Course Journal: Category 4
PIDP 3100
Professor Glenn Galy
March 12th, 2015
Sean Harris
“The flipped classroom is…essentially reversing the traditional order…this approach fits adult education’s values of active learner engagement and self-direction”
Objective
This quote to me sums up what we as adult educators should be striving to achieve in the classroom. The idea of the flipped
classroom, or having the emphasis in class to be actively using the information that we have helped the students to take on, takes
into account some of the major ideas of the constructivist approach to andragogy. By flipping the classroom we are ensuring that the
student is given the opportunity to self-direct their learning, to utilize the learning skills as well as the content skills that we have
helped them to acquire and to critically self-reflect on what their previous experiences have been versus what their current
experiences are. We use aspects of this technique in the ESL classroom in our presentation of material using the guided discovery
method. Here we provide the students with the tools and background to discover a point and then focus on giving the students
ample time to practice that point in a safe setting, eventually moving on to a setting where they can authentically produce the
speech.
Reflective
What I have taken away from this quote, or rather, what this quote made me take a good look at was how I can expand this idea in
the classroom. Guided discovery works well in the ESL classroom for lessons involving grammatical rules; however, the classroom
can be flipped further when we start to dive into different systems. Allison King in a College Teaching article noted that..“The
professor is still responsible for presenting the course material, but he or she presents that material in ways that make the students
do something with the information – interact with it – manipulate the ideas and relate them to what they already know.
(Merriam & Bierema, 2014, p. 30)
The idea that she is presenting is the transition of the teacher from “The sage on stage to the guide on the side” (King, 1993, p. 30)
Using this philosophy and coupling it with a system such as lexis can be incredibly useful for students. For example, if I have 90
minutes with a group of students I will generally spend 15 to 20 minutes pre-teaching the vocabulary that we will be using. By
assigning this vocabulary as homework, possibly drawn from authentic texts, and taking into account my own students experience I
can cut that down to 5 to 10 minutes, leaving the remainder of the class open to practice activities or projects that will allow the
students to use the language in an authentic manner.
Interpretive
What really stood out to me with this quote was the underlying idea that our students are indeed capable of handling this sort of
classroom experience. As an educator I don't need to be constantly watching over my students like a worried parent, but rather I
should be allowing them the freedom in class to experiment with the topics in a safe environment while providing them with support
and guidance when necessary. I should be taking into account their own previous experiences with problem solving and trusting in
the fact that they have the inherent skills necessary to succeed as long as they have the guidance and support of the instructor. This
quote has shown me that it is ok to back off a little in the classroom and trust in my students’ intrinsic ability. If I help them to
develop their study skills, nurture their soft skills and give them access to the content they need, they will be able to thrive.
Decisional
This quote has allowed me to think critically on how my students have learned in the past, how I have taught in the past and how my
students have succeeded in the past. Some of the most successful students that I have had were the ones that were fiercely
independent in class. The ones that wanted minimal input but rather, correction when they asked for it. By planning my lessons in
such a way that will allow my students to use all of their inherent, inherited and evolved skills I can provide a much more
self-directed experience, a more autonomous experience and most importantly, a more positive experience for my students. One
that allows them to further themselves in their content knowledge, but also their personal experiences.
References
King, Alison. (1993). From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side. In College Teaching. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/27558571
Merriam S.B., Bierema, L.L. (2014). Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.