Ensuring Learning to Maximize Impact:
Getting the change we want
through Dialogue Education
Stroke Collaborative
Session #3 @ 3:30-4:15
October 19 2009
Presented by Rika VanderLaan & Jeanette Romkema
at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Course description & rationale
As educators, managers and clinicians we wonder why some of our educational initiatives do not
result in the desired change. During this workshop, a planning model will be introduced that ensures
learning to maximize impact and lays the foundation for change in practice. The model is rooted in
Dialogue Education theory and the work of Dr. Jane Vella. Dr. Vella is a noted academic and
practitioner of adult education who synthesized the work of theorists like Paulo Freire, Malcolm
Knowles, and Kurt Lewin into a series of principles and practices for the complete learning cycle,
and especially curriculum design and facilitation.
The planning model is relevant and applicable to any learning environment, whether it be a formal
education event, one-on-one patient interaction, or professional development workshop.
Participants will be invited to practice using the model during this interactive session to maximize
their learning and enable them to create strategies to use in their day to day work.
By the end of this workshop the participants will have:
• Applied the 4A model to 1 of 2 case studies to maximize learning and ensure change in
practice/behaviour.
•
Analyzed their redesigned workshop according to 3 Dialogue Education principles:
1. relevance
2. immediacy
3. engagement
Ensuring Learning to Maximize Impact:
Getting the change we want through Dialogue Education
ANCHOR
Learning Task #1 – Warm Up
1A. In pairs, describe the best learning experience you have had as an adult. Name one
factor that made it a great learning experience.
ADD
Welcome and overview
1B. Listen to a brief lecture about 3 principles of DE that reflect how adults learn.
We’ll hear a sample.
HOW ADULTS LEARN
(Malcolm Knowles & Jane Vella)
Relevance
Learners will learn faster and more permanently that which is significant to them
and to their present lives.
Immediacy
“How soon can I use this?” – during the event and in own setting.
Engagement
People learn more when they are actively involved, doing what they are learning.
APPLY
What are your questions or observations?
1C. In your same pairs, share how your learning experience reflects one or more of the
three principles we just heard presented.
What were your observations?
ADD
Learning Task #2 – A Model that Works
2A. Listen to a brief explanation of a 4-step model of sequencing learning tasks to
maximize learning.
Learning Tasks and the 4-A Model
An effective sequence of a learning task
is to use this four-step model.
ANCHOR – a task that has the learner access
their own prior knowledge or experience with the
topic/content/or similar experience
i.e. “describe your best learning experience”
ADD – a task that has the learner
hear/see/experience a substantive new piece of
content
i.e. information, research, theory, skill
APPLY – a task that has the learner do
something (there and then) with the new content
i.e. practice questions, application, case studies
AWAY – a task that connects the new learning
back to the life of the learner and its future use
i.e. action plan, personal commitment, future
project
What do you like about this model?
What concerns you?
What questions do you have?
EXAMPLES OF 4 AS
From Psychosocial Impact of Stroke:
ANCHOR
In pairs, identify possible/common psychosocial impacts of stroke that you have observed,
noticed in your clinical practice and record them on a post-it note. We will share them in the
large group.
ADD
Listen to the latest research findings about the psychosocial impact of stroke. (see Power Point
handout). Write down your questions.
APPLY
In groups of 3, identify how as a service provider you might be of help to these survivors as
they experience the psychosocial impact of stroke. Be as specific as possible. Record the
intervention/actions on post it notes
AWAY
Identify one activity/intervention which is perhaps more challenging and which you want to focus
on in the next month. Write it in your day book.
From Aphasia design
ANCHOR
In groups of 3, identify what you know about communication. Write your ideas on a post-it
note and post them on the flip chart. We will share your ideas.
ADD
Read the box below which define aphasia and describes receptive versus expressive aphasia.
Circle what you think is most often misunderstood or not known about this disease.
Aphasia
Language disorder - usually from damage to left side of brain (language centers
for most people)
Can affect ability to speak and understand speech, reading, writing, and
mathematics
Causes: stroke (67-80%), traumatic brain injury, tumors, infections and possibly
Alzheimer’s disease
20% of aphasics individuals are left with residual aphasia
Acute or chronic depression
APPLY
In 4 groups (groups of 3 or 4), read the case study provided. Identify the issues as well as the
tools and strategies you might use. Write them on the flip chart provided.
We will review a sampling.
AWAY
Individually, identify one strategy that you will use in the next month. Write it in the box
below and write the name of the colleague you want to check in with in 3 weeks time about
your experience of using that strategy.
