Previous Academic History

The goal here is to develop a clear picture from the adult's point of view as to his or her school experience: likes and dislikes about school, plus strengths and weaknesses in subjects. Are the strengths or weaknesses in language-based subjects or in the practical subjects such as auto mechanics, woodworking, or welding?

Encourage the learner to give details in his or her answers, especially to those answers that indicate some problem or difficulty. If discussing high school, try to determine if he or she was in an academic program, leading to college or university, one leading to further technical training, or one leading to the workforce. Often the program gives some indication of the student's abilities, at least as seen by the school system.

It is helpful to know if the learner was previously diagnosed with some type of learning disability and if the school system made any accommodations for it. It is also helpful to know if the adult has developed any strategies to deal with difficulties in his learning. Does the adult feel that the problems have kept him from doing well in school, or in the workplace?

When considering difficulties the learner had in school, you must differentiate between those caused by low intellectual ability and those caused by a learning disability. Generally, an adult with low ability will report a wide variety of problems in terms of schooling. On the other hand, an adult with learning disabilities will usually report strengths AND areas of need in his or her learning and levels of achievement. You will see the evidence of this in uneven learner performance and school marks.

George did obtain his Grade 12 general, however he indicated that he always found English and math word problems a struggle. He enjoyed and did well in courses where he was able to work with his hands and which allowed him to demonstrate his knowledge verbally. George reported that he did get some special help with his schooling through Grades 1-3 but no support anytime after.