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From: Aaron Kohring <akohring@utk.edu>
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Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:3039] Fwd: Functional Context Education
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Hi All,
The following message is being forwarded for Tom Sticht, see below ~ Aaron
Kohring
>Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 16:38:32 -0700
>From: tsticht@znet.com
>Subject: Functional Context Education
>To: akohring@utk.edu, macorley1@earthlink.net, jataylor@utk.edu
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>
>September 28, 2005
>
>Introduction to Functional Context Education (FCE)
>Research-Based Principles and Case Studies
>
>Tom Sticht
>International Consultant in Adult Education
>
>Research on "contextualizing," "embedding," or "integrating" basic skills
>into content subject matter of relevance to adult learner's interests and
>goals was introduced as Functional Context Education (FCE) in lectures I
>presented in the United Kingdom in 1992 sponsored by the Basic Skills
>Agency (then known as the Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit-ALBSU).
>
>In 1997 and again in 1999 I gave a series of FCE workshops in several
>provinces of Canada. This month, the National Adult Literacy Database
>(NALD) reported that the 1997 report on "Functional Context Education
>(FCE): Making Learning Relevant", which I prepared to accompany the earlier
>FCE workshops, was among the most frequently downloaded reports on the NALD
>web site [http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/context/cover.htm] during August
>2005. From January 2005 through August, the FCE notebook has been
>downloaded 8,394 times.
>
>This year support for FCE principles can be found in the United Kingdom in
>reports of the
>
>Department for Education and Skills (DfES)
>(www.dfes.gov.uk/readwriteplus/embeddedlearning),
>
>National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE)
>(www.niace.org.uk/projects/LrningfromExperience/EBS/What-is-EBS.htm),
>
>National Research and Development Center (NRDC) for Adult Literacy &
>Numeracy (www.nrdc.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=600).
>
>All three of these organizations published reports on "embedded basic
>skills" which follow principles from FCE as introduced in a 1987 book by
>colleagues and myself called Cast-off Youth. This book presents a number of
>quasi-experimental studies in vocational training and adult literacy
>education which formed the research base from which principles for FCE were
>induced.
>
>What is Functional Context Education (FCE)?
>
>Functional Context Education is an approach to education that is based upon
>a cognitive science theory of cognitive development, learning, and
>instruction. The theoretical framework and the principles for applying this
>framework to the task of instructional development are discussed in the 1997
>notebook.
>
>Literacy is given special attention in FCE because of its importance to all
>schooling and instruction in our information age. A general thesis is that
>the idea that literacy is something one must "get" in one program, which is
>then "applied" in another is misleading. Rather, it is argued that literacy
>is developed while it is being applied. This means that for the large
>numbers of youth and adults who read between the fifth and ninth grade
>levels, literacy and content skills education can be integrated. Therefore
>there is no need for special "remedial" literacy programs to get students to
>"prerequisite" levels of literacy before they are permitted to study the
>"real thing."
>
>In overview, education based on functional context theory includes the
>following conceptual framework:
>
>oSociety and culture provide the most important resources for human
>cognitive development. These resources include symbols and symbol systems,
>such as the natural language and conceptual (in contrast to perceptual)
>knowledge, which constitute the primary means for the transmission of
>cognitive abilities.
>
>oThe learner possesses a "human cognitive system" with an internal knowledge
>base "inside the head" and access to an external knowledge base in the world
>"outside the head." The learner has a working, or short term memory in
>which processing skills such as language are used to move information in
>and out of both the internal and external knowledge bases.
>
>oLearning is information processing whereby the learner actively seeks out
>information used in constructing a meaningful interpretation of the world
>and a knowledge base comprised of these interpretations.
>
>oA developmental perspective of literacy emphasizing the development of oral
>language from earlier prelinguistic knowledge and literacy as the amalgam of
>prelinguistic, linguistic and graphic symbolic knowledge.
>
>oThe importance of context in learning new information and in transferring
>information already learned to new and different problems and situations.
>
>The application of this theoretical framework to the instructional
>development process suggests creating courses that facilitate learning on
>entry into the course, learning throughout the course, and transfer into
>the contexts for which the learning is meant to apply. To accomplish these
>objectives, courses should be developed that:
>
>oExplain what the students are to learn and why in such a way that they can
>always understand both the immediate and long term usefulness of the course
>content (facilitates entry into the course; motivates learning).
>
>oConsider the old knowledge that students bring with them to the course, and
>build new knowledge on the basis of this old knowledge (facilitates entry
>learning)
>
>oSequence each new lesson so that it builds on prior knowledge gained in the
>previous lessons (facilitates in-course learning).
>
>oIntegrate instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, and problem solving
>into academic or technical training programs as the content of the course
>poses requirements for information processing using these skills that many
>potential students may not possess; avoid decontextualized basic skills
>"remedial" programs (facilitates in-course learning; motivates basic skills
>learning; reduces instruction time; develops "learning to learn" ability ).
>
>oDerive objectives from careful analysis of the explicit and tacit knowledge
>and skill needed in the home, community, academic, technical training, or
>employment context for which the learner is preparing (facilitates
>transfer).
>
>oUse, to the extent possible, learning contexts, tasks, materials, and
>procedures taken from the future situation in which the learner will be
>functioning (facilitates transfer).
>
>Why is FCE important for youth and adult education?
>
>Unlike children, who tend to do things to please their parents or teachers,
>youth and adults will usually want to understand the functional utility of
>investing time and mental energy in learning something. With respect to
>out-of-school youth and adults then, FCE focuses on improving
>
>(1) Participation in adult education programs by making explicit the
>relationship between what students want to learn, what is being taught and
>its application in the contexts that the person will be functioning in after
>the educational program, this promotes increased motivation;
>
>(2) Achievement in learning and transfer by ensuring that instruction
>relates to the learner's prior knowledge in such a way that the learner can
>function within the learning situation and improving transfer by deriving
>instructional contents as much as possible from the future contexts in
>which the person will apply the learning, and
>
>(3) Prevention of learning problems in future generations by designing
>youth and adult programs that maximize the intergenerational transfer of
>the adults' new skills and attitudes about education to their children.
>
>A New Workshop and Notebook
>
>The 1997 FCE notebook elaborates upon the principles summarized above and
>illustrates the application of these principles in case studies of programs
>for adults, including family literacy programs with a focus upon women's
>education that can provide an intergenerational transfer of language and
>literacy skills to their children.
>
>A new workshop is being offered from October 2005 through June 2006. This
>workshop, "Functional Context Education: Making Learning Relevant for the
>21st Century", brings the previous workshop up to date in treating topics
>such as globalization, sustainable development, internet web sites, health
>literacy, and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). In addition
>to an extensive historical review of adult literacy that illustrates the
>use of FCE principles, the new workshop includes three case studies with
>quasi-experimental designs having both treatment and comparison groups and
>quantitative data from pre- post-testing. Such research cases are extremely
>rare in adult basic skills education and the fact that there are three of
>such evidence-based studies supporting FCE adds to the unique features and
>use validity of Functional Context Education.
>
>Thomas G. Sticht
>International Consultant in Adult Education
>2062 Valley View Blvd.
>El Cajon, CA 92019-2059
>Tel/fax: (619) 444-9133
>Email: tsticht@aznet.net
Aaron Kohring
Coordinator, LINCS Literacy & Learning Disabilities Special Collection
Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee
EFF Center for Training and Technical Assistance
Phone:(865) 974-4109 main
(865) 974-4258 direct
Fax: (865) 974-3857
e-mail: akohring@utk.edu
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