Thursday, February 20, 2014

February Monthly Summary - Keith Cozart


February Monthly Summary:

Keith Cozart
I have gravitated to the story and history of Myles Horton and Highlander Education and Research Center (aka Folk School).  Horton’s overall teaching perspective has captured me.  I admire his common man sensibility and his dedication to helping people help them selves.  

I feel as if I’ve gain much more from my group project then individual mostly due to interest in subject matter.  As I look ahead to the next group project, I hope to plan a bit more in advance to site references within my writing as I progress.  I often keep writing with intent to go back and insert (NAME, YEAR) site reference, but often forget.

My learning in the last two months has made its way into my teaching.  I offer a community hand drum class every Tuesday night 7:30pm-8:30. It is mostly just for fun and activity, but we do perform once a semester and take seriousness to our learning with a heavy does of silly wackiness.  Class members are predominantly woman in the age range of 50-65, working or retired professionals, and are seeking something new and different within their life.  I teach them how to play hand drums and recently I’ve approached class time differently.  I ask a lot more questions to class members, I tell more stories, I make more personal connections and make a diligent effort to take interest in who they are and what’s their passion.  I make more of a point to talk about my teachers and how they taught me something specific about drumming. I break things down as far as we need to accomplish the physical movement of a drumming pattern supplying reassurance that it is okay to make mistakes.  Make them loud and proud.  That is how to learn.  Make mistakes, learn something from it and move on.  In short, I try to be more holistically.  Teach the mind, body and soul.

Kyle Owens
In my first month and a half of this class I have grown to know so much more about adult education, than I had previously thought. Whether it was learning about the beginnings of adult education or how it has developed into what we have today. I have learned that adult education isn’t just about how we educate adults on certain subjects, it’s about how adults build knowledge in every aspect of life. I have become very interested in reading about the Chautauqua Institute and the values that they are able to teach adults about church and themselves. I have become motivated to teach outside the norm just like the “Radical Hillbilly” Myles Horton who chose not to conform but to find different ways of giving people a solid education.

Our group work has allowed me to work with my peers as well as learn with them. My fascination with adult education has grown through the group projects. I have found that my group also shares the same passion about adult education as I do. The passion translates into fascinating and well written contributions to our group’s success.

A look ahead (group)
Our group has gone from four members to two, so our first thought is a new division of tasks.  We have some difficult comparisons to make.  For our next paper on Adult programs we have chosen two very different examples.  TED and the Chautauqua Institute.  TED is a relatively new organization while Chautauqua is an established icon with deep history and reputation.

Summary (group)
In summary it is apparent that we have grown in multiple aspects of Adult Education. As we are both in our own personal journey when it comes to our education careers, we can both agree that this class has and will help us. We each have found a figure in adult education that we can relate with and plan to use their tactics in the future. These group activities have helped us understand the fundamentals of education and are very excited for the rest of the semester. When it comes to the group assignments we understand that improvements can always be made and will continue to work on them so that we can deliver the best product possible. With two more months to go in the class, it is apparent that there is so much more to learn and we are prepared for the challenge.

5 comments:

  1. I like that you have found a theory that you think is admirable and applied it to a real class. As I look back at classes I have taken, I think the ones that have given me value are the ones that I can directly apply to what I am teaching. One of the great things about this class is there is a large amount of material that a person can choose from. This makes it possible for all of us to find theories/practices that we can apply.

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  2. Keith, I really liked how you discussed using what you are learning into your teaching and having more of a holistic approach..making mistakes, learning from it and moving on!

    Kyle, It is so important on how we" build knowledge in every aspect of life". I have noticed that in my every day life. What's funny is that, of course, I realize that we learn every day, what I find myself doing is defining the learning...formal, informal, and non informal! hehe

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  3. I felt the same way last semester when i was introduced to the work of Malcolm Knowles. I was constantly amazed by Andragogy and the debate around his work in the field. The beauty of this program is that each semester there is a new concept or theory that expands our understanding of what adult education truly is and how we experience it in our everyday lives.

    Great job adapting to the changes in your group it can be hard to rebound from the loss of potential resources that way especially with the number and frequency of our assignments

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  4. Very nice summary, Kyle and Keith! I am so glad that you have such a passion and enthusiasm on what you are researching and have greatinterest in applying them in practice! :)

    Bo

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  5. Nice approach to your monthly summary. I too admired the works of Myles Horton and the "Folk School." I also found it very interesting how you were able to apply techniques discussed in class to you professional career. Working with middle school students with limited interest is often a challenge, but I can see our class holding a group discussion about individuals like Myles Horton and his relationship with several early civil rights leaders. Relating to some of the figures we've discussed while learning within this course has helped to personalize my learning as well.

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