Learning Portfolio Essay

Student: Ana Kolasinski

EHRD 630

Professor: Dr. Debra Hargrove

April 23, 2017



Portfolio Essay for Adult Learning Course (EHRD 630)

Abstract

This paper will discuss the intellectual, emotional and spiritual growth I experienced

during the online class EHRD-630 Adult Learning. The objective is to describe, critically

reflect upon and analyze my experience of learning about Adult Learning. While taking part in

this project I noticed that my adult learning experience took place in two different contexts: a

personal and a group context. Thus I will start by describing the learning processes I followed

both personally and within a group. I will then critically reflect upon each learning processes and

provide my analysis and reflections vis--vis theory and research on adult learning. Finally, I will

summarize my key findings.

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Introduction

To guide my analysis of who I am as an individual, how Ive worked successfully in a

team environment, how Ive analyzed and understood the required course readings and how Ive

demonstrated effective communication practices throughout the semester, I will respond to the

following questions throughout this paper:

1. What learning processes did I follow as an individual in the context of this online course?

2. What learning processes did I follow as an individual within the context of group

meetings taking place via the Google Hangout environment?

3. What are my critical reflections on both the personal and group learning contexts?

4. How can I link the critical reflections about my personal and group learning processes to

theory and research on adult learning?

Method

As a team, we decided to hold our Weekly Reading Discussion Meetings on Mondays

from 8:00 9:00 PM via Google+ Hangouts. We held our meetings starting on Monday January

29th and through Monday April 3rd. Prior to our weekly discussions, team members were

responsible for completing the assigned readings on their own. Further, members were expected

to fulfill their assigned Reading and Reflection Role during our Weekly Reading Discussion

Meetings (see Appendix 1 for Role Assignments). To prepare for my assigned Reading and

Reflection Role, I first reflected upon the weekly readings and then selected the specific topics,

concepts, definitions or passages from the readings that I thought were most relevant. I then

proceeded to tie them to the Reading & Reflection roles. During our weekly meetings I added

notes to my individual role sheets as needed. Further, after each session, I reflected upon the

content of our discussion and created a blog entry at: www.weebly.com to document each of my

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weekly Reading and Reflection Roles. Through these procedures, I was able to complete my

adult learning analysis and reflections in an effective way.

Intellectual Growth

Personal Learning Process

My personal intellectual growth took place as I engaged in the weekly readings and

further reflected upon their content. During the course I learned about the characteristics of the

Social Context of Adult Learning, the Adult Learning Environment, the Characteristics of Adult

Learners, the Concept of Andragogy, Self-Directed and Other Learning Theories,

Transformative Learning, Learning in the Workplace, Adult and Cognitive Development,

Intelligence as it relates to Aging, Memory and the Brain and Non-Western Perspectives on

Learning and Knowing. As the knowledge mentioned above was brought into my awareness by

completing the weekly readings, I tied these new concepts to my own lived experiences as a

graduate student and as an experienced accounting professional. In doing so, I engaged in an

exercise of self-examination that subsequently led me to: a) the creation of self-knowledge about

who I am as an Adult Learner, b) how I can generate higher order learning by analyzing the

content of the readings and c) how I created Transformative Learning by means of completing

the following written assignments: Best and Worst Learning Experiences and my Learning

Analysis of a new activity.

Learning Process within the Group

By participating in the Weekly Reading Discussion Meetings I learned from the different

viewpoints of my team members as depicted by the various roles each of us assumed (see

Appendix 1). Participating in the 1-hour long team discussions also allowed me to enhance my

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communication and organization skills as well as recognize the importance of reflection in co-

creating transformative learning.

Critical Reflections

Before participating in this class I would see myself as a doer that would engage in the

learning process but would rarely stop to analyze and understand how the learning process took

place. Never before during my Adult Life had I taken the time to analyze my Best and Worst

Learning Experiences and reflect on them, nor had I ever analyzed the learning process I follow

to learn a new activity under the light of Adult Learning Theory. Both of the assignments

mentioned above, and which I completed on an individual basis, allowed me to first engage in

experiential learning and then understand how my learning took place. This understanding

resulted from critically analyzing, organizing, evaluating and writing about my Best and Worst

Learning Experiences and the Learning Process I followed to learn the practice of Hot Yoga.

Further, I found that my participation in the Weekly Reading Discussion Meetings also

allowed me to grow intellectually. By sharing our perspectives on each of our assigned Weekly

Reading and Reflection Roles during our team meetings, we were able to approach concepts

from multiple angles and co-create meaning as we engaged in and reflected upon each of the

Adult Learning concepts analyzed. Moreover, this experience allowed me to be Self-Directed as

to making sure I completed the readings on a timely basis and further deciding which important

concepts to include within each Weekly Reading and Reflection sheets for our team discussion.

By participating in the weekly conference calls via Google+ Hangouts I also enhanced my

organizational and verbal communication skills. As a member of the team I took turns presenting

my weekly role and allowed other members of the team an opportunity to talk.

