Making Learning Relevant
Excerpt from: Adisa on Education

The ability to understand the most basic elements of culture is invaluable to an educator. The goal of any curriculum is to elevate the knowledge and understanding of the learners. This goal is the sole determinant for instructional efficiency and success. To understand the natures and proclivities of one’s students is a necessary requirement when designing learning curriculum. Dunn and Marinetti (2004) look at the proposition this way “For learning to be effective, learning activities should be relevant to the learners' interests and background and should occur in settings that mimic authentic ones.

Ignoring cultural factors leads inevitably to frustrating and ultimately ineffective learning experiences”. This process is not much different from that of a coach training a new team. The coach understands that each team is different, possessing varying skill levels and dispositions than previous the coaches previous teams. The coach as a result must adjust his/ her strategy to best fit the character and needs of the team. It is an unrealistic expectation that the same educational strategy will work in all situations. That expectation does not exist in the world of sport, nor should it exist on the educational landscape.


Reference:
Dunn, P; Marinetti, A. (2004). Cultural Adaptation: A necessity for e-learning.
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