Hello Kim,

On Wednesday, November 10, 2004, at 11:13  PM, you wrote:


> Last week I asked you about your thoughts on involving learners as 

> part of the program improvement team.  I've been talking about this 

> over the last several days with co-workers and other colleagues 

> interested in pi.  One co-worker noted that it's most important for 

> the learner/customer experience to be valued as part of the whole 

> program improvement process.  And that if the learner was to 

> participate as part of a program improvement team, that the program 

> supervisors/directors should first be very clear about the overall 

> program issues and goals and make them transparent.

>

> In thinking about this same issue, another colleague shared these 

> thoughts: "Program improvement efforts might very well benefit from 

> students' involvement and vice versa. I don't know. Until now, I've 

> seen students as primary beneficiaries of program improvement efforts 

> but not as participants in the process. I think a student's main 

> responsibility is to learn.  If being involved as part of a program 

> improvement team helps support that, then I think it's a good idea. 

> (Whether it's practical or not.) However, I think it's a good idea 

> only if the student's involvement is integral to their learning 

> plans/goals. As a student or a teacher, with the motivation, I would 

> see my work on the program improvement team and in the classroom as 

> one, or as relative parts contributing to a coherent whole. It's 

> critical for learners to be involved in their own learning processes 

> but not in their program's improvement process."


I agree that some adult learners are only interested in 
narrowly-defined education goals (learn English, get a GED, learn to 
read the Bible, improve the numeracy skills needed for work, etc.)  
Some, however, when offered the opportunity, do want to be involved in 
program improvement or other roles in their program (board membership, 
recruitment, serving on student councils, being involved in 
program-sponsored community projects et. al. ) and they benefit from 
this involvement as well as helping the program.  The sense of 
community with other learners and staff, for example, may be the reason 
some students persist in the program even when they have difficult 
obstacles to overcome.

Offer an opportunity to participate in program improvement for those 
students who want to try it. Those who aren't interested will decline.

David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net