EXAMPLES OF 4 AS
APPLY
2B. With a new partner, choose 1 of the 2 case studies (below) and design the learning
event using the 4A model. You will have 10 minutes to do this. Call us over to your table
with your questions.
Let’s share all your ideas. You will also receive a handout with more examples
prepared by the presenters.
CASE STUDY # 1
Education related to patient intervention:
You have been asked to speak to a seniors group to educate them about the warning signs of
stroke. The group is made up of men and women between the ages of 65 and 85, who live in
a seniors’ apartment building. The group meets every Wednesday morning. Once a month
they have a combination of an education/information session and they have a social time the
other 3 weeks. The public health nurse has suggested that one of the regional stroke staff
come and talk to them about stroke. There have been a few incidents of stroke in the
building and it seems people are not sure what they should be looking for and are also
hesitant to call an ambulance.
You would like them at the end of the session to be able to:
• Identify the 5 warning signs of stroke
• Describe the steps they should take when they experience or witness any of the
warning signs of stroke
• Report a comfort level with calling 911.
CASE STUDY # 2
Staff Education:
You are designing a course for staff in long term care facility. The staff includes nurses, both
RN and RPN’s, and also Personal Support workers (PSWs). This is a session to help staff
address issues around swallowing and aspiration. The session will focus on the importance of
positioning and strategies that can be used to minimize the risk of choking and aspirating as
well as enhancing the experience of eating for the individual with a stroke. The PSWs
provide most of the direct assistance to residents at meal time. The RN’s and RPNs are
responsible for supervising the PSWs. Most of the PSW’s have been at the facility for many
years and have been somewhat resistant to learning or practicing new strategies. The RNs and
RPNs are very committed to using best practices and are asking for assistance in teaching and
mentoring the PSW staff. This is the first time you have been asked to provide an education
session for this group.
The goal of the education session is to help them understand the issues around swallowing
and aspiration and the importance of proper positioning as a way of reducing incidence of
choking and
At the end of the session the learners will have:
• Described the signs and symptoms of aspiration
• Analyzed why positioning is important
• Practiced proper positioning in a chair and in bed
• Identified one strategy they will practice consistently in the next month.
APPLY
2C. With your partner, return to your design of the case study and name how the
principles of immediacy, relevancy, and engagement are ensured in this 4A model.
AWAY
Let’s hear a sample of your findings.
Learning Task #3 – Considering your Practice
Name one of the 4As that you want to use when planning your next learning event.
WHICH part of the learning model did you select?
______________________________
WHAT is the learning event?
______________________________________________
WHEN will this be?
______________________________________________________
WHO will you share this learning model with?
__________________________________
Appendix
Ways to Continue Learning about Dialogue Education
1.
Read one of Jane Vella’s books:
Vella, J. (2008). On Teaching and Learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Vella, J. (2003). Dialogue Education at Work: Case Studies. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Vella, J (2003) Learning to Listen Learning to Teach: The Power of Dialogue in Educating Adults, Rev Ed.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. (now available in Chinese!)
Vella, J. (2000). Taking Learning to Task. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Vella, J., Berardinelli, P., Burrow, J. (1998) How Do They Know They Know. San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass.
Vella, J. (1995). Training Through Dialogue. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
2.
Take the course Learning to Listen Learning to Teach an introduction to Dialogue Education.
Register at http://www.globalearning.com/schedule.htm .
There’s still room in our Toronto course on November 10-13!
3.
Read our Voices in Dialogue E-Newsletter
Global Learning Partners now publishes an electronic newsletter that documents how people are
learning through Dialogue Education around the world. Please visit
http://www.globalearning.com/voicespast.htm for links to the current and past issues.
4.
Join our Virtual Community of Dialogue Education Practitioners
Join the Voices in Dialogue listserv: http://lists.globalearning.com/mailman/listinfo/voices.
5.
Ask Global Learning Partners to provide consulting services: LNRAs, learning design,
facilitation, and evaluation services.
In addition to providing public and in-house workshops on Dialogue Education, Global Learning
Partners’ staff and associates also provide a range of consulting services to help organization’s learning
processes. These include:
conducting Learning Needs and Resources Assessments
designing original curriculum based on your content
facilitating training workshops on topics in which we have content expertise (e.g. Using Results
Based Management for Community Development Projects, SURE-Fire Meetings, etc.)
facilitating other learning processes: strategic planning, meetings, other learning events;
conducting evaluations of learning processes, workshops, education campaigns, etc.
Please contact GLP anytime at 1-877-923-3393 (toll free)
to discuss how we can work and learn together.