher-centered learning method in Chapter 4 and makes it clear that a mix-and-match approach to lectures, demonstrations and such. works best in the classroom. The author then describes each student-centered method and, like the methods for teachers, explains what classroom format can be most effective with the adult learner. Resources for teaching and learning are outlined in Chapter 5. Centered firmly in the face-to-face classroom, the author explains the effective use of audio, video, TV, flipcharts, games, books, assignments and more. This is teaching at it’s most Basic—not always a bad thing. It’s the first time I’ve ever encountered specific instructions about writing on a chalkboard (p.64) and I’ll admit I actually learned something that I’ll remember the next time I pick up a piece of chalk. Corder’s suggestions on making class handouts (p.70) utilize the principles of good graphic design—something both classroom and online teachers could review more often. For this, I’ll give Corder a gold star. I’m tempted to take that star back though, when the author talks about computers and the Internet. While seeing desktop publishing and word processing programs as effective classroom strategies, Corder feels the Internet is just too much work: “Of course, the Internet is one of the greatest learning resources available. The problem with it is you have to hack your way through endless reams of trash and pornography to find anything of worth.” (p.65) I’m tempted to wonder just where the author has been surfing on the Web. Having taken courses that were entirely web-based, I disagree with Corder about the inconvenience of the Internet. Despite the occasional nuisance for the average user, knowing how to search the Web for specific information goes a long way to integrate technology into a teaching curriculum and provides an anytime-anywhere resource for the student and instructor alike. While covering other elements of instruction quite well, Corder neglects the real power of the Internet in this book. For an instructor, time in class isn’t the sum total of teaching. Chapters 6 and 7 of Learning to Teach Adults: An Introduction looks at the “hidden” elements of the classroom: planning, assessment, and evaluation. Chapter 6 on student assessment, distinguishes between formative, summative and continuing assessments, as well as peer and student self-assessments. Hints are given for implementing assessment strategies with students, and guidelines for effective assessment are listed in the chapter, along with an assessment check sheet based on stated course outcomes. Evaluation of the course by the student is taken up in the second half of Chapter 6, where Corder reviews the content and purpose of student evaluations, use of general student remarks, Likert scales and semi-structured student comments focused on specific aspects of the course and instruction. Teacher observation, feedback methods and caveats about student evaluations inherent in paper-and-pencil surveys are reviewed. “Planning” Chapter 7, begins simply with the title and marketing of your course. Many adult educators, especially in Continuing Education areas, need to develop an approach to their courses that continues to evolve over time; shaped by student input and the stated course outcomes. Corder looks at each element of course creation—title, target audience, outcomes, length, topics, methods, teaching resources, environment, seating, activities—and encourages adult educators to plan in detail how each element will impact the class, what to negotiate with the administration if the reality doesn’t meet the expected (e.g.; the room temperature or number of chairs) and how to navigate the particulars. The author also points out such classroom plans are flexible within reason: “When planning think of your course as a framework of negotiation with the students. Unless you have to do certain activities for some kind of external body…what you have planned to do is not set in stone.” (p.90.) To the author’s credit, he wastes little energy on set agendas, emphasizing that content is directly modified by ongoing interaction between teacher and student. While it might not be possible to take a baking class outdoors, it is entirely possible to learn to bake bread, cakes and chicken instead of cakes, pies and cookies—it’s all a matter of incorporating student interests into the class plans. In Chapters 8 through 10 of the book, Corder looks at practical issues for first-time teachers. The advice given here, it should be noted, is useful review even for the seasoned professor. Beginning Chapter 8 with the author’s suggestion to “make your students totally unhappy and get rid of them, you could try the following methods” (p.98) Corder reviews common teaching traps like poor planning, unsatisfactory assessment and/or poor group management skills, lack of enthusiasm and insufficient knowledge that can turn the classroom into a student’s (and sometimes a teacher’s) nightmare. Quickly reversing tack, Corder continues with a straightforward look at implementing a professionally conceived course from marketing strategies through keeping track of administrative details. The chapter concludes with an excellent list of “to do” items that “cultivate the amateur’s enthusiasm and the professional’s rigor” (p.108) resulting in a successful strategies for teaching adult learners. In Chapter 9 “The First Session and Some Traps to Avoid” the reader travels through a first class session with the author. Like Scrooge with the Ghost of Christmas Future, Corder sets the scene and allows the reader to consider alternatives approaches to frequently encountered classroom situations that might rattle a new instructor. It’s light, it’s meant to be funny—and if you really are in the situation of starting a new class the same day as you read this chapter, make sure you don’t take yourself too seriously either. Learning to Teach Adults: An Introduction concludes with exercises essentially modeled on the UK Teacher Training course, City & Guilds 