Literacy Assistance Center

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GED Institute 2002

Day 1

Institute Goal
Day 1 Objectives
Day 1 Agenda
Handout 1: Introductions, the Context of Our Work
Handout 2: Characteristics of Positive Learning Experiences
Handout 3: Pedagogy and Andragogy
Handout 4: The New GED Test
Handout 5: The 21st Century Workplace
Handout 6: Critical Thinking and the New GED
Handout 7: Critical Thinking and the New GED, Additional Resources
Handout 8: Homework Assignment
Day 1 Evaluation
GED Lesson Planning Institute Table of Contents

Institute Goal

To examine promising practices in youth and adult education, and to develop model GED instructional plans that incorporate these approaches

Day 1 Objectives

  • To identify the characteristics of positive learning experiences
  • To compare and contrast the teaching of youth with the teaching of adults
  • To examine the instructional implications of the new GED test
  • To explore the educational demands of the 21st century workplace
  • To examine the conception of “higher order thinking skills” embedded in the new GED test
  • To practice developing critical thinking questions for GED-style texts

Day 1 Agenda

  1. Overview of the Institute (9:15 – 9:20)
  2. Introductions The Contexts of Our Work (9:20 10:00)
  3. Characteristics of Positive Learning Experiences (10:00 11:00)
  4. Pedagogy and Andragogy (11:00 12:15)
  5. Lunch (12:15 1:00)
  6. The New GED Test (1:00 1:45)
  7. The 21st Century Workplace (1:45 3:00)
  8. Critical Thinking and the New GED (3:15 4:45)
  9. Homework Assignment and Evaluations (4:45 5:00)

Day 1, Handout 1
Introductions: The Contexts of Our Work

  • My name is ___.
  • Ive been in (adult) education for ___ years.
  • I currently work at __ as a __.
  • The students I work with are ___.
  • The most satisfying aspect of my work is ___.
  • The most challenging aspect of my work is ___.

Day 1, Handout 2
Characteristics of Positive Learning Experiences

  1. Reflective Writing (15 min.)
    Describe a positive learning experience you’ve had as a student, and a positive teaching experience you’ve had as an instructor. What were the elements that made these experiences positive?
  2. Small Group Discussion (20 min.)
    What are the common characteristics of positive learning experiences? (Record on poster paper.)
  3. Report Out (25 min.)
    Share group work
    Synthesize key components of positive learning experiences

    Day 1, Handout 3
    Pedagogy and Andragogy

  4. Reflective Writing (5 min.)
    In your experience, what’s the difference between teaching older adolescents and teaching adults?
  5. Silent Reading (25 min.)
    “The Pedagogical Model” and “The Andragogical Model,” from Andragogy in Action (pp. 8 – 18), Malcolm Knowles, Jossey-Bass, 1984.
  6. Small Group Discussion (25 min., record key points on poster paper)
    What are the key distinctions between Knowles’ “pedagogical” and “androgogical” models?
    To what extent do Knowles’ distinctions compare and contrast to your own beliefs about teaching older adolescents and teaching adults?
    What are some examples of the ways you have incorporated Knowles’ “pedagogy” and the ways you have incorporated Knowles’ “androgogy” into your own work?
  7. Report Out (15 min.)

Day 1, Handout 4
The New GED Test

  1. Small Group Discussion (20 min., record on poster paper)
    What are the major changes in the content of the new GED test?
    What are the implications of these changes for instruction?
  2. Report Out (25 min.)

Day 1, Handout 5
The 21st Century Workplace

  1. Personal Reflection (5 min.)
    Think back on the jobs you’ve had throughout your life (including your current jobs). What are some of the common skills, abilities, and traits you’ve needed to do these jobs successfully?
  2. Small Group Discussion (10 min., record on poster paper)
    What do you think are some of the key skills, abilities and traits a person needs to succeed in the 21st century workplace?
  3. Silent Reading (20 min.)
    What Work Requires of Schools: A SCANS Report for America 2000 (pp. xv – xxii), The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, U.S. Department of Labor, 1991
  4. Small Group Discussion (20 min.)
    To what extent do the skills, abilities and traits that your group identified as necessary for the 21st century workplace compare and contrast to the “five competencies” and “three part foundation skills” identified in the SCANS report?
    What implications does the SCANS report have for adolescent and adult education?
  5. Whole Group Discussion (20 min.)
    Same questions as above

    Day 1, Handout 6
    Critical Thinking and the New GED

  6. Reflective Writing (15 min.)
    What does the phrase “critical thinking” mean to you?
    How do you promote critical thinking through your instruction?
  7. Whole Group Discussion (20 min.)
    What do we mean by “critical thinking”?
    How do we promote critical thinking through our instruction?
    What is the conception of “higher order thinking skills” embedded in the new GED?
  8. Silent Reading (15 min.)
    “Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy,” from GED 2002 Institute, Central Illinois Adult Education Service Center, 2001
    “Bloom’s Taxonomy,” from A People’s History of the United States Abridged Teaching Edition, Howard Zinn and Kathy Emery, The New Press, 1997
  9. Small Group Work (30 min.)
    Read silently: “The Wage of the Future,” from The Change Agent (Sept. 2001 ed.), New England Literacy Resource Center.
    Work collaboratively to create six different questions based on the text: one for each cognitive level of Bloom’s taxonomy.
  10. Report Out (10 min.)

Day 1, Handout 7
Critical Thinking and the New GED
Additional Resources

  • “You Are What You Eat,” from The Change Agent (March 2002), New England Literacy Resource Center.
  • “Strategies for Teaching Critical Thinking,” Bonnie Potts, ERIC Digest, 1994.
  • Teaching Strategies to Help Promote Critical Thinking, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Teaching Resource Center.
  • Tactics that Encourage Active Learning, Foundation for Critical Thinking.
  • Critical Literacy for Adult English Language Learners, Carol Van Duzer and MaryAnn Cunningham Florez, National Center for ESL Literacy Education, 1999.

Day 1, Handout 8
Homework Assignment

To facilitate our discussion of effective instructional practices, please bring to our second session a piece of instructional material that typifies the materials you use in your class. This resource can be anything: a text, a document, a form, a graphic, an article, a video, an ad, an object. Be prepared to discuss what it is, how you use it, and how it contributes to effective instruction.

Day 1 Evaluation

  • What did you learn from today’s session? How might you incorporate what you learned into your work?
  • In what ways was this session disappointing?
  • On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest), how would you rate the quality of today’s session? Please explain your answer:
  • What suggestions would you make for improving any of the specific activities?
  • What suggestions would you make for better achieving any of the specific objectives?
  • Do you have any other comments you’d like to share with the facilitator?

Name (Optional, but helpful): ______

GED Lesson Planning Institute Table of Contents


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