Creating a Positive Learning Environment

Initially I had a very different direction for this blog, but I had a life experience recently that has changes my direction.

I have met with a student a few times over the past month, who has diverse learning needs, over and above her single parenting of children with special needs. This is an incredible lady with a lot on her plate, who demands a lot of herself also. We met, among other things, to go over the results of her recent learning assessment. If you have not experienced ADHD in your classroom, here are two videos that may be of interest. The first is from a pedagogy perspective. This is relevant because it sets the learning stage for the adult learner. Before they show up in our classrooms, the adult learner has to negotiate past experiences with learning. As we will see, this can include trauma from the early childhood learning experience.

Trends in Education

In education we see studies done in the last decade on the rising rates of ADHD, and anxiety increasingly common concerns for childhood learning studies. The subjects from these decade old studies are the generation now entering education systems as adult learners. Both of these learning challenges are an issue for my student.

What surprised me when reading her learning evaluation was one of the suggestions linked to success tools her Psychiatrist gave her; "positive encouragement from instructors", clearly followed by "negative reinforcement will not be effective".

Learning Revelation

Positive encouragement from an instructor was a tool that stood out for both of us. Her Psychiatrist had explained, part of the characteristics with her learning needs included positive motivation and encouragement from her instructors, as she is likely to work harder for them, than herself.

We can relate this back to the first video here, where the little girl was quick to say "Jesus" was something she liked about herself, using the strength of an extrinsic source to buffer her lack of self esteem. As educators, this brings new importance to speaking down about our teaching institution, ourselves or other forces the learner may be placing "self worth" value on.

Instructors do not always agree with institutional decisions. We can also fall victim to negative self talk.

These sorts of behaviours have a new value relative to a learner who places aspects of their identity or self worth onto them however. This information suggests an off handed derogatory comment about yourself can become highly erosive if witnessed by students with ADHD.

I am fortunate to be brought into the loop of learning needs for many of our students, however, ADHD can be a learning disability that is not visible. You may never know the impact you are, or are not having on someone's life. Here is a passage from a favorite book of mine that brings this home in a wider context. (Grab a tissue...it's wonderfully tear jerking for some.)