7307, so it’s something of a syllabus as well. Wide ranging, the exercises cover in-class activities, session planning/evaluation strategies, personal reflections on teaching style, identifying learning styles, and observation of teachers in the classroom, among other items. In itself the last chapter is a valuable guide for undergraduate teacher educators. In writing this review from the perspective of an American educator, I feel several caveats regarding this book must be noted. Learning To Teach Adults: An Introduction is written almost exclusively for the classroom teacher and is firmly grounded in the British educational approach. Corder is an adult education tutor and not an online instructor. He makes little use of the possibilities inherit in distance education for teaching and training. Neither does he see the Internet as a venue for the establishment of learning communities or professional education relationships across time and space. Even when mediated by cyberspace, learning communities have much to offer, but Corder distances himself from the possibilities of online learning. Many of the suggestions in this book are still useful for the first-time course developer or online instructor unfamiliar with teaching adults. The online professor, however, will have to go an extra bit further to incorporate these principles in order to do justice to the digital delivery of course content, or maintaining class community and teacher presence in cyberspace. Firmly centered in the United Kingdom’s educational system, Learning to Teach Adults: An Introduction can become a cross-cultural experience for the non-British reader. They’ll hear terms like the GCSE and A Levels. If you know someone educated in the British system, as I do, you’ll begin to understand what the terms mean when your relatives and friends start talking about this stuff. (Don’t worry: they’re all explained in Appendix C.) The book has four appendices of varying utility. Appendix A: “Useful Contacts” is useful only if you teach within the UK. However, website URLs listed for the British arm of international organizations can lead to a look at how non-American audiences view dyslexia and other educational challenges. The general “Useful Links” on page 136 includes the BBC and BBC Wales, which I have found full of resources for diverse teaching topics. Appendix B: “Jargon Buster” and Appendix C: “Acronyms” explain the educational terms within the book. These are more than useful for the teacher unfamiliar with British terms, or the confused non-British family member struggling to understand just what happens in the U.K. system of education. Finally, for those in brick-and-mortar classrooms, Appendix D: “Some Useful Bits and Pieces for Your Teaching Box” is a list of things to bring into the physical classroom in case anything unforeseen happens. For Americans, a few terms on this list can mystify: OHP is the overhead projector, Paracetamol is acetaminophen (Tylenol), A4 paper is 8-1/2 x 11 inch paper, Sellotape is cellophane tape. A Pritt stick is the ubiquitous gluestick for all-purpose classroom use. At the book’s end “Bibliography and Further Reading” Corder gives a comprehensive list of sources that will more than help a new teacher succeed in the classroom. Beyond a list of suggested readings, the author also compiles an annotated list of alternative readings and viewing materials. Movies and books that have teaching at their core, like Pygmalion and Educating Rita, or works that deal with organizations and human behavior, like Golding’s Lord of the Flies are presented by the author in order to enhance a teacher’s awareness of the teaching-learning enterprise. The Bibliography section concludes with “Other publications that might be of use” a list of four organizations whose central concern is adult and continuing education, or publishers of professional educational materials. The four organizations are based in the United Kingdom, but all have websites on the Internet, including the National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education (NIACE), both Hobson’s and Kogan Page publishers and The Adult Residential Colleges Association (ARCA.) Each website includes a link to publications or allows the visitor to search for books mentioned by the author. Type the organization name into a common search engine like Google.com and you’ll be able to find it. Learning To Teach Adults: An Introduction is a short book that often left me laughing out loud. This garners its share of strange looks when you are in the dentist’s office and people glance over to see just what you’re reading that’s so funny. But through a humorous, down-to-earth approach to adult education, Nicholas Corder succeeds in providing a basic introduction to teaching the Big People. If you want a great review of classroom teaching methods, or an A-Z primer on how to begin your career as an adult educator, Learning To Teach Adults: An Introduction is a lighthearted, cross-cultural way to start on the road to excellence. References Bloom, B.S. (1965.) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. London: Longman. Honey, P. and Mumford, A.(1992.) The Manual of Learning Styles. Maidenhead, Wales: Peter Honey. Kolb, D.A. (1984.) Experiential Learning: Experience as a Source of Learning and Development. London: Prentice Hall. Levinson, D. (1979.) The Season’s of a Man’s Life. New York: Ballantine Books. About the Reviewer Deborah J. Smith, Ed.D Center for Distance Learning 3 Union Avenue Empire State College Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 Deborah J. Smith is Academic Area Coordinator for Community and Human Services at Empire State College. Her interests include adult and distance education, user perceptions of technology, Internet safety, mental health nursing interventions and international travel. Her freelance essays have been published by the Rome (Italy) Tourist Portal, The Berkshire Women’s Times, Traveler’s Tales Editor’s Choice and broadcast on WAMC NorthEast Public Radio/National Productions.