Follow Instructions-Teaching Examples Critique below APA 7th Ed Page lengths have varied from a few pages to 10-15 pages.? No suggestion of a min

Follow Instructions-Teaching Examples Critique below

APA 7th Ed

Page lengths have varied from a few pages to 10-15 pages.

No suggestion of a minimum or maximum page length; length will vary based on the topic.

Criteria Ratings Points

Content Review 35 to >32 pts

Advanced

Student meets the basic assignment requirements mentioned in the “Proficient” column but does so with exceptional clarity, detail, and insight.

32 to >29 pts

Proficient

Student provides adequate and accurate review of the teaching strategies, LO’s, etc., observed in the teaching demonstration following the prompts in the assignment instructions. Ideas are well-supported by references to the class sources.

29 to >26 pts

Developing

Student captures some of the teaching strategies.

26 to >0 pts

Below Expectations

Requirements listed in the “proficient” column are significantly lacking at the doctoral level.

0 pts

Not Present

35 pts

Analysis/Evaluation 50 to >45 pts

Advanced

Student meets the basic assignment requirements mentioned in the “Proficient” column but does so with exceptional clarity, detail, and insight. Analysis is superbly demonstrated.

45 to >41 pts

Proficient

Student provides an adequate analysis/evaluation of the effectiveness of the teaching strategies the instructor used in each demonstration with comments on application of adult learning principles. Ideas are well-supported by references to the class sources.

41 to >37 pts

Developing

Student provides some analysis and evaluation.

37 to >0 pts

Below Expectations

Requirements listed in the “proficient” column are significantly lacking at the doctoral level.

0 pts

Not Present

50 pts

Teaching Examples Critique Grading Rubric | EDCO725_D02_202530

Criteria Ratings Points

Personal Application/Suggested Changes

20 to >18 pts

Advanced

Student meets the basic assignment requirements mentioned in the “Proficient” column but does so with exceptional clarity, detail, and insight. Student exhibits strong insight in discussion of possible applications.

18 to >16 pts

Proficient

Student discusses personal application to his/her own future teaching. Ideas are well-supported by references to the class sources.

16 to >15 pts

Developing

Student demonstrates some of the requirements listed in the “proficient” column but without appropriate depth at the doctoral level.

15 to >0 pts

Below Expectations

Requirements listed in the “proficient” column are significantly lacking at the doctoral level.

0 pts

Not Present

20 pts

Writing, Formatting, and Citation

45 to >41 pts

Advanced

Student writing is exceptionally clear, persuasive and error free. Ideas are fully supported and correctly cited using current APA formatting.

41 to >37 pts

Proficient

Ideas are adequately presented; sentences are correctly constructed, and paragraphs are organized consistently with doctoral level writing. Writing is largely free of grammar, punctuation, and other writing errors. Contains any appropriate citations and references cited using current APA formatting.

37 to >33 pts

Developing

Student’s writing deviates from the requirements in the “proficient” column in several ways.

33 to >0 pts

Below Expectations

Student’s writing deviates from the requirements in the “proficient” column in numerous ways.

0 pts

Not Present

45 pts

Total Points: 150

Teaching Examples Critique Grading Rubric | EDCO725_D02_202530

https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/816250/pages/watch-teaching-demonstration-davis-utilizing-the-bdi?module_item_id=88097582

https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/816250/pages/watch-teaching-demonstration-understanding-emotions?module_item_id=88097585

Fostering Self-Directed Learning

When I think of empowered learners, I think of people doing things for themselves, making

things happen by their own initiative. I think of self-directed learning in much the same way, as

people deciding that they need to know something and, in the absence of anyone being available

to teach them, attempting to learn it for themselves. DIY (do it yourself) is the heart of the punk

ethic, for example Furness, 2012). Sometimes I picture this happening individually, sometimes (

as part of a group effort. So for me the terms and empowered learners self-directed learners

conjure up very similar images. This is why a book on powerful teaching techniques has to deal

with self-directed learning.

But if the definition of self-directedness is that there is no teacher present, how can you talk about

teaching it? Well, I have two responses to that question. First, as we shall see, in a lot of self-

directed learning efforts there are often phases when learners use external teachers to teach them

specific elements that move the overall project forward. Second, and this connects self-directed

learning to the broader theme of teaching for empowerment, there are many things classroom

teachers can do that help prepare the ground for adults to conduct self-directed learning projects

outside any particular course.

What is Self-Directed Learning?

A TV commercial for Phoenix University that was running while I was writing this chapter

celebrated learners studying on airplanes, buses, in factory cafeterias, on the bleachers at a Little

League game, and so on. This is often how self-directed learning is thought of—isolated

individuals working flexibly to further their education and training, fitting study in around the

demands of work, home, and community.

