Choosing Instructional Methods

In selecting ways to teach, consider choosing a variety of learner-centred instructional methods which best support the philosophy and foundational aspects of this curriculum.  Encouraging and supporting autonomous learning promotes decision-making and independent life-long learning skills.  Learner-centred instructional methods allow for more learner communication and increased self-direction.  Creating a classroom climate where learners feel safe to express their views, to make personal decisions, to share emotion, and to further reflect on consequences and outcomes is essential.

The methods described below represent only a few instructional methods.  They are not intended to be prescriptive or comprehensive in nature.

1. Cooperative learning involves fostering an active relationship among learners that develops positive interdependence, individual accountability, interpersonal skills, and conflict resolution.  Activities can range from small buzz groups, jigsaws, and interviews, to structured problem solving.  

2. Talking/sharing circle: The circle re-establishes traditional Aboriginal teaching and healing practices.  Spiritually, we see and understand when we clear our mind, body, and spirit through smudging as we open ourselves to learning from others.  Prayer prepares us for our mental undressing.  Smudging and prayer help balance us spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically.  Circle participation, when done respectfully, reflects the basic traditional and philosophical worldview of Aboriginal peoples regardless of whether it is done from a healing perspective, teaching approach, or a general point of view.  The circle represents a holistic perspective: the whole cannot be separated of its parts, since each part must be understood in its relationship to the whole (Graveline, 1998; Hart, 1996; Weenie, 1998).  Of course respectful protocol must be adhered to when engaging in ceremony, so please be sure to seek the advice of an Elder, or consider a mainstream variation of this process, the dialogue.

3. Bohmian Dialogue: Popularized through the work of David Bohm (1996), this dialogue is a group communication process aimed at exploring the nature and power of collective thinking.  Dialogue allows a wide spectrum of possible relationships to be revealed.  It can disclose the impact of society on the individual and the individual’s impact on society.  It can display how power is assumed or given away and how pervasive are the generally unnoticed rules of the system that constitute our culture.  Dialogue is most concerned with giving voice to those who otherwise may choose to remain silent and to reveal the dynamics of how we are or are not connected.  A circle format symbolizes the equal position of participants; however, usually a facilitator is assigned to ensure focus on the topic and to encourage building on information, ideas, and thoughts each time around the circle.  Dialogue is not a discussion,a debate, a gossip session, or an opportunity for one’s opinion to prevail.  A dialogue will usually begin with some activity (e.g. centring, relaxation, or a variation of prayer) that encourages focus on the task to ensure suspension of impulses or judgements.

4. Journal writing, for some, provides the key to critical self-reflection.  Lukinsky (1990) offers several approaches to journal writing.  Journaling can promote critical self-reflection by providing learners with opportunities to see issues from varying perspectives and thereby challenging learner assumptions.  Some techniques that seem fitting with adult learners include the following:

   • a life history section that provides opportunities to reflect on past experiences or values that may present connections or affect assumptions about what is being studied in class.

   • a dialogue section where the learner chooses a character from literature or a person from the past, present, or future with whom to dialogue.  The dialogue allows the learner to view two sides of an issue or to concentrate on something that was neglected in the class-sharing circle.

   • lists of clusters of ideas about an issue, perhaps things that irritate me, or beliefs that I discarded.

   • maps of consciousness are drawings or sketches of a particular state of mind.

   • unsent letters allow the learner to express thoughts and feelings that cannot be said in reality.  This can be a way for anger to be diffused.

   • portraitsor descriptions of characters or people to whom one is drawn.  This will include what one learns from the drawing.

5. Resource-based learning (R-BL) involves active participation with multiple resources (books, journals, newspapers, multi-media, Web, community resources, and people in community or employment areas) where learners are motivated to learn about a topic by trying to find meaningful information in as many ways and places as possible.

   • R-BL is flexible in terms of accommodating different learning styles and in promoting learner autonomy.

   • Learners develop information literacy skills from gathering information from a variety of resources.

   • Learners develop problem solving skills as they piece information together to formulate meaningful knowledge about a subject.

   • Learners learn where to look for information, how to turn information into notes, how to evaluate information, and how to assess their success with the process of seeking information.

   • R-BL leads to a sense of ownership of learning and to increased self-confidence and practice in developing research skill.

6. Spirit writing is a way of shedding shame and dealing with pain.  Spirit writing is a way to give voice to the inner pain that some people feel.  Spirit writing circles create a safe, non-threatening environment, and a way for people to come together to explore the trauma of a history.  Many Aboriginal people have become “stuck” or “frozen” with feelings that often have no name.  Writing circles provide a place to express the spirit within.  Stiffarm (1998) explains that a connection with ceremony is essential to allow the process of healing to begin.  This can be done with the smudge; however, there are certain protocols with various Aboriginal peoples about who can smudge, when, and how it should be done.  The purpose is to engage in ceremony, to “call upon all of those spirit helpers to sit with us and to help us through the process” (p. 3).  Relaxation techniques followed by positive affirmations are exercises that offer mental preparation before writing.  When completed, this process should close with dance and song, giving thanks to spirit helpers.

7. Giving personal testimony is bearing witness to a crisis or a trauma.  In enabling change, a cognitive event like coming to terms with a past by telling a trauma narrative, perhaps never before told, gives adult learners a recognition of where they have been and will often provide a way to interpret past events.  Personal testimony brings events forward and supports thinking about how to live with the present and how to change, rather than shutting out contradictory messages that present false impressions that change is impossible.  It is very difficult to live with unstable and painful ambivalence, and through testimony, the process of transformation is supported.  Testimony allows for coming to know self and discovering one’s desire for goodness in exploring new possibilities of change through narrative.  Taped testimonies may allow learners some confidentiality.

8. The structured interview works best with groups of four learners.  The instructor’s job is to write four questions on two sheets of paper (as below) based on the reading material content.  Leave adequate room for learner response below each question.  The groups are formed.  Each learner receives the two-page handout and they number themselves in their group – 1, 2, 3, and 4.  The reading selection must first be read individually followed by all learners’ participation in the discussion.  Each learner answers the corresponding question number assigned.  Then, each group member interviews others within that same group so all questions are answered in a structured format.  Instructors can then orally collect all responses by asking all the same numbers to respond together.  The purpose is to expose different perspectives.