There are many different ideas around how adults learn. This blog post discusses some of the main characteristics
of adult learners and then compares these with how children learn. This information is based mainly on
information taken from the course text and from the attached article. The information in the article and the text
are pretty much in line with one another. At the end, I have summarized a few ideas of
how I design my classroom instruction to suit the needs of adult learners
in my classroom.
To begin, it seems like adults often like to be more in control
of their learning. Adults who are
responsible for their lives and decision making, tend to be more self directed
and less dependent than children who are learning. Often times because adults are juggling many
roles, the more flexible a program is the more opportunity there will be for an
adult learner to be successful.
Also, adults often draw on life experience when learning and
frequently life’s experiences or an adult’s stage in life will create a need to
learn. In the text, Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice, it states that for
adults, their experience is who they are whereas for children experience is
something that is happening to them. (p. 50) For children who they are is
derived mainly from things that are external to them such as family or where
they grow up.
Generally, adults choose
to learn to either improve their situation or for professional or personal
growth. As a result, there is often a
desire for immediate application of knowledge learned. Children on the other hand spend a majority
of their time learning in preparation for future tasks and responsibilities.
Finally, because there is a tendency for adults to draw on
prior knowledge and experience when in a learning situation this may cause some
adults to be less open minded and more resistant to change or new ways of doing
things. As opposed to ignoring a
participant’s life experience it should be used as a rich resource and should
be drawn on in the adult learning environment.
I think that there are many ways that classroom instruction
can be designed to suit adult learners. I feel that it is important to
create a community in the classroom from day one. Students should feel a sense of belonging and
they should feel comfortable and safe; there should be a trust relationship
between students and instructor.
Icebreaker activities are a great way to have students and instructor interacting
from day one. In this kind of
environment everyone can contribute to planning course content together. Classroom activities involving role playing
or discussion groups (think, pair, share) allow learners to draw from their
experience when learning and work together to problem solve. Also, discussing theory and then following
this immediately with an application either in lab or the classroom helps to
solidify the material and show the why for what is being covered.
No comments:
Post a Comment