But this is not self-directed learning, it is learning (Bembenutty, 2011), in which self-regulated

students have some choice in determining how they will achieve institutionally approved

objectives. A recent volume on self-regulated learning defines it as students’ “capability to

engage in appropriate actions, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in order to pursue valuable

academic goals while self-monitoring and self-reflecting on their progress toward goal

completion” (Bembenutty, 2011, p. 3). This kind of self-regulation often has a degree of Brookfield, Stephen D.. Powerful Techniques for Teaching Adults, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=1132527. Created from liberty on 2025-07-14 06:17:13.

Brookfield, S. D. (2013). Powerful techniques for teaching adults. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

flexibility I support—giving learners the opportunity to decide when they will read set texts,

complete set assignments, make mandatory postings, or demonstrate how their prior experience is

equivalent to institutionally mandated skills. I like, as a general rule, to give students some choice

over which of several study options they wish to pursue or to negotiate aspects of curricula with

them. But I would not call it self-directed learning. Self-directed learning is learning in which

decisions around what to learn, how to learn it, and how to decide if one has learned something

well enough are in the hands of learners. To use a fashionable formulation, the key question is all

where does the locus of control lie?

If self-directed learning is conceived as a process in which the key decisions around what and

how to learn are in the hands of learners, then it quickly becomes apparent that self-directed

learning is neither antipedagogy nor inherently isolating. Someone in charge of decision making

may well decide that for a particular element in a learning project they need to place themselves

temporarily under the direction of a teacher. For example, when forced (temporarily) to be a lead

guitarist I asked another band member for advice. He told me to learn how to play some basic

scales so I could then choose how to construct a particular guitar solo. I went on You Tube and

followed the instructions in videos that had high viewer ratings. In this example, being self-

directed meant seeking direction from both teachers and peers, yet the decisions regarding the

overall direction and execution of my learning still remained in my hands.

It is no accident that the idea of self-direction has engaged the attention of adult educators in the

United States. As a representation of how learning optimally occurs, the concept fits very much

the American ideology of rugged individualism. Self-direction underscores the folklore of the self-

made man or woman who succeeds against the odds through the sheer force of individual efforts.

This is the narrative surrounding adult learner of the year awards bestowed on those who pull

themselves up by their bootstraps to claim their place at the table of stories and voices. St. Clair

(2004) outlines the hold that the myth of aspiration has on adult educators, and I contend that

there is no more potent myth than the Eurocentrically inclined idea of new frontiers of learning

being conquered by individual pioneers, boldly going where no man or woman has gone before.

Self-directed learning is at the heart of adult education, but how it is defined and practiced says

much about the politics of the field. The prevailing view is one interchangeable with self-

regulated learning: a process of helping adults acquire predefined skills, knowledge, and

dispositions by allowing them to pace when and how to work. Self-directed learning is lauded for

its being able to fit the individual circumstances of learners who are, for various reasons, unable

Brookfield, Stephen D.. Powerful Techniques for Teaching Adults, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=1132527. Created from liberty on 2025-07-14 06:17:13.

or unwilling to attend institutional classes. This viewpoint is well represented in the International

, where articles regularly examine the effectiveness of self-Journal of Self-Directed Learning

directed approaches for helping learners acquire predetermined skills and negotiate predetermined

curricula. Typical articles are those exploring self-directed learning methods in secondary school

classrooms (Carmichael, 2007), geriatric care courses (Park et al., 2006; Park, Candler, and

Durso, 2006), military college training (Gabrielle, Guglielmino, and Guglielmino, 2006), physics

and chemistry courses (McCauley and McClelland, 2004; Thompson and Wulff, 2004), and

among primary school students (Mok, Leung, and Shan, 2005).

From my standpoint, this is self-paced learning rather self-directed learning. If self-directed

learning is undertaken because , not experts or authorities, see it as necessary, then it is learners

potentially one of the most radical traditions in the adult education field. In my opinion, it is by

definition anarchic and uncontrollable—people deciding what and how, to learn for themselves

and to hell with what institutions say they should be learning. To be truly self-directed is to be

empowered—to decide what is most important to you, how you want to go about learning it, and

when you’re done. The learning is done not to earn grades but because it has to be done if people

are to lead meaningful lives.

