Comings, John. Parrella, Andrea. & Soricone, Lisa. (2000)Helping Adults Persist: Four Supports. Focus on Basics 4 A. http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~ncsall/fob/2000/comings.html

The National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy is conducting a study on learner persistence. When the third phase is completed in 2006, NCSALL will be able to provide research-tested advice to programs and policy makers on how to help adult students persist in learning. In the meantime, Comings et al. have identified four supports to persistence. The first support is awareness and management of the positive and negative forces that help and hinder persistence. The second is self-efficacy. The third support is the establishment of a goal by the student and the final one is progress toward reaching a goal.

Empowering Students. (2002). ABEBC Conference Prince George, BC. http://www.nald.ca/PROVINCE/BC/abe/empower/empower.pdf

This inspiring and insightful speech given at an ABE conference in British Columbia describes some basic principles that promote learners’ confidence and increase their feeling of empowerment. An empowered learner is a motivated learner. The unnamed speaker points out that the developmental conditions that lead to feelings of empowerment include “emotional nurturance, respect, real challenges to students’ thinking and opportunities for risk taking in learning without penalty of failure”. The speaker feels that teachers play a pivotal role in empowering students: “I would never underestimate the power of a teacher to breathe new life into students and to empower them for the rest of their lives”.

Giese, Marti. (2000). Look BeforeYou Leap: Helping prospective learners make informed educational choices. Focus on Basics 4 A. http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~ncsall/fob/2000/giese.html

Giesse, a literacy practitioner in Virginia, has noticed that mismatches often occur between adult learners and the programs they choose to enrol in. As a result, learners lose motivation and often drop out. She believes that adult learners need to become more active in their decision making about their education. In this article she describes the results of a small-scale project where adult learners were put into groups and allowed to discover the information they needed to make a more informed decision.