With this student-centered, participatory approach, there is no predetermined sequence of learning, text, teaching materials, or specific content for you to use. Instead, students practice and develop skills as they encounter the need for them in solving a problem or exploring an issue that is relevant to a certain skill. As an effective teacher, you come to the learning setting prepared to change directions-to respond to immediate student concerns, to use nontraditional materials and resources. You come ready to be a partner in learning rather than a deliverer of specific content. In this environment, you are less in control of the direction learning will take than teachers are who use the more traditional approaches.
Students assume greater responsibility for their own learning in an interactive setting.
Using the student-centered, participatory approach, both you and the students find learning to be fun, interesting, and exciting. It is difficult to model a participatory, student-centered approach to teaching and learning in a manual or handbook format. Because there is no dialogue in a printed manual, information flows only one way. Nevertheless, what has been attempted here is to provide a guide to enable you to actively explore a few of the many avenues possible in developing a supportive learning environment for educationally disadvantaged adults. We have attempted the near impossible task of anticipating your questions concerning your work as an adult education facilitator.