Imagine we are sitting together on my porch in the Smoky Mountains just talking. Here’s how I arrived at the creation of Certified Facilitator of Adult Learning and why I am offering the course to you now.
My Initial Training
I graduated from The Ohio State University as a physical therapist. After spending two years in clinical practice, I was asked to teach in a community college physical therapist assistant program. I had no teaching experience. And to this day I have no idea how the students that first year learned anything from me. I’d give a lecture, have a quick discussion, demonstrate a technique, and then give an exam. It was all about me. I prepared the lecture. I got the equipment ready for the demonstration. I made up the exams. My students had to sit and listen to me and then respond to my negative energy when they didn’t understand or do well on their exams.
One day several of my students, came into my office and asked me why I didn’t like them. Didn’t like them? Where did that come from? I didn’t understand and asked them how they got that idea. Their response changed my life. I realized that I was not teaching them, but talking at them and expected them to learn from what I said. (I later learned that retention rate 2 weeks after a lecture is only 5%.) When students did poorly on their exams I considered it their fault for not listening to me. I was putting stress and blame on them for my poor teaching style, which was not a style at all, just me trying to figure out how to teach.
I asked the students for their ideas, for what they thought would help them learn. And wow did they have them. They wanted field trips – to a rehab center to see how patients worked to build strength, to a hospital and even to observe a surgery. They wanted case studies to figure out what they could and could not do with certain patients. They wanted to be involved in the learning process. I am to this day grateful for the courage it took for those students to talk with me.
Second teaching position
Two years into teaching at the community college level I attended a workshop at a major university and during the workshop the Director of the Physical Therapy program asked me to join the faculty as an instructor. Here we go again – I had a bachelor’s degree, two years experience teaching, and I still didn’t really know how to teach. I took the position.
Best career decision I ever made. The director became my mentor. Bella was her name. During her doctoral studies, she worked with Malcom Knowles, the Father of Adult Learning and frequently brought him to campus for faculty workshops.
Bella J. May, EdD
Malcom Knowles, PhD
From Bella and Malcolm I learned that:
• Learning procedures by “show and tell” does not prepare students for a profession or career or job.
• Facts change. Procedures change. What prepares students for the future is learning how to think, solve problems, and apply critical thinking skills in different situations.
• Knowledge alone is not enough to be successful in any field.
• Developing attitudes and values are just as important as memorizing information.
• To be effective, teaching must be competency-based and learner-centered, not teacher-centered. It’s easy to prepare a lecture. It’s more difficult to write an objective that tells the learner specifically what they will be learning and design experiences so they can reach the objective.
I remember late-night faculty meetings where I would present learner-centered objectives for the next course I was going to teach and those objectives would be reviewed, modified, and eventually approved BEFORE I wrote the first lecture or planned the first learning experience. Objectives were so important to the curriculum that every course objective from every professor was reviewed by the entire faculty before being accepted for teaching.
Along came the meeting with Dr. W. Edwards Deming
Dr. W. Edwards Deming, the Father of Total
Quality Management was a statistician and business consultant. By the time I met Dr. Deming I had attained my Doctorate Degree in Adult Education from the University of Georgia and moved on from my faculty position to corporate training in local business, industries, and school systems. As a member of my city’s Chamber of Commerce, I attended several of Dr. Deming’s workshops and became highly involved in TQM (Total Quality Management) training in the city. Dr. Deming’s approach was about empowering the worker to participate in the work process. This approach integrated perfectly with adult learning. Education is all about empowering the learner to learn.
Then to Now
During the 1980 and 1990’s I traveled across the USA and Canada teaching college teachers and clinical therapists how to teach, and teaching trainers how to organize business and industry training based on Active Adult Learning. My husband and I moved to the Smoky Mountains and I brought the culmination of my experiences online as Certified Facilitator of Adult Learning course. Over the years I’ve been teaching teachers how to teach by helping them improve their courses through online study and personal feedback. My participants have ranged from Judges and Lawyers to Corporate Development Teams. From Nursing and Allied Health Educators to Girl Scout Leaders, from Math Teachers to Telecoms Trainers and from Hospice workers to Shamans. All have learned how to design their own unique training courses and workshops using adult learning techniques.
I hope I have piqued your interest and you continue to explore this website to see if CFAL is a fit for you. I’d love to work with you to create an exceptional learning experience for whoever you are teaching!
About Dr.Jill Henry
Jill Newman Henry, EdD
Educator | Author | Business Owner | Consultant
Contact Information:
Contact
Mission Statement
To explore, facilitate, and advance well-being in all aspects of living, teaching and learning.
