Overview
PWHOPL (pronounced PWAH-puhl) is an acronym for People Who Help Other People Learn, and includes, but is not limited to, mentors, managers, section leaders, attending physicians, community health workers, tutors, early childhood education workforce, coaches, classroom paraprofessionals, and more – anyone who teaches but has not had the benefit of the thousands of hours of training that professional teachers receive.
The Stanford Accelerator for Learning has funded research that will lead to new understandings of how to optimize rapid capability development and foster ways to use technology to support PWHOPL to be more effective at helping other people learn. As part of the Accelerator’s Adult and Workforce Learning initiative, we funded proposals for projects and learning technologies that support adult learners who have teaching responsibilities but often receive minimal formal training, if any.
In most cases, PWHOPL do not have the opportunity or time to learn how to teach well, and the costs of developing their teaching capability can be prohibitive. At the same time, PWHOPL are often steeped in the contexts and cultures where learning takes place, so they bring unique strengths. If we can find ways to support PWHOPL, there could be a tremendous multiplier effect in benefits to learners of all ages.
Selected proposals were sensitive to the highly contextualized nature of PWHOPL as well as the constraints on the time available for learning. Innovative uses of technology received priority as did proposals that included data collection and the eventual demonstration of impact.
