University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Doctoral Dissertations University of Connecticut Graduate School 5-30-2014 Self-Directed Learning Projects of Adult Basic and Literacy Educators: A Professional Learning Model Maureen K. Crowley University of Connecticut - Storrs, maureen.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Crowley, Maureen K., "Self-Directed Learning Projects of Adult Basic and Literacy Educators: A Professional Learning Model" (2014).edu/dissertations/552 Self-Directed Learning Projects of Adult Basic and Literacy Educators: A Professional Learning Model Maureen K. University of Connecticut, 2014 Adult basic education and literacy (ABEL) educators face the same scrutiny of their professional practice as do today’s public school teachers and administrators, as they contend equally with increased standards and heightened expectations of student performance outcomes. The press for professional development is keen, despite insufficient funding to meet the demand.
Learning projects, well established as a viable model for developing proficiency among workers in various fields of employment, is little understood or recognized as such in the ABEL field. The conceptual foundation of this qualitative study included acceptance of adults as intentional, self-directed, and effective learners (Eckert, 2003; Ertmer & Newby, 1996; Penland, 1977; Rose, 2004; Scribner, 1986; Tough, 1979); that learning is largely implicit and, therefore, challenging to articulate (Eraut, 2004; Reber, 1993); and that the learner, process, and environment are seamlessly integrated in a progressive process (Eckert, 2003; Greeno et al. The sample included 12 educators, 8 women and 4 men, who were working part-time in four different ABEL programs. To obtain suitably rich data, two sustained conversation-type interviews were conducted using an initial and follow-up semi-structured protocol; all interviews were taped and transcribed.
Data were analyzed following Creswell’s (1994) recommended procedure, which was reductive, inductive, Maureen K. Crowley - University of Connecticut, 2014 and interpretive. The iterative and reductive process of analysis used yielded common themes and patterns which informed the research questions. Knowledge gained extends the view of what constitutes effective professional learning in the workplace.
Results suggest that a broader, blended view, rather than a dichotomized one depicting professional learning as either formal/traditional or informal/nontraditional, and ascribing greater value ascribed to the former, is warranted. Self-Directed Learning Projects of Adult Basic and Literacy Educators: A Professional Learning Model Maureen K., Bridgewater State University, 1971 M., Lesley University, 1983 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut 2014 iii APPROVAL PAGE Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Self-Directed Learning Projects of Adult Basic and Literacy Educators: A Professional Learning Model Presented by Maureen K.Ed Major Advisor ___________________________________________________________ Marijke T. Associate Advisor _______________________________________________________ Alexandra A. Associate Advisor ________________________________________________________ Robin S.
Associate Advisor _______________________________________________________ Eileen Eckert McFall, Ph. University of Connecticut 2014 iv Acknowledgements On an intellectual journey as long as mine has been, there must be heroines, heroes, and champions who emerge to ensure safe passage to a meaningful close. They provide intellectual and emotional sustenance, and, importantly, wit and conviviality to sure you up and help move you beyond angst, frustration, and doubt. They applaud your better refinements and acknowledge confidence in your scholarship, even when you lose perspective on your own work.
I count myself entirely fortunate to have had such a collection of masterful scholars, advisors, peers, and friends who have helped make my journey as enlightening and powerful as one would wish. Marijke Kehrhahn, I owe the deepest appreciation and respect for her wise counsel, astute advisement, profound scholarship, and her masterful use of wit and humor, throughout my studies. She has led me to research that inspired and challenged my thinking, and demonstrated what exemplary instructional practice looks like in the adult learning classroom. I am always overwhelmed by her support and confidence, which has made all the difference in my concluding my dissertation.
Sandy Bell, who with Dr. Barry Sheckley, demonstrated how research informs practice in real time, I owe great respect and regard. I still laugh thinking about how a classroom of adult learners could physically demonstrate how the brain works with little more direction than post-it notes provided. The room was full of intellectual activity, physical movement, a riot of thinking aloud, and lots of experiential learning.
It was only one of many entirely memorable learning experiences, for which I am thankful. v I respect, too, Sandy’s passion for getting the writing right - and her profound warning that one must come to love the misery of the dissertation writing process. How apt her sentiments have proven to be. Robin Grenier has ensured that my final dissertation presentation is as readable as it is - and that her attention to rigor to ensure the best possible representation of data in narrative form, has helped me make clarity of confusion, and find the telling exemplar among the multitude.
Eileen Eckert McFall, once a learning-peer, is now a respected and admired researcher, whose work served as an important cornerstone for my own. I am fortunate to claim friendship with one whose scholarship I most admire, whose humor makes the challenging seem manageable, and whose provocative, probing questions always triggered personal reflection relating to this journey. Foley, who was a student with me in my first adult learning class at UCONN, and who has become a great colleague and friend, I thank for her enumerable acts of kindness, generosity, and support. She never flagged in her confidence in my work, and provided very specific and particular support whenever asked - willingly.
If any individual ever deserved a dissertation by proxy, it would be Ms., a great friend, mentor, and experienced adult educator. Mary served as a critical friend through the entire dissertation process, meeting nearly every week, to help me make sense of each aspect of the work. She experienced the University’s IRB course; supported, probed, and argued about specific aspects of my original proposition; listened vi to audio tapes and compared them to transcripts; reviewed and challenged my thinking about emerging themes; read the first, second, and third versions of each chapter - sending me back to revise when clarity went missing. Her long experience as an adult educator - as a teacher, program developer, and director - provided an important backdrop against which the research was considered.
