Bulk Buying Club Best Practices Toolkit - The Food Security Network ...

Appendix C: Basic Adult Education Principles
If instructing bulk buying club participants about food safety and nutrition is
going to be part of your group‟s focus, keep in mind the ways that your group
members learn. The foundation of adult education is the belief that all
individuals are unique in their experiences, knowledge, views, abilities, skills and
talents. Each individual learns in a unique way; this uniqueness is an opportunity
for sharing and growth. Keep these key adult education principles in mind as
you plan, facilitate, and evaluate education sessions:
Involve learners in all aspects of the process
Ask people about their education needs and how they learn best. You can
determine their needs formally through a needs assessment or informally through
dialogue with an individual or a group. Needs assessments can be especially
useful for long-term planning or large projects.
Let everyone be a learner and a teacher
Everyone has something special to contribute to a one-on-one teaching session
or to a group. Some individuals may ask questions, others may be able to
provide answers to questions; everyone has experiences which they may be
willing to share. Even in a one-on-one situation, both individuals involved can be
both learners and teachers. The educator can walk away from the experience
richer in knowledge as can the person who is seeking the education.
Create a learning environment
Most people need to be comfortable to participate and to share thoughts and
experiences. It is important to create a learning environment in which everyone
feels respected. In addition, it is essential that all learners have the opportunity
to participate as they feel comfortable.
In a one-on-one situation, good listening skills and a sincere interest to engage
the learner are critical. In a group setting, the environment can be created
subtly by the educator setting his or her own example, or it can be created
formally by asking the group to identify what is the ideal learning environment
for them. One way of doing this is to ask the group to define group participation
guidelines. This is a helpful way to create a culture of respect that does not
require a great deal of input from the educator, except to facilitate the
discussion.
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