Int Rev Educ (2016) 62:827–829
DOI 10.1007/s11159-016-9579-0
BOOK REVIEW
How to teach adults: Plan your class, teach your students,
change the world
By Dan Spalding. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, 2014, 256 pp. Higher and
Adult Education series. ISBN 978-1-118-84136-5 (hbk), ISBN 978-1-118-
84128-0 (e-book)
Daniel H. Jarvis1
Published online: 7 July 2016
Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning 2016
Originally published in 2013, this expanded edition of Dan Spalding’s How to teach
adults: Plan your class, teach your students, change the world forms part of the
Jossey-Bass ‘‘Higher and Adult Education’’ series.
The book begins with a chapter focusing on the foundations of teaching, in which
Spalding introduces his main premise that students learn best when they feel safe,
yet also are ‘‘uncomfortable’’. In other words, they are being gently pushed to
intellectual spaces which are beyond their ‘‘comfort zone’’ in order to raise
awareness of their own biases and to stimulate new learning. Among the 15 sub-
section titles within this first chapter which provide intriguing insights into the
practice of teaching are the following:
• Your job is to help students learn;
• Teach for transfer (not for tests);
• Cultivate intrinsic motivation;
• Learning is hard work;
• Everything in education is contested (especially the stuff that is obviously true);
and
• You want to be a great teacher (it’s as important for you as it is for your
students).
The next seven chapters of the book provide guidance and examples for the new or
experienced teacher in the following key areas: how to get started teaching
(chapter 2), how to design your courses (chapter 3), how to plan lessons (chapter 4),
how to assess and evaluate student work (chapter 5), how to manage your class
(chapter 6), how to present information (chapter 7), and how to develop your teacher
persona (chapter 8). Chapter 9 discusses teacher professional development and
& Daniel H. Jarvis
[email protected]1
Schulich School of Education, Nipissing University, North Bay, ON, Canada
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growth strategies, as well as related caveats. In the final chapter, ‘‘The future of
education’’, Spalding explores recent trends in education, including issues such as
defining education, student/teacher alienation, the humanisation of education, and
possible ways forward.
The book features a number of elements which add to the overall quality of the
text and the reading experience: an attractive cover design; an appropriate preamble
(preface, acknowledgements [including his ‘‘Kickstarter backers’’], an About the
author section); a series of effective visual figures which begin each chapter and
relate to the content; embedded hints and notes in grey boxes throughout the work;
and a rich set of appendices (teacher glossary, references, further reading list, and
thorough index). The text is also very ‘‘clean’’ in terms of the absence of
typographical and grammatical errors, which of course is common in the publication
of any second edition of a book, but not always the case.
As an experienced educator (both secondary school and graduate level working
with many adults) and teacher educator for the past two decades, I found the book to
be immensely interesting and entertaining, and was able to relate to so many of the
detailed insights and suggestions Spalding presents throughout the text (never
before have I found myself jotting so many ‘‘neat idea’’, ‘‘so true’’, or ‘‘great point’’
statements in my review note marginalia!). For example, I concur with his assertion
that ‘‘struggling with a subject helps you teach it’’ (p. 3). This is certainly true
within my own discipline, wherein I’ve occasionally observed (in research and
practice) that mathematics specialists can actually be quite ineffective at teaching
the topic to children, and also unwilling to adopt reform-based methods (e.g.,
problem-based/hands-on/collaborative/technology-enriched learning) as promoted
by international bodies such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
(NCTM) headquartered in the United States. A related idea regarding (in)effective
communication is raised again in chapter 3, where Spalding notes, ‘‘One of our
biggest teaching challenges is deconstructing our expert knowledge for students …
A good teacher must be able to break down a question, concept, or skill into its
component parts’’ (p. 42).
Other golden teaching nuggets include: ‘‘The basic rule for lesson planning: mix it
up’’ (p. 62); ‘‘[M]ark any typos on your copy and fix ‘em that night so your handouts
will be perfect the next time’’ (p. 65); ‘‘Give specific feedback: say at least one thing
you sincerely like and … specifically what needs to be changed’’ (p. 74); ‘‘Pepper your
lectures with activities such as having students talk about the material with a partner, or
asking quick yes-or-no questions, or asking for a show of hands’’ (p. 121); ‘‘One of the
best things about teaching adults is engaging in rich, nuanced conversations with
people from all different backgrounds’’ (pp. 131–132); ‘‘It’s important to consciously
improve your teaching practice for two reasons – first, to teach better, and second, to
not go crazy’’ (p. 161); and, ‘‘I believe that reading outside your field is one of the best
things you can do for your teaching practice’’ (p. 182).
By way of criticism, there is one item which I found to be quite unfortunate
throughout the text. On page 97, Spalding indicates that ‘‘there are few standards in
adult education; this is a blessing and a curse’’. I realise this statement occurs within
the assessment chapter and that he is referring primarily to assessment practices and
student and teacher evaluations. But it does remind me that here in Ontario, Canada
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Book Review 829
our teaching profession is regulated by an Ontario College of Teachers (OCT)
which requires an awareness of, and adherence to, a formal Standards of practice
for the teaching profession document, and to an Ethical standards for the teaching
profession document.1 The Ethical Standards include phrases such as: ‘‘Members
express their commitment to students’ well-being and learning through positive
influence … they model respect for spiritual and cultural values, social justice,
confidentiality, freedom, democracy and the environment’’ (italics added here for
emphasis). I realise our OCT standards are written for elementary and high school
teachers (pedagogy), but I think they apply equally well to adult learners
(andragogy), having worked extensively with both groups.
This is why I found Spalding’s use of colourful expletives/language to be both
surprising and disappointing (e.g., on pages 7, 9, 20, 45, 119, 149, 153, 184, 188,
195, 192). What he perhaps gains by trying to ‘‘speak the street vernacular’’, he
loses, in my opinion at least, in terms of the theme of quality professionalism
focused on student learning which he is trying to establish throughout the book. His
censure of students saying ‘‘wildly inappropriate things’’ (p. 155) is ironic given his
own word choices.
Being such a strong advocate for respect, inclusion and social justice (given his
stated background [p. xix] with activist groups/teaching and his cofounding of the
Midnight Special Law Collective2 focused on citizen rights and awareness),
Spalding arguably strays from this message when he openly stereotypes those with
religious beliefs that differ from his own (‘‘You are a scientist, not a creationist’’,
implying mutual exclusion, p. 96), hence making it difficult, one would think, to
ensure that ‘‘everyone is welcome, regardless of age, race, class, background,
disability, or sexuality’’ (p. 103).
Overall, How to teach adults is an excellent read full of profound and helpful
insights regarding both the act of teaching (chapters 1–9) and the essence and future
possibilities of education in general (chapter 10). Spalding’s book will be of interest
to anyone involved in the education process, either with adult learners or with
children, since much of his rich material applies equally well to both groups.
1
For the Standards of practice for the teaching profession document, see http://www.oct.ca/public/
professional-standards/standards-of-practice. For the Ethical standards for the teaching profession doc-
ument, see http://www.oct.ca/public/professional-standards/ethical-standards.
2
As explained in the ‘‘About the author’’ section, the Midnight Special Law Collective was ‘‘a non-profit
[organisation] dedicated to teaching people their rights and providing legal support for those protesting
for social justice’’. According to its website [http://www.midnightspecial.net/], it ‘‘disbanded’’ in 2010.
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