Personal Illustrations

Let me illustrate my idea of self-direction by talking about three of my own self-directed learning

projects. The first has to do with learning about race and racism. About twenty years ago a White

colleague of mine—Elizabeth Kasl—challenged me by telling me my understanding and practice

of teaching adults was race-blind. She told me (in gentler terms than the ones I’m using) that

teaching as if the racial identity of teachers and students was not an issue was blinkered and

naïve, and that I was committing daily racial microaggressions. I disagreed, but her comments

planted a nagging seed of doubt, mostly because I admired her and assumed her judgment could

be trusted. So eventually I decided that a major self-directed learning project for me should be to

examine if and how the ideology of White supremacy—the belief that Whites are naturally best

equipped to assume authority because they possess superior intelligence and leadership qualities—

had nested itself in me.

There wasn’t any workshop on how to do this at my own institution, so I had to work out on my

own whom I should talk to, what I should read, and so on. One of the ways I did this was to draw

on my knowledge of critical theory and the microrealities of power (Brookfield, 2004) to explore

the ways I regularly commit racial microaggressions; that is, the small, daily acts of exclusion,

stereotyping, and marginalizing of colleagues and students of color. As well as reading about this

(Sue et al., 2007), I also talked to colleagues of color (Peterson and Brookfield, 2007; Sheared

et al., 2010).

What makes this an example of self-directed learning is that the decisions regarding what and

how to learn ultimately rested with me. This is not to say that other people weren’t involved.

After all, the impetus to learn these things had come after some disturbing conversations with

Elizabeth. But just reading about this kept my understanding at the level of a wholly cognitive,

rational analysis so I felt I needed to have long conversations with colleagues, peers, and students.

Only by doing that could the raw emotional dimensions of how racism is perpetuated crash into

my world. I needed people to direct me to useful resources, both human and material, and to help

me process, chew over, make sense of what I was learning about racism on a general level and

my collusion in it on a personal level. One of the hardest parts of this project was realizing that I

needed to appreciate that racist instincts, impulses, and thoughts are so deeply embedded in me

that the best I can hope for is to stop them from completely taking over in certain situations.

Another self-directed learning project I conducted in the last few years was learning how to cope

with my own clinical depression. This was been more of an intrapersonal learning project as I

found few fellow sufferers I could talk to, and it involved technical and emotional kinds of

learning as well as developing the interpersonal skill to talk about a stigmatized topic (Brookfield,

2011). Here I copiously read self-help books and tried many of their recommendations having to

do with exercise, meditation, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. When it was clear that none of

those had much effect, I decided to seek psychiatric help and to consider medication. After a

bump or two finding a psychiatrist, I was treated by one whose directive approach worked well

for me. Under his direction I experimented with different medications before finding a

combination of drugs that stabilized me. Now the cognitive-behavioral therapy scripts work much

better for me. This is a good example of a project in which the learner chooses to place himself

under expert authority for a period of time.

Finally, a few years ago my band, The 99ers ( ), were lucky enough http://www.the99ersband.com

to persuade Spinout Records ( ) in Nashville, Tennessee, to release http://www.spinoutmusic.com/

our first album. We decided to record this in my basement so, in short order, I had to buy a

portable twenty-four-track recording studio, learn how to operate it, learn how to buy affordable

but quality microphones, learn how to record different instruments and vocals, and then how to

mix the different percussion, bass, guitars, and vocals tracks together. I am something of a

technophobe so this presented a real challenge. But I studied the manual that came with the studio

assiduously, did a lot of trial and error learning, typed specific questions I had into online search

engines, and talked to local DJs who directed me to engineers who could answer specific

questions.

It’s striking to me that in all three of these projects I used other people as resources and sounding

boards. In doing this I was typical, at least according to research in this area. Peters and Grey

(2005) summarize a stream of research documenting how collaborating with others is an integral

element in self-directed learning. Recent empirical studies of self-directed learning among

graduate students (Davis et al., 2010), community leaders (Phares and Guglielmino, 2010), school

principals (Guglielmino and Hillard, 2007), and executives in philanthropic and nonprofit

organizations (Liddell, 2008; Ziga, 2008) all stress the importance of learning networks and using

peers as sounding boards regarding the progress one is making. It is not an oxymoron to speak of

collaborative self-directed learning (Moore et al., 2005). There is no contradiction at all in

deciding you need others to get advice, check your progress, and help you troubleshoot or suggest

new directions.

