EXPERIENCES WORKING WITH ADULT LEARNERS

A handbook outlining approaches to adult education.

Emeritus Professor of Clarion University of Pennsylvania Murphy opens her brief book of tactics for working with adult learners by briefly mentioning some of the stark statistics about literacy in the United States: 54% of adults have literacy below the sixth gradelevel, and one 2013 study revealed that 66% of fourth grade students couldn’t read proficiently. A full 21% of American adults are illiterate, and, as the author points out, these adults experience social pressures preliterate schoolchildren don’t: “Often,” she writes, “adults experience shame and inadequacy at not having learned to read earlier and lose self-confidence.” In short chapters filled with illustrated exercises focused on sparking adult learners’ motivation (“a key component for reading” for older students), Murphy advocates such approaches as journaling in timed bursts, working off newspaper prompts, and even doing Mad Libs to help with both comprehension and proficiency. Regarding writing, strategies like RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) are suggested to help adult learners understand their roles as writers. Other approaches are more basic, like instilling confidence by asking students to read the same passage out loud repeatedly to help them master the flow of the words. As evidenced by these and all of her other suggestions, Murphy has distilled a vast amount of experience into a handful of intensely useful pages. She switches out approaches (communal or solitary) and adds visual prompts with a carefully modulated variety that’s stimulating without being condescending. Educators at many different levels will find this collection of exercises and strategies invaluable for keeping their approaches efficient and varied enough to engage virtually any adult learner. The text’s references are extensive, and all explanations are clearly laid out.

A concise and very accessible guide to helping adults improve their reading.