Languages and Learning is the Free Library of Philadelphia's department for adult education support, connecting patrons seeking Adult Basic Education, English Language Learner, and World Language support to the appropriate resources.
It is important to use a learner-focused approach when working with adult learners. Teachers of children and youth may be used to having full responsibility for content, timing, and evaluation. However, adult learners are responsible for their own decisions in life, have had much more varied experiences than children, and typically need the material they are learning to cope with a facet of life they are currently dealing with. All of these differences should be recognized in the classroom.
Recently, the Free Library acquired hundreds of new books centered around adult learning, including the ones below about teaching adult learners. What will you learn?
The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development
How do you tailor education to the learning needs of adults? Do they learn differently from children? How does their life experience inform their learning processes? These were the questions at the heart of Malcolm Knowles' pioneering theory of andragogy which transformed education theory in the 1970s. The resulting principles of a self-directed, experiential, problem-centered approach to learning have been hugely influential and are still the basis of the learning practices we use today. Understanding these principles is the cornerstone of increasing motivation and enabling adult learners to achieve. The ninth edition of The Adult Learner has been revised to include updates to the book to reflect the very latest advancements in the field, the addition of two new chapters on diversity and inclusion in adult learning, and andragogy and the online adult learner. The supporting website for The Adult Learner 9th Edition will provide basic instructor aids. For each chapter, there will be a PowerPoint presentation, learning exercises, and added study questions. Revisions throughout to make it more readable and relevant to your practices. If you are a researcher, practitioner, or student in education, an adult learning practitioner, training manager, or involved in human resource development, this is the definitive book in adult learning you should not be without.
Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide
This landmark work pulls together seminal work and current thinking on adult learning in one volume, providing a comprehensive, up-to-date overview and synthesis of what we now know about adult learning, including the context in which it takes place, who the participants are, what they learn and why, the nature of the learning process itself, major theoretical developments, and much more. Drawing from a background of work in sociology, philosophy, and critical social theory as well as psychology and education, the authors construct an inclusive perspective on adult learning, guiding readers toward new ways of thinking about teaching, learning, and the broader social implications of adult education. Historically this is the most authoritative guide in the field, with more than 80,000 copies sold life-to-date.
ESL Games for the Classroom: 101 Interactive Activities to Engage Your Students With Minimal Prep
Every lesson needs a conversation starter. Whether you want to warm up a class, emphasize a particular grammar or vocabulary lesson, or wrap things up with a fun twist, ESL Games for the Classroom offers interactive classroom activities that require little or no prep work to make learning fun. Quick and easy to set up, the activities in this book offer engaging ways to use class time effectively. With clear organization by skill and level, ESL Games for the Classroom is the go-to teacher's companion for adding educational games to any agenda.
Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning
Why do so many of us stop learning new skills as adults? Are we afraid to fail? Have we forgotten the sheer pleasure of being a beginner? Or is it simply a fact that you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Inspired by his young daughter's insatiable need to know how to do almost everything, and stymied by his rut of mid-career competence, Tom Vanderbilt begins a year of learning purely for the sake of learning. He tackles five main skills (and picks up a few more along the way), choosing them for their difficulty to master and their distinct lack of career marketability — chess, singing, surfing, drawing, and juggling.
The book highlights important aspects of second language learning to help teachers create beneficial conditions for productive English language development. Further, it presents a valuable overview of challenges that adult learners face and offers potential solutions to obstacles that affect their acquisition of English. Sample tools (e.g., charts, techniques, activities) are ready to use in the adult English language classroom.
Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom
In this book, the author shares her philosophy of the classroom, offering ideas about teaching that fundamentally rethink democratic participation. She writes about a new kind of education, education as the practice of freedom. She advocates the process of teaching students to think critically and raises many concerns central to the field of critical pedagogy, linking them to feminist thought. In the process, these essays face squarely the problems of teachers who do not want to teach, of students who do not want to learn, of racism and sexism in the classroom. Teaching students to "transgress" against racial, sexual, and class boundaries to achieve the gift of freedom is, for the author, the teacher's most important goal.
Learning: A Very Short Introduction
Learning is a key aspect of animal behavior, and central to survival. Without learning there can be no memory, no language, and no intelligence. Haselgrove looks at the nature of learning, and how it takes place. From the early experiments of Pavlov, Thorndike, and others, to the most recent studies in social learning, he traces the development of the main theories of learning in contemporary psychology and describes the ingenious experimental approaches used to study learning in both animals and humans.
Technology and Innovation in Adult Learning
Technology and Innovation in Adult Learning introduces educators and students to the intersection of adult learning and the growing technological revolution. This book explores the theory, research, and practice driving innovation in both adult learning and learning technology, and illuminates a powerful approach to recognize and leverage these opportunities. Building on current trends and research in technology and its use, each chapter illustrates the need, opportunities, and examples of current and future technologies that scaffold adult learning and provide comprehensive coverage of both current and emerging challenges.
Learn how to thrive with dyslexia as an adult. No matter when you're diagnosed, living with dyslexia can be a challenge — but it can also make you a unique and creative thinker. The Dyslexia Guide for Adults helps you boost your confidence with advice for embracing your greatest strengths. With these proven strategies and exercises, you'll learn to understand yourself better as you navigate social situations, the workplace, and beyond. Find out how dyslexia looks different in adults than in children and the impact it can have on your life as you age. Learn evidence-based techniques for coping with dyslexia and identifying your needs to succeed in any environment. Discover stories from other adults with dyslexia and see how they've used these strategies in their own lives to find greater self-confidence. Take control of your dyslexia with guidance for improving adult literacy and executive function.
Please email adultlearning@freelibrary.org to learn more about Languages and Learning with the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Have a question for Free Library staff? Please submit it to our Ask a Librarian page and receive a response within two business days.