Education
- Doctor of Education (EdD)
University of Georgia, Athens, GA - Master of Science in Health Education
Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA - Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy
The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Books
- 2022: WellBeing: Move into Energy Balance through Meditation, the Chakras, the Five Elements, and Feng Shui
- 2004: Energy SourceBook – The Fundamentals of Personal Energy (Llewellyn Worldwide, Minneapolis, MN)
- 1992: Total Quality Management Process Action Manual (Metro Augusta Quality Council, Metro Augusta Chamber of Commerce)
- 1982: Readings in Clinical Education: A Resource Manual for Clinical Instructors (Medical College of Georgia, Department of Physical Therapy)
Dissertation
- 1988: Development and Learning for Transformation: A Model Linking Lifelong Learning and Transpersonal Psychology
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Professional Experience
- Owner
Resources for Well Being and The Relaxation Station- Provided consultation in Total Quality Management to Augusta businesses and industries.
- Offered stress management and wellness consulting services to the Augusta community.
- Consultant
Richmond County School Systems Board of Education- Contributed to the development of the Five-Year Strategic Plan, “Training the Trainer.”
- Director of Advanced Graduate Studies in Physical Therapy
Medical College of Georgia- Managed and led advanced graduate studies in physical therapy.
- Promoted to Associate Professor and awarded academic tenure.
- Faculty Member
School of Graduate Studies, Medical College of Georgia- Taught in the School of Graduate Studies.
- Assistant Professor
Department of Physical Therapy, School of Allied Health Sciences, Medical College of Georgia- Instructed students and served as the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education.
- Assistant Chief, Physical Therapy Department
Eugene Talmadge Memorial Hospital, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA- Provided leadership and guidance within the physical therapy department.
- Contract Physical Therapist
Total Care Home Health Agency, Miami, FL- Delivered physical therapy services in a home health care setting.
- Instructor
Physical Therapy Assistant Program, Miami-Dade Community College, Medical Center Campus, Miami, FL- Educated students in the Physical Therapy Assistant Program.
- Staff Physical Therapist
Parkway General Hospital, North Miami Beach, FL- Served as Acting Assistant Supervisor and Acting Supervisor within the Physical Therapy Department.
Certifications
- Certified Associate Polarity Practitioner, APP
- Certified Facilitator of Adult Education, CFAL
Mountain Valley Center, Otto, NC
Publications
- Internal and External Feng Shui: The Energy of Wind and Water (Llewellyn Journal, 2004)
- Identifying and Resolving Student Clinical Performance Problems (Journal of Physical Therapy Education, 1988)
- Recognition of Job Experience for Educational Credit in Physical Therapy: A Challenge Process (Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association, 1987)
- Identifying Student Problems in Clinical and Problem Solving (Journal of American Physical Therapy Association, 1985)
- Using Feedback and Evaluation Effectively in Clinical Supervision (Journal of American Physical Therapy Association, 1985)
- Developing Competence in Problem Solving: A Behavioral Model (Physical Therapy, 1980)
- Competency-Based Education: Impact on Practice and Education (Physical Therapy Education Newsletter, 1980)
Presentations
- Polarity Therapy, The Five Elements and You – Mountain Light Network, Franklin, NC (2004)
- Stress Relief Clinics – Mountain Valley Center, Otto, NC (1997-2001)
- Stress Management – International Management Council, Augusta, GA (1993)
- A Model for Quality Training – Quality Fest ’93, Metro Augusta Quality Council, Augusta, GA (1993)
- Paradigms for Change – Quality Fest ’92, Metro Augusta Quality Council, Augusta, GA (1992)
Professional Responsibilities / Appointments / Elected Positions
- Board of Directors
American Polarity Therapy Association (1992-1993) - Vice President
Section for Education, American Physical Therapy Association (1987-1988) - Chairperson
Special Interest Group for Academic Coordinators of Clinical Education, Section for Education, American Physical Therapy Association (1979-1981)
Honors
- Chimes
Junior Woman’s Honorary, The Ohio State University - Outstanding Young Women of America
- Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities
Community Activities
- Wellness Council of North Carolina (2005-2006)
- Steering Committee
Metro Augusta Quality Council, Metro Augusta Chamber of Commerce (1994)
5 Steps in Dynamic Course Design
Sign up below for our newsletter and receive 5 sequential emails outlining the steps you can take right now to help your learners learn. They are the same steps you will use within CFAL to design your own course or workshop. Within CFAL are many more resources available to you, including one-on-one feedback from and collaboration with an adult learning expert.
