| What I Gained from Project L4S Extracts of contributions by the Lithuanian Core group members by Vitas Gricius For me the project has been has been a door to andragogy, a world I had never even heard of before. It gave me a chance to acquire a new perception of what a “teacher’s” role in and outside the classroom can be. The project offered numerous opportunities to ponder on questions like ‘when, how and how much’ to “teach”, thus promoting a new understanding of both the “teacher” and the learner. I think I have started treating the learning/teaching process as something inseparable, as two sides of the same coin. I am sure my classes at work have improved greatly as a result of this. Within the project I have observed and participated in many practical workshops and activities. I have been using some of them without alterations (sometimes for very different purposes than they were presented in the project). Within the project I observed various presentation styles. Not only was it possible to observe and compare them but we could also participate in discussions and gain a second opinion. In Druskininkai I led a workshop/seminar for about thirty participants (the background group) on a most interesting and to me newly discovered area in andragogy: learner/teacher roles in learning/teaching situations. It was my first presentation within the project and even though I did not hear much criticism, I understood that it needed improvement. So at work I presented my colleagues with an “improved” variant and found it more beneficial to the audience. Yet, before submitting it to my tutors as my part of our group’s Manual, I made quite a few further changes. I was eager to present it again to a group of adult educators for at least two reasons: firstly, I still have more questions than answers; secondly, it is of paramount importance to all participants in any area of the learning/teaching process. So I would like to “employ” the audience to try and find the answers together. In this respect the project has inspired me to learn more and continue learning. I also experienced the joy of sharing. The project has confirmed to me what I had intuitively felt: the importance of group building. From the very first day of the project, I felt and witnessed it both in our national and international groups. I found new acquaintances and friends, people I always felt at home with. In my daily classes I work with relatively small groups of adult learners. Those are informal situations, so in this respect my personal and professional gains from the project can hardly be separated. I feel I have become more tolerant and empathetic. This helps me at work in my classes. I think I have become more confident and optimistic and this helps a lot too, since my students feel my trust in them , which, I am sure, helps them to trust me, themselves and each other, which is important in the learning process. I have learnt about the importance of having feedback, which is important to both the learner and the “teacher”. Now I rarely forget to get feedback from my students, and I do get it, due to the mutual trust. I see it as another way of learning and improving. To summarise what has been said, I can only say that the project has been a success story, a piece of good luck for me.
by Algis Janonis Firstly, I discovered icebreakers. I did not know that they can be so productive and activate the students so much. Icebreakers create a friendly and pleasant atmosphere. Secondly, I was impressed by the system of feedback. It is very convenient for a lecturer who wants to know more about his subject. The audience is always a big springboard for practice. I was glad to find out a lot about the facilitator’s role. I had thought that it was not difficult, but now I understand that to follow a group and at the same time to lead them is not so easy. I also found out about small details that can do a lot of harm to presentations. For example, to get too close to the audience, leaving some participants behind your back, can make it difficult for the latter to hear and participate in the workshop. The system First Class is amazing. This system, I think, enables us to get information about various events taking place all over the world. I have also learned how to plan lesson time better, how to write programmes. In the seminars I had good teachers, who were a living example of how I ought to conduct seminars, seminars where participants do a lot and at the same time do not get tired.
by Edita Kalendienė Participation in the project helped me
to understand that adults can learn everything if they are motivated to
learn and the right method of teaching is used. I have realised that communication and the sharing of personal experience
in AE is a very important factor that an adult teacher has to take into
consideration. Sharing information about the L4S project and showing initiative
I have got some new offers to teach adults (to organise seminars for customs
brokers).
by Ona Stašaitienė I developed my personality and my professional skills with the aid of this project. The leaders of this project helped me a lot with their interesting and useful workshops. I got a chance to know myself better and to analyse my job. I always thought what I could change in order to become a better teacher not only for my students, but for adults too. Taking part in this project I acquired a lot of theoretical materials that I could use in my job. I gained many new ideas which I hope will be useful in the future. I enriched my outlook on adult education and learning in other countries. I learned how to prepare myself and materials for seminars. I improved my knowledge in psychology of adults, I learned how to organise workshops and what the role of the teacher and learner is. I gained information about personal and professional qualities. With the help of the seminars I learned how to write programmes. I started to write individual programmes and to organise seminars for the teachers of the Kaunas region. My greatest achievement is my IT skills development. I’ve started to communicate by e-mail. With the aid of a computer I even started to write articles, to search programmes with the help of PEN, First Class. I’ve learned about distance learning and I improved my English. The more seminars I had, the more confident I became, though initially my work was difficult. I hope to learn how to plan my time, because I’m always short of it.
By Reda Latožaitė During the project course I had a unique
opportunity to listen to, in my opinion, progressive and competent lecturers
from many countries who delivered lectures on adult education. It was
very interesting to discover the project participants’ experiences
because I started to work with an adult audience only this year.
by Rūta Navickaitė How did I benefit from the project? I had an opportunity to share my experience with colleagues, to travel abroad and to study foreign experience. I improved my IT skills, there was a great chance to develop communication skills, I had a chance to improve my presentational skills. I gained more knowledge in the following fields – adult education
in the world of PEN, also in giving feedback, – I understood how
important this skill is.
The main conclusion from the project and that which struck me most – the importance of approaching each student individually and the difficulty of formulating tasks for everybody that are easily understood by all.
by Vidutė Ališauskaitė This project is already a success. A timely idea. Splendid organisation. Qualified tutors. Respect of the participants. Working together brought a lot of joy. Not only this – information I got during the process is so much needed in my work. I acquired a new competency, wider view on situations and problems. Every session was new, interesting and eagerly awaited. A new discovery. A new challenge. I was glad to notice my own inner changes and changes in other participants. In this project I gained a lot of useful information on how to prepare a lecture: how to plan it, how to create a programme, how to prepare visual materials, how to help people to open up. And most importantly – I understood the mission of the adult teacher – to reveal knowledge that is already there. Adults, and me, learn our own knowledge. This process should be playful, easy, joyful and responsible at the same time. Before this experience I used to use playful methods, encourage the students to explore their experience but I was unsure if I was setting about it in the right way. Now I am sure that it is good – knowledge unfolds during play, group work, discussions. There is no need for huge definitions and descriptions only. This is the way we learned during these three years as well. We were watching the way world-class experts and our tutors and colleagues work and learning from them. This process helped me to find out that knowledge is already inside. It changes your behaviour, you can apply different methods naturally every moment and you can teach others. To illustrate this I would like to share my own experience with you: I have been teaching adults for several years. I teach the course in psychology. I did not structure my lectures. I e experimented and learned from my own mistakes. I even avoided structure because I thought it would interfere with my creativity and contact with the learners. I did not have any idea that there are specific ways to teach adults. So it was a hard task for me to prepare a 90-minute lecture that would meet all the necessary criteria for preparing and conducting the session. I was trying my best to prepare slides, handouts and tasks for group-work. The most difficult task was to schedule the time. How long could one task or the other take? It was a big joy to complete all this. I prepared a topic that had interested me for a long time: Verbal Communication. I was satisfied with the result: I presented the topic in a new way, managed the timing. Looking through the recorded material as well as colleagues’ and learners’ comments on the lecture helped me to improve the way I work. This was my first attempt. I applied this experience and knowledge when preparing other programmes. I can adjust the topic and tasks according to learners’ expectations. And I do not avoid changes and new topics any more. I think more about learners’ needs than about maintaining my image. This is how I know that this knowledge is inside already.
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