2. Adult Basic Education, Adult ESL, LESLLA
Classrooms and Teachers
Collaborative Inquiry as Professional
Development for Teachers
Crossing Contexts- Adult Ed meets K-2
Case Study: Our Study Circle
Findings
Implications for Teachers
3. ABE: Adult Basic Education
ESL: English as a Second Language
PD: Professional Development
LESLLA: Low-educated Second Language
and Literacy Acquisition
5. -Differ greatly, but can meet
2-5/days per week for 2-5
hours
-Groups of 4-30 learners
-Are generally free for
students
-Have limited resources
6. Knowledge Base for LESLLA Teachers
Early Literacy
Instruction
Adult
Teaching
Learning
Language & Immigrant
Language & Refugee
Acquisition Experience
7. Often part-time employees or volunteers
May not be licensed teachers
May lack specific training in adult learning
and/or early literacy instruction
Are often isolated from other LESLLA teachers
May not be supported to attend professional
development activities
Have limited research and materials specifically
for LESLLA to draw from
Often turn to materials used with children who
have similar reading level
8. What can happen when we gather a group of
smart, thoughtful teachers in the same room,
give them something important to talk about,
and provide the tools and time to investigate?
9.
10. Regardless of age, in order for a person to
become literate in an alphabetic language,
he or she must have a certain set of pre-
reading skills and concepts (i.e., print
awareness, phonological concepts,
alphabet knowledge, and narrative skills).
K-2 teachers are experts at developing
these skills in their learners. Why not tap
into this rich source of literacy know-how?
11. 1. What knowledge and practices do LESLLA teachers
identify as transferable to their own teaching contexts
after participating in a professional development study
circle designed to expose them to early literacy practices
with early elementary learners?
2. Of those practices that they identify, how do LESLLA
teachers transform and apply the practices for their
contexts?
3. As they reflect on the PD and how they have applied
early elementary practices, what do they articulate as
key insights?
12. Qualitative Case Study: 4 adult ESL teachers in a
study circle around early literacy instruction in
K-2 settings
Theoretical Framework: Communities of
Practice
Data sources: interviews, observations,
transcriptions of our study circle PD sessions,
teacher journals and sharing in online private
website
Analysis: collaborative, cyclical coding, Dedoose
13. “There is a ceiling effect to how much we can
learn if we keep to ourselves…Personal
mastery and group mastery feed on each other
in learning organizations.
People need one another to learn and to
accomplish things.” -Fullan, 1995, p.257
“Learning cannot be designed:
it can only be designed for –
that is, facilitated or frustrated.”
(Wenger, 1998)
14. 1. Setting the Scene
2. Observation of
6. Putting it all kindergarten and
together first grade
classrooms
Overview
Outside Task 2: of Study
Individual school 3. Unpacking our
visits Circle observations
Meetings
5. Debrief and Outside Task 1:
Planning Session Try out 1-2 new
practices, report
4. Working with back
young new
readers
15. To the untrained eye, it
looked like a very colorful
garage sale, but as we looked
a little closer we found that
the space was divided into
distinct areas of math,
reading, motor-activity,
group space. For me, the
garage sale analogy isn't a
negative one. It makes me
want to dig through things to
find treasure. (Mike, Wiggio
post, 9/23/2012)
16. Reading aloud to students
Morning messages and Text connections (text-text,
sign-ins text-self)
Routines
Student jobs (adult Classroom library and
version of “Star of the independent reading time
Day”) Offering choices
Naming activities
Math activities woven Reflecting on learning
into literacy block
17. Organization of Literacy Response to Literature
Instruction Reading aloud to students
Morning messages and Text connections
sign-ins
Routines Fostering Independent Learning
Student jobs Classroom library and
independent reading time
Integrating Math: Offering choices
Expanded Definition of Naming activities
Literacy
Reflecting on learning
18. Organization of Literacy Response to Literature
Instruction Reading aloud to students
Morning messages Text connections
and sign-ins
Routines Fostering Independent Learning
Student jobs Classroom library and
independent reading time
Integrating Math: Offering choices
Expanded Definition of Naming activities
Literacy
Reflecting on learning
19.