Never was a truism more spoken than my acknowledgement that I would not have finished this work without her support. Lastly, I owe my family, Jack Boyko; my brother Paul; and many generous friends, the highest gratitude for their patience and tolerance over these many years! “Are you done yet,” was a near common hail from so many over these past years. But they provided respite, fun, and memorable times that all served to compensate for the often solitary nature associated with reading, personal reflection, and writing. They always knew that this was my own journey to answer questions that bothered me.
Through my research, I gained some answers - but new questions, as well. I’m comforted knowing that such a result goes with the territory. To Jack, though, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude for his patience and unfailing support. vii List of Tables Table 1 Description of ABEL Educators who Participated in the Study.
56 Table 2: Methods to Enhance the Trustworthiness of the Study. 70 viii List of Figures Figure 1: How ABEL Participants Learn in an Adult Learning Project. 125 ix Table of Contents List of Tables. viii List of Figures.
1 Statement of the Problem. 49 Methods and Procedures. 60 Data Processing and Analysis. 74 Deepening Background Knowledge.
75 Deepening Instructional Skills. 79 Managing Multi-level Classrooms. 81 Establishing and Managing New Programs and Services. 87 Identifying the Learning Challenge.
88 Determining and Implementing Solutions. 91 Reaching Learning Saturation and Determining Closure. 99 Self-managing the Learning Project and Its Episodes. 104 Environmental Triggers as a Spur for Learning.
104 Colleagues Satisfied Multiple Learning Needs. 106 Technology as an Essential Learning Resource. 110 Books and Ancillary Learning Support Resources. 111 Environmental Barriers Impact on Learning Projects.
114 Summary of Findings .117 Restatement of the Problem. 132 Learning Projects as a Proficiency Development Model. 133 Learning Projects as an Integrative Model. 137 Learning Projects as Metacognitively Managed by Learner.
142 Recommendations for Practice. 146 Recommendations for Future Research. 153 Appendix A Outreach Letter to Program Administrator. 165 Appendix B Outreach Flyer for Participants.
166 Appendix C Informed Consent Form. 167 Appendix D Initial Interview Protocol. 170 Appendix E Second Interview Protocol. 173 Appendix F Subjectivity Statement.
175 Appendix G Bridges to Practice National Training Certificate. 179 Appendix H Memorandum: Ava. 180 Appendix I Memorandum: Christopher. 183 Appendix J Memorandum: Emma.
186 Appendix K Memorandum: Grace. 191 Appendix L Memorandum: Isabella. 195 Appendix M Memorandum: James. 198 Appendix N Memorandum: Mia.
202 Appendix O Memorandum: Natalie. 206 Appendix P Memorandum: Olivia. 209 Appendix Q Memorandum: Paul. 213 Appendix R Memorandum: Robert.
216 Appendix S Memorandum: Sophia. 220 CHAPTER I Introduction Today’s educators face increasing professional and public scrutiny about their proficiency and ability to meet heightened academic standards and rigorous performance outcomes. Adult Basic Education and Literacy (ABEL) educators, a marginalized group of professionals within the public education field, are dealing with this same scrutiny and expectations, but with far less access to suitable professional development and learning support resources (Lopez, 2007). Congress passed the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, AEFLA, Title II of the Workforce Investment Act, WIA, in 1998 (P.
105 - 220), launching a new era of accountability for the ABEL field (Tamassia, Lennon, Yamamoto, & Kirsch, 2007). The ABEL field includes adult basic education (ABE), adult secondary education (ASE), general education development (GED), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESL, ESOL), U. citizenship preparation, family literacy, and workplace education programs. For ABEL educators serving the learners enrolled in these programs, the WIA established new instructional standards with specified core indicators, and increased expectations for performance outcomes to which future funding was tied (Lopez, 2007).
ABEL programs in Connecticut serve individuals who are 17 years of age and over, not enrolled in public schools, and lack sufficient reading, writing, speaking, problem-solving, and computation skills necessary to improve their personal circumstances, such as access to better employment and career opportunities (Tamassia et al. The ABEL population is a distinct learning group, presenting unique teaching 1 and learning challenges for educators (Smith, 2006). Specifically, the literature (Smith, 2006; Chisman, 2011) typically described ABEL learners as being complex, diverse, non- traditional, anxious, lacking self-confidence, and often possessing histories of academic failure. Estimates of the ABEL learner population thought to possess learning disabilities range from 30 to 50% (Smith, 2006).
In 2009 – 2010, over 144,000 adult educators worked in the ABEL field, serving more than two million students (U. Department of Education, 2012). Only 17% worked full-time; 39% part-time; and 43% volunteered. They typically earned low wages, worked without benefits and employment contracts, and had few to no career enhancing opportunities (Smith, 2006).
The workplace itself was often unstable, and teacher turnover high (Smith & Hofer, 2003; Smith, 2006). While it is widely acknowledged that educators working at all levels, pre- kindergarten through grade 12, should be adequately prepared, the ABEL workforce “falls short” of such expectations (Smith, 2006, p. Unlike their public school counterparts, ABEL educators often possess widely diverse educational and training backgrounds, insufficient knowledge about adult learning principles and practices, and little to no experience teaching adults. Providing sufficient professional development for a workforce with such diverse backgrounds poses a unique challenge for the field’s administrators and leaders (2006).
Nonetheless, in today’s age of accountability, with close public, federal, and state scrutiny of educator and program effectiveness, results matter more than ever, and funding depends, in no small part, on educator performance and learner and program outcomes.