Overcoming Your Fears of Educating Grown-ups
Throughout our professional teaching careers, we have at some point received a form of criticism as regards our efficiency in class. Be it the quality of our work or even a comment which could be misinterpreted. Such was the case during my early years as an educator, as I was still wet behind the ears and was...
By Maroussa Pavli*
Are you teaching adults or thinking of doing so? Those of you who have already worked with adult learners can easily understand the relevance of the title of this article. Those who haven’t done this yet may doubt that classroom management is a topic to consider, but if you do read on, you’ll find out that everyday teaching...
Part of being an effective instructor involves understanding how adults learn best. Compared to children and teens, adults have special needs and requirements as learners. Despite the apparent truth, adult learning is a relatively new area of study. The field of adult learning was pioneered by Malcom Knowles. He identified the following characteristics of...
Teaching English to adults has its own set of challenges and rewards for the EFL teacher but requires a whole range of different skills and qualifications. Their motivation is intrinsic which is a great advantage as this has been identified as one of the most important factors in determining successful language learning.
The acquisition of a second...
Teaching English to adults has its own set of challenges and rewards for the EFL teacher but requires a whole range of different skills and qualifications. Adult learners may not need a certificate or diploma; their motivation is intrinsic which is a great advantage as this has been identified as one of the most important factors in determining successful...
The expansion of life-long learning along with ever-shifting workplace demands has brought into our schools and classrooms a growing number of adult learners.
Their learning needs, learner identity and learner characteristics differ significantly from those of young or teenage learners, yet oftentimes there is little reflection on how we are specifically...
And here is the challenge! Can adults be taught the same way as young students can? The truth is that adults are not empty vessels into which teachers can pour knowledge; they have lots of experience already, to a greater or lesser degree, they have a set of study skills acquired in their previous schooling, they can compare and contrast new knowledge...
In my previous article I looked at the basic concepts in designing a course for adults. This article analyses the steps followed during this process and offers suggestions for each of those steps.
The design process starts with an initial needs analysis followed by goal and objective setting, material selection, specification of the tasks to be used so that...
