Overview
This session highlights what the field of TESOL has been discovering as it grapples with the need to improve learner persistence. You will review research in varied contexts and consider how it applies to ESOL instruction, and look for the patterns in our own experiences as educators. You will also try persistence-building activities that you can use in your classroom. The workshop leader will provide you with a self-assessment tool to identify strategies that would work in your own program contexts.
Who Should Attend?
Teachers of adult learners
What Will I Learn?
In this workshop you will
- consider the key findings of current research
- compare research to your own experiences
- discuss ESL-specific factors affecting persistence
- experience and evaluate a variety of specific persistence-building strategies
- use self-assessment tools to identify and prioritize strategies that would work in your own programs
- develop a plan for implementing at least one strategy
About the Workshop Leader
Andy Nash coordinates professional development projects at
World Education. She has been a teacher and professional developer for almost 30 years, specializing in ESOL, learner persistence, civic participation, and standards-based instruction. In 2008, she directed the
New England Learner Persistence Project.