Reflection on learning project component

I modified my project somewhat from my original idea in my draft instructional objectives.  The topic has not changed but it has been narrowed.  I would now like to focus the staff training on in person communication with non-native English speaking patrons.  This will be one in a series of trainings offered surrounding the larger them of library services to multicultural populations. 

The focus of this and all the trainings in the series will be fostering an understanding of the various needs of the library’s diverse patrons and how to best meet those needs.  One of the things I am struggling with here is that my plan for instruction is more like a plan for discussion.  I think this kind of topic is best approached as a less structured meeting where ideas and experiences are shared by all participants.  There are certainly lots of tips and advice that can be given to help staff members in communicating with a non-native English speaking patron but I think it will be more important to try and build empathy and understanding for the patrons.  So, my “plan for instruction” is more like a series of prompts for discussion and I’m wondering if I need to have a little more structure?

6 comments on “Reflection on learning project component

  1. nonichol says:

    I would recommend that you create some activities for your participants to break up the periods of discussion. These activities will help your participants apply what you are discussing to themselves so that they can think of ways that they can foster multiculturalism that best fit their skills. You could do some role play or create some scenarios that they could work through in groups. Great job so far though!

    • Amy Snyder says:

      I like the idea of giving the group scenarios to work through. That would give the discussion some direct application to how it could be used in everyday situations. If your audience is the library staff, I would think a semi-structured discussion, with someone “moderating” so to speak, could work really well.

      Do you know yet what you want to do for your content collection?

  2. TrinaAbounds says:

    A needed discussion – I like the topic. Will it “broadly cover” multicultural populations? Or, are there particular communities that you’ll focus on, dependent upon the library for which you’re doing the training – or is it across several libraries? I think you can add more structure if you view the discussion prompts as topics. What is the key material to cover as part of the topic? I think you can also add structure by specifying the needs of the non-native speakers which the training address.

  3. I think that a discussion is an appropriate way to begin a professional development experience on this topic. Building community and trust, and providing a chance to put forth and consider everyone’s expectations for learning will probably foster better interactions in the sessions to follow. through discussion, you may encourage participants to share their stories about serving patrons, or maybe issues or questions they have encountered, which may serve as good “cases” for discussion and application of content throughout your series.

  4. srklawit says:

    Sometimes if you have too much structure, you lose great dialog among the participants and great questions. Perhaps give your prompts a look at the clock note for the purpose of ensuring you are getting through all of the topics. This will give you an idea when you should move forward to the next prompt without being too restrictive.

  5. TrinaAbounds says:

    Sorry, I had to go back to read your original post of your draft. I think you can certainly create structure around this objective – Staff will learn how to find and gather free online resources for English language learners and how to make these resources available to patrons. Maybe a training maybe on content curation of free online resources for English language learners. Again, I really like the topic. I think if you make it a little more specific, your structure will follow.

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