§is study examined the engagement of one teacher with the Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm (MALP) in community adult basic education ESL literacy programs and her development as she implemented this model in a community-based adult language and literacy program for Haitians. We adopt a qualitative methodology to study teacher practices consistent with this model, which is designed to transition learners with little, interrupted, or no formal education to Western-style formal education and literacy practices. We examine how, using MALP, the teacher was able to encourage active participation, develop a sense of community, and reduce the cultural dissonance (Ibarra, 2001) that students were experiencing. Our results describe how these practices led to increased engagement in and ownership of learning and greater self-con¹dence. We conclude the study with an examination of the diÀculties of doing research with immigrant adults in community-based organizations and a consideration of the importance of continuing to conduct such research despite the barriers.
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College ESL Quarterly
Low-literacy adult learners can struggle with language acquisition when they are unfamiliar with formal education. Culturally Responsive Teaching provides alternatives that involve teachers mutually accommodating students' experiences with education in their home countries and using students' "funds of knowledge" to create a curriculum that is learner-centered. In community centers, resettlement agencies and college ESL programs, the Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm provides a framework for reaching immigrants, refugees and asylee seekers with limited or interrupted formal education and low-literacy adults.
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This article reports on one teacher's journey, Nan's, as she struggled to provide appropriate instruction to low-literate day laborers in an English as a second language (ESL) class for adult learners. In her efforts to do so, Nan became inspired to implement alternative pedagogy based on a culturally responsive approach that resonated strongly with her professed educational and social justice beliefs. As researcher-practitioners, we were interested in exploring Nan's transformational journey during her graduate studies. The culturally responsive approach she was studying and attempting to implement is itself transformative in nature, providing an excellent opportunity to examine transformational learning both in the context of a novice ESL teacher and in the implementation of this approach. This case study provides important insights into how transformational learning theory sheds light on the struggles of one woman to achieve her twin goals of reaching a marginalized group of learners she cared deeply about and earning her master's
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