When I first read this week’s blog prompt my first reaction was “huh?” To be quite honest, I had no idea what “andragogy” meant. Thankfully, Google came to the rescue and gave the definition for andragogy as, “the method and practice of teaching adult learners; adult education.”
With that definition in mind I considered the prompt: “What is andragogy, and how might the approach help in teaching FYC?” As I’m sure I’ve made it clear in previous blog posts, my life goal is to be an editor in a big publishing house, not a teacher (I’ve even talked to Dr. Lang about working in the Writing Center in order to get some experience rather than teaching next year). If I am ever to fulfill this dream I must become familiar with andragogy because as an editor I will mostly be dealing with adult writers and helping them with their manuscripts. In the context of this prompt I guess it can be appropriate to describe my potential clients as adult students and it with this mindset that I move forward with my response.
I believe that a big part of interacting with adult students is respect. Nothing pisses off adults more than patronization (the same could be said for teenagers but usually they don’t have the life experiences to back their anger up even though they think they do). Adults have gone through life, had different experiences and it is important for teachers of adult students to remember and respect that.
There is a concept in composition called contacts zones, described by Pratt as “social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power" (462). As an editor I will be working in nothing but contact zones. I will be working with adults with widely varying backgrounds, levels of experience, and competency.
Not only have adult students experienced things no regular student has but they have also been defined by those experiences. Younger students who have yet to experience all that life has to offer can still be molded. They are much more likely to accept the teacher’s word as law. Adult students will not do that. They have their own opinions, their own ideas. Disregarding and disrespecting their ideas and opinions can only lead to disaster. To be successful in this minefield is to never forget that another human’s experiences are just as valid as my own.
Empathy is defined, again by Google, as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another” not to be confused with sympathy which can be negative as it involves pity which has the connotation of looking down on someone. In my own educational experiences I have found that I am most eager to learn from those professors that not only truly enjoy their subject but also seem to truly empathizing with their students. Empathy promotes understanding which in turn promotes cooperation. It is the cooperation between students and teachers that truly helps in education, especially in teaching adult students. Only armed with empathy can anyone in a pedagogic position at any level be truly effective.
Good read this week! I like how you have applied the subject of the week to your future plans as well as your future experience as a writing center tutor! You are absolutely right that you will be working in these contact zones, and with the writing center and upper level students, these contact zones begin growing as they develop arguments and papers that they are truly passionate about in research papers that they have spend several hours on. Your commentary on the importance of respect will be especially useful for all of us to remember in our endeavors in teaching, rather its training other adults in a job market, editing, or a teachers or even managerial positions, treating other with respect only adds to their motivation to do well in the classroom and beyond. I think several of us have either been in that job with "THAT" boss or we know someone who has, where their boss would have received more work output from his/her employees if he/her treated their employees with respect. Motivation and respect can be and are in correlation with one another! Awesome idea, Colleen!
ReplyDeleteColleen--Yes, that's andragogy. Good thinking about working with others with a level of respect. That's certainly important in editing, as it is with writing center consulting. Yes, the people you'll work with when you work as an editor will come with a different mindset than students, typically. They will want to see their work have direct impact and meaning. There are a few different links to videos I've now put up regarding empathy. From our syllaweb: See
ReplyDeletethis Edutopia article for more on these topics (WEB). From MaryD, too, on empathy: YouTube-1 and YouTube-2.
On another note, Colleen, I listened to the podcast that you made with Jill, Rachel, and Mary and reviewed it for my blog. You can read it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://krdwardb5.blogspot.com/2015/10/critique-on-extended-analysis-by-rachel.html