Describing learners

Hi everyone and welcome to another entry😊

We've reached the end of second register and for the last topic we learned about the characteristics of learners and how we can classify them or describe them.

If I am being honest, I have never pictured myself as a teacher, therefore when teacher Orlando asked "How would you describe your learners?" I was not sure what to answer.

He then explained that they can be described according to their: Age, learning differences, language levels and their motivation. And it is true, in a classroom not everyone has to be alike or have many things in common, they all have something different which is what makes a classroom so special.

You can have students from all ages, starting from young children, to teens and to adults and even the elderly ones who might like to learn something new to improve their mental health whch is great! I personally think that working with young children can be challenging since they might get distracted easily and they need individual attention, however some people seem to love working with children, you can make them learn something and they might not even realize they are learning or might not be able to understand it. Working with teens can also be challenging since they can be going through changes but they are known to defend their teacher when they develop a strong bond with them also known as rapport. And then we have adults who are known to be more disciplined and they have many more expectations from their learning since they are the ones who are paying for their own education, they also have much more experience in different areas since they have developed personal growth.

Now, if we describe learners according to their differences we have the Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles, which is something I've previously addressed on my blog. Students can have different abilities that make them good at many different areas and they have different ways of learning which is what works best for them.

Learnes can also be classified by their language levels, in the English language they can be classified according to the levels the Common European Framework provides. They go from basic: A1, A2; intermediate B1, B1; and the advanced level, C1, C2. This is a very important aspect to take into account, the class for learnes in the A1 level will of course not be the same as the learners in the C2 level. They all have different skills that they develop through time.

And last but not least, we have the motivation. This is what has brought each student to learn, what has motivated them and it can all vary from their goals, what they expect to achieve or what they want to become, also the people they have been influenced by, what the society expects from them or what they think they have to do to satisfy society and some might be learning something new just out of curiosity.

These are all the aspects that shape a learner, and as I was explaining, a classroom is so special since everyone has different goals, types of learning and different abilities, these are just some of the aspects we can take into account when describing our learners.

Thank you so much for reading and stay tuned for the next entry after midterms!👋