Authentic Instruction...or Not?
We like to say we are using "Authentic Instruction" and "Real Materials" to teach our adults. But are we really? NCSALL (the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning & Literacy) says that our instruction and the materials we use are only authentic and contextualized IF the learner has first identified them as a need or goal, to use in his/her life. If we assume our learner needs to learn how to write a check, and never find out that indeed he has no checking account nor wishes to, we have not done him a service. On the other hand, if our student identifies a need to register her child for school, and we bring in a form to teach her just that, it is authentic and contextualized instruction, using real materials. This is being truly learner centered, while it provides writing and reading instruction that will transfer to other tasks. For more depth on authentic instruction, see NCSALL's publication at >http://www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/teach/jacobson.pdf