Insights to Teaching Adults

1. Adult’s personality and study habits are securely formed either for good or bad.

2. Adults have an emotional connection with words, situations, institutions, and people.

3. Many adults bring negative feelings with them to the learning situation because they may resent authority.

4. Adults carry more of a burden of stereotypes such as personality or beliefs than children, who are in a more formative stage of development.

5. Adults may fear inadequacy and failure.

6. Adults may subconsciously fear the change of life that comes with education.

7. Most adults need to see immediate relevance and application of knowledge.

8. Groups of adults vary more in skills, interests, experience and education than groups of children; thus more flexibility and variety of teaching strategies is necessary to reach all adult students.

9. Learners always look at situations, not as they are, but as we perceive them to be.

10. Adults have varied motivations for entering learning environments, often including vocational skills and social status.

11. Adults like participating in their learning, not being taught at. This can be improved by sitting beside the student rather than across from him or her.

12. Adults expect clear directions. If they don’t understand, assume it is your explanation that is faulty, not the student’s comprehension.

13. Adults are a gestalt; thinking, feeling and doing are all connected.

14. Adults learn best to meet personal goals.

15. Adults need to feel comfortable within their learning group.

16. Adults often have barriers to learning which need to removed.