[V] Hard to engage learners – Theory

Non formal education gives opportunities to those that are traditionally excluded from opportunities to access learning activities as equals with any one else.

In order this to happen some presuppositions should be covered and fulfilled to reflecting the inclusive manifestation or even to support the inquiry of openness, diversity and empowerment of all involved.
Hard or difficult to reach persons are the ones who are not motivated to get involved for various socioeconomic, trauma or other personal reasons.

According to recent studies, storytelling works as motive for engagement. Involve people as storytellers, in a way mobilize the interest of the non motivated to become curious, to listen to even compare life situations and similar experiences.

What Brookfield refers is that “…The extend to which adults are engaged in a free exchange of ideas, beliefs and practices is one gauge of whether a society is open, democratic and healthy… If adults of widely different class and ethnic groups are actively exploring ideas, beliefs and practices then we re likely to have a society in which creativity, diversity and continuous recreation of social structures are the expected norms…”

Narrative Learning
In narrative learning, adults are given the opportunity to form a link between “lived experience and curricular content.
Because adult learning has to do with meaning making, these autobiographical connections are integral to the process” (Clark & Rossiter, 2006).
Autobiography encourages learners to identify where their value systems line up or diverge from the new concepts or ideas being presented in the course content (Clark & Rossiter, 2006).
Learners are encouraged to see how they are situated within the narratives created by family, organizations, cultures, and societies.

Personal stories “serve not only to link the concept to students’ life experiences, but also to transcend those experiences and see the larger social and cultural structures that shape their lives and their meaning-making” (Clark & Rossiter, 2006).

Scenario / Good Practice & Storytelling
One way that narrative learning can be introduced into the classroom is through storytelling. When introducing storytelling into the classroom, keep in mind that the story must always be related to the goals of the class (Caminotti & Gray, 2012).
For if “telling one’s stories is an act of meaning, an act through which the self is both revealed and created, then the stories we encourage our students to tell will influence the meaning they make” (Clark & Rossiter, 2006).
Setting ground rules and creating a supportive classroom environment are especially important when asking students to tell their own stories.
Students must know that their story will not be a target for disagreement, judgment, or argument.
Receptive listening and constant vigilance is required on the part of the instructor.
The sharing of personal stories should be “strictly voluntary and not considered in evaluation” (Clark & Rossiter, 2006).
Storytelling can also be facilitated as part of an online learning environment.
Stories can be communicated via a discussion board conversation. Videos can also be uploaded in order to tell visual stories.
Stories in the form of case studies or recommended articles can be uploaded that “will deliver a story that correlates to the current topic of study for a particular week” (Caminotti & Gray, 2012)

Quotes

– What we focus on grows.

– Anticipatory principle: A positive image creates positive action and the energy to bring about a new future, breaking the cycle of current problems.

Source: https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/lt/resources/handouts/EngagingAdultLearners.pdf