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Learning process vis--vis theory and research on adult learning

I experienced Kolbs (1984) concrete experience by being open and willing to involve

myself in a new experience of a) analyzing my Best and Worst Learning Experiences and b)

learning the practice of Hot Yoga. Per Kolbs learning styles, I realized through self-reflection

that Im an Accomodator learner because I look for significance in the learning experience and

consider what I can do and what others have done previously. Further, I realized that Albert

Banduras (1976, p. 392) triadic reciprocity social cognitive model applied to my individual

learning experience because the learning environment impacted the effectiveness of my

cognitive development as well as my behavior.

In preparing to participate in the Weekly Reading Discussion Meetings I engaged in self-

directed learning (Schugurensky, 2000). According to Knowles (1980, p. 43) one of the four

major tenets of andragogy is that mature adults have a deep psychological need to be generally

self-directing. Self-directed learning, for example, is the intentional and conscious attempt, to

learn and it does not necessarily mean learning alone (Brockett, 1994). Moreover, as part of my

self-directed learning pursuits, I engaged in informal online learning by accessing various

studies, book content and articles that I used in order to prepare for the Reading & Reflection

Roles I assumed on a weekly basis.

Per the Constructivist Learning Theory, together with the team we proceeded to reflect on

our concrete roles as they related to the learning experiences (Fenwick, 2003, p.22) and thus

constructed new knowledge as a result of these reflections. Under the social constructivist

view (Driver et al., 1994, p.7), we constructed knowledge by engaging socially in talk and

activity about shared problems and tasks. Learning through this theory is seen as an active

endeavor in which one learns through engaging, incorporating, and critically exploring the

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views of others, and new possibilities of interpretation are opened through the interaction

(Gergen, 1995, p. 34). Through engagement in critical reflection within our meetings, I was able

to engage in problem posing and dialogue with my team members (Freire, 2000) and together we

created Transformative Learning (Mezirow, 2000).

Emotional Growth

Personal Learning Process

While completing the reading required for this course I realized that my learning was

definitely impacted by how I felt about the topic I was learning about. For example, when I was

able to relate to the topic under study I felt more engaged and excited about completing the

reading. When I found that I couldnt relate to the reading, I had to figure out ways of connecting

to it at an emotional level, such as viewing You Tube videos that explained the topic.

Learning Process within the Group

Each of our Weekly Reading Discussion Meetings had an Emotional tone attached to it.

For example, when I played the role of the 10th Man I felt that I triggered emotions of apathy

towards the topic of study. Conversely, when I played the Engineer role, I created awareness

about how the current topic related to topics studied in past meetings. These experiences helped

me to construct meaning and experience emotional growth.

Critical Reflections

After stepping back and deeply reflecting on my personal and group learning experiences

throughout this course I realize an intense transformation took place in connection to how I view

myself as an Adult Learner and as a professional. This transformation was the result of being

able to deeply reflect about the connection between the Adult Learning literature analyzed during

the course as it relates to my prior professional and personal experiences. The inter-

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connectedness mentioned above wouldnt have been possible without our group team meeting

interactions and the reflection that took place before, during and after the occurrence of these.

These critical reflection exercises have allowed me to increase my emotional confidence and will

prove very valuable as I start a career as Lecturer in Accounting.

Learning process vis--vis theory and research on adult learning

Emotion plays a critical role in the construction of meaning and knowledge of the self in

the adult learning process (Dirkx, 2001). When they enter the cognitive system, emotions alter

thought patterns and thus affect how adults learn (Opengart, 2005). Emotion is the framework

adults use to make meaning, allowing for the expression of personal values as well as an

understanding of surrounding cultural meaning systems (Lutz, 1998). Emotion refers to the self,

and understanding its dynamics allows for the development of self-knowledge. By reflecting

upon it and understanding the emotional effect of my lived individual and group learning

experiences, Im able to experience Transformative Learning (Mezirow, 2000). Transformative

Learning, says Mezirow, is the process by which we transform our taken-for-granted frames of

reference to make them more inclusive, discriminating, open, emotionally capable of change, and

reflective so that they may generate beliefs and opinions that will prove more true or justified to

guide action (Mezirow, 2000, p.8).

Spiritual Growth

Personal Learning Process

While completing the readings required for this course I analyzed their content in an

effort to makes sense of the newly acquired knowledge. To facilitate the latter effort, I examined

my own stance to the topic and further visualized how that content would fit in my life under the

light of my own spiritual self.

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Learning Process within the Group

In every single Weekly Reading and Reflection meeting in which I participated

throughout this course, we engaged in dialogue that was respectful and non-judgmental. Our

team-efforts created the space for Transformative Learning to occur. As a member of our

Google+ Hangout community of learning, I connected with each of my team members at a

spiritual level by bringing my own spiritual-self to the meeting each week.

Critical Reflections

Our community of learning via Google+ Hangouts created the space that encouraged and

promoted our spiritual development of all members. Through our inter-personal connections and

exchanges, we had a unique opportunity to bring our spiritual selves with the team. On a

personal level, by deriving meaning from the newly acquired knowledge, I was able to

experience spiritual development.