20. For the last couple of
days I’ve done a morning
message. Just like she did,
like “Good morning!
Happy Friday. Today we
are going to read, write,
ask questions. Mr. Jim will
come and talk to us at 10:30.”
I do that and then I do a little question. ….It’s a nice way
to get into our topic and to talk about what we’re
going to do today, and also focus everyone’s
attention. (Audrey, Meeting 3, 9/28/2012)
21. The K-2 people are
masters of routine, and I
think we can learn a lot
from that. We just have
to persist, and learners
will develop those target
habits. It’s easy to give
up, to say “oh that didn’t
work,” but you just have
to persist and persist.
(Mike, Interview,
11/12/2012)
22. Another thing that really
translates [across contexts]
is that we’re not just
teaching them literacy,
we’re teaching them how
to behave in a community,
and in a specific setting. So
some of these things, even
if they’re not directly
connected to literacy, they
are directly connected to
being in a learning
environment. Like, how to
“do school.” (Sophia,
Meeting 3, 9/28/2012)
23.
24.
25. Audrey: I’ve never wanted to do numeracy until I saw
this. Ohhh, that’s how you can teach it! They had a
number of the day, did you see that? [She shows
her drawing of it. The number of the day was 32,
and they had to find different ways of reaching it,
like addition, subtraction, with coins, multiplication,
etc.] That was SO awesome!!
Mike: They had six ways to get to the same number.
Sophia: They must have known; that must be a
regular routine. (Meeting 2, 9/27/2012)
26.
27. I think what it all comes down to is that I am
struck by the fact that the children are
encouraged to learn for learning sake, in their
own way, at their own pace. They learn through
activities that are relevant and immediate and
engaging.
(Sophia, Wiggio post, 9/20/2012)
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35. Mike: But it’s part of that labeling too. This is “us”
time and then comes the “ya’ll” time. Or whatever.
Patsy: Choice time. Maybe it’s whole ‘group’ time and
‘choice’ time. It keeps coming back to that
structure.
Claire: Like if we build a different structure.
Patsy: If we have a structure, that’s more clear about
when it’s “us” time and when it’s “groups” and
when it’s “read to self”, if we have language for
these activities, then that provides structure which
allows us to foster the independence which allows
us to give individual students what they need] [my
italics] … Ooo!!! [laughter]
37. If our overall purpose is to assist our learners to
become full participants in their communities
outside of the classroom, then our classes need
to be a place where independence and problem
solving are nurtured. We can do this by
establishing strong classroom routines and
common language for tasks, by providing
choices for learners in the classroom, by making
our teaching more transparent, and by
designing instruction that values independent
and peer-learning.
38. RQ 3: Our Routines &
Key Learnings Common
Language
Reflecting Choices
on LESLLA for
Learning Learners
Learners as
Problem-
Solvers
Transparent Independent &
Instruction Peer Learning
39. We can branch out beyond our professional
territories. We can move in and out of different
communities, bringing our tools for
investigation with us (Tarone, 2012).
PD that is intellectually challenging, that moves
us into new spaces, and that brings us together
with other dedicated professionals, can be
transformational.
We need more of this kind of teacher
development.
40. 1. Establish strong routines and common
language for regular classroom
activities.
2. Offer a regular literacy-work period
where learners choose from various
literacy activities.
3. Begin a classroom library and make time
for independent and peer reading.
41. 4. Increase students’ comprehension and
engagement with texts by eliciting and
pointing out text connections.
5. Find ways to integrate numeracy
instruction into literacy focused time.
6. Get literacy off the page.
42. 7. Explain WHY you are doing what
you are doing in the classroom.
8. One step at a time.
9. Reach out to colleagues.