How Self-Directed Learning Relates to Power

Any time decisions about what learning is, how it should be conducted, and who should evaluate

it are removed from the control of accredited teachers and institutions, a challenge to formal

power is in place. At its heart, self-directed learning is about power and control—who has the

power to decide what should be learned, what counts as legitimate knowledge or curricula, and

who controls how these are explored. One reason the ideas of self-direction appeals to so many

adult educators is because it represents a break with authoritarianism and educational

totalitarianism. It means that control over the definitions, processes, and evaluations of learning

rests with those who are struggling to learn, not with external authorities. The belief that through

self-direction adults can gain increasing control over their lives (however naïve this belief might

subsequently turn out to be) is an emancipatory belief. This is why as a graduate student I was so

taken by Gelpi’s (1979) view that “self-directed learning by individuals and of groups is a danger

for every repressive force, and it is upon this self-direction that we must insist. . . radical change

in social, moral, aesthetic and political affairs is often the outcome of a process of self-directed

learning in opposition to the educational message imposed from without” (p. 2).

I have developed this argument more extensively elsewhere (Brookfield, 2000, 2007) so won’t go

into in depth here. Suffice it to say that issues of power and control, particularly regarding the

definition of acceptable and appropriate learning activities, are always endemic to self-direction.

Who defines the boundaries of intellectual and practical inquiry is always a political question, and

self-direction places this decision squarely in the hands of learners. This was a cardinal principle

of Myles Horton’s work at the Highlander Folk School (Horton, 1990). Through the experience of

making decisions about what was to happen at Highlander, participants learned democratic

process. Horton argued that this process was indivisible; it couldn’t be hedged around with

facilitator-imposed constraints: “if you want to have the students control the whole process, as far

as you can get them to control it, then you can never, at any point, take it out of their hands”

(p. 136). As with the Highlander process, so with self-directed learning: who controls the ways

and directions in which adults learn is a political issue highlighting the distribution of educational

and political power. Who has the final say in framing the range and type of decisions to be taken,

and who establishes the pace and mechanisms for decision making, reveals a great deal about

where power really resides.

Andruske’s (2000) study of self-directed learning as a political act illustrates this point well. She

studied twenty-one women on welfare—often portrayed by right-wingers as scroungers with no

initiative who spend their time leeching off the state—and concluded that “women’s self-directed

learning projects result in women becoming political agents . . . seeking to regain control and

power over their lives as they navigate social spaces and social structures in their everyday

worlds” (p. 14). Andruske’s subjects engaged in complex legal research and policy analysis that

brought them into direct conflict with bureaucrats and policy administrators such as welfare

officials. They quickly learned that such officials would not as a matter of course inform welfare

recipients of potential benefits, necessitating considerable research by claimants. So part of being

self-directed was challenging the structures that controlled the flow of information in their

communities and fighting for access to resources to improve their lives.

Fighting for the resources needed to conduct self-directed learning is, indeed, a political act that

challenges dominant power. As a learner, I may come to a clear analysis of the skills I need to

develop in order to do or learn something but be told repeatedly by those I approach for necessary

resources that, while my plans are good ones, the budget cuts that have just been forced on my

organization and community mean that priorities have changed, and my plans are now rendered

useless. If this is the case, then sooner or later I am bound to realize that the problem of blocked

access to resources is not just one of individual personalities (the myopic, anal-retentive,

bureaucratic administrator constantly trying to thwart me) but also one of structural constraints.

If I need the physical equipment for a self-directed learning effort I have planned, and I’m told by

those owning or controlling such equipment that it is unavailable to me for reasons of cost or

because of other prior claims, this immediately raises an awareness for me of who owns the

means of educational production. If I decide to initiate a self-directed learning project that

involves challenging the institutional hegemony of a professional group (for example, physicians

or lawyers), I may find that medical and legal experts and their professional organizations place

insurmountable barriers in my path in an effort to retain their position of authority. So being self-

directed can be inherently politicizing as learners become aware that the resources necessary to

conduct their learning projects successfully are differentially distributed across society and often

in the control of gatekeepers unwilling to relinquish their monopoly on information or facilities.

It may also be the case that I decide I want to learn something that I consider essential for my

own development, only to be told that the knowledge or skills involved are undesirable,

inappropriate, or subversive. A desire to explore an alternative political ideology is meaningless if

books exploring that ideology have been removed from the public library because of their

“unsuitability,” or, perhaps more likely, if they have never been ordered in the first place. In a

blaze of admirable masochism I may choose to undertake a self-directed learning project geared

towards widening my understanding of how my practice as an educator is unwittingly oppressive

and culturally distorted. Yet I may well find that the materials I need for this project are so

expensive that neither I, nor my local libraries, can afford to purchase them. In this regard it is

ironic—an example of Marcuse’s (1965) idea of repressive tolerance—that critical analyses of

adult education have their political impact effectively neutered by being hard to obtain from

publishers or priced well beyond the pockets of those who could most benefit from reading them.

Five Caveats

Lest I fall into the trap I identified at the beginning of the chapter of uncritically celebrating se

Related Posts