Learning process vis--vis theory and research on adult learning

Tisdell (2003) posits that: spirituality is fundamentally about how we make meaning

in our lives through conscious and unconscious processes (p. 31). Tisdell (2003) names several

factors that foster spiritual-cultural transformative learning. In my case, as a self-directed

student, I brought my authentic and open self to the course, and that is how I set the right

environment that allowed transformative learning to occur individually and as a member of a

team.

Per Vella (2000), for moments of spiritual learning to occur there must be a safe space

that allows dialogue, respect and accountability. Within our group team meetings, we engaged in

dialogue where each of us listened to the others experiences without judgment, and each of us

was accountable for supporting and challenging the learning of our team members. The

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spontaneous and fluid nature of spirituality requires a space where it can happen. During our

weekly team meetings we fostered spirituality among each other through the use of storytelling

and visualization. We were able to have interpersonal connections and exchanges among people

that encourage and promote their spiritual development (English, 2000). Through our team

dialogue, discussions and sharing of knowledge we were part of a community of learning

where we each had the opportunity to connect with others and allow spiritual growth to take

place.

Conclusion

The preparation of this Portfolio Essay allowed me to reflect upon the Intellectual,

Emotional and Spiritual Growth that resulted from my participation in the online Adult Learning

Class (EHRD 630). I found that the exercise of critical reflection was a powerful mechanism

behind my learning outcomes for this course and confirming the words of American philosopher,

psychologist, and educational reformer John Dewey (1933): We do not learn from experience.

We learn from reflecting on experience. As a result of my self-reflection I realize that an intense

transformation took place within me in connection to how I view myself as an Adult Learner and

as a professional. This awareness has made me be confident in my ability to become a successful

Lecturer in the area of Accounting.

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References

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Albert
Bandura. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, [1986].

Hiemstra, R., & Brockett, R. G. (1994). Overcoming resistance to self-direction in adult learning.
Roger Hiemstra, Ralph G. Brockett, editors. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass, [1994].

Dewey J. (1933). How We Think. Boston, MA: D. C. Heath and Co, [1933]

Dirkx, J. M. (2001). The Power of Feelings: Emotion, Imagination, and the Construction of
Meaning in Adult Learning. New Directions For Adult & Continuing
Education, 2001 (89), 63.

Driver, R., Asoko, H., Leach, J., Mortimer, E., & Scott, P. (1994). Constructing Scientific
Knowledge in the Classroom. Educational Researcher, 1994 (7) 5.

English, L. M., Gillen, M. A., & Imel, S. (2000). Addressing the spiritual dimensions of adult
learning : what educators can do. Leona M. English, Marie A. Gillen, editors: Susan Imel,
editor-in-chief. San Francisco : Jossey Bass, [2000].

Fenwick, T. (2003) Learning through experience: Troubling orthodoxies and intersecting

questions. (p.22) Malabar, FL: Krieger, [2003].

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. 30th anniversary ed. Paulo Freire ; translated by
Myra Bergman Ramos ; with an introduction by Donald Macedo. New York :
Continuum, [2000].

Gergen, K.J. (1995) Social construction and the educational process. In L.P. Steffe & J. Gale
(Eds.), Constructivism in education (p. 34). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, [1995].

Knowles, M. S. (1980). The modern practice of adult education ; andragogy versus pedagogy.
(2nd Edition) by Malcolm S. Knowles. New York : Association Press, [1980].

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning : experience as the source of learning and

development. David A. Kolb. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, [1984].

Lutz, C. (1998). Unnatural emotions: Everyday sentiments on a micronesian atoll and

their challenges to western theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1998]

Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning as transformation : critical perspectives on a theory in progress. 1st

ed. Jack Mezirow and Associates. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass, [2000].

Opengart, R. (2005). Emotional Intelligence and Emotion Work: Examining Constructs from an
Interdisciplinary Framework. Human Resource Development Review, 4(1), 49-62.

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Schugurensky, D. (2000) The forms of informal learning towards a conceptualization of the

field. NALL working paper #19-2000. http://www.nall.ca/res/19formsofinformal.htm.

Tisdell, E. J. (2003). Exploring Spirituality and Culture in Adult and Higher Education. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass [2003].

Addressing the spiritual dimensions of adult learning: what educators can do /. (2000). New
Directions for Adult & Continuing Education, (85), 7-91.

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Appendices

Appendice 1 Roles assigned to each team member for Weekly Reading and Reflection
Meetings

Wk Ringleader Engineer Debriefer 10th Man Highlighter Wordsmith Artist

2 FREE WEEK
3 Alejandra Matthew Mark Ana Benjamin Robert Alejandra
4 Robert Alejandra Matthew Mark Ana Benjamin Robert
5 Benjamin Robert Alejandra Matthew Mark Ana Benjamin
6 Ana Benjamin Robert Alejandra Matthew Mark Ana
7 Mark Ana Benjamin Robert Alejandra Matthew Mark
8 Matthew Mark Ana Benjamin Robert Alejandra Matthew
9 SPRING BREAK: FREE WEEK
10 Robert Alejandra Matthew Mark Ana Benjamin Robert
11 Benjamin Robert Alejandra Matthew Mark Ana Benjamin
12 FREE WEEK
13 FREE WEEK
14 PORTFOLIO DUE

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