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The first thing to remember when teaching adult learners is that you students will have considerable experience. Many of them will have held positions of responsiblity, they may have been teachers or bosses, they may have run a home or looked after other people for years so they will be largely responsible and well experienced people.

Your group will also come from a diverse range of backgrounds. The same is true for younger students but they will lack the life experiences of an adult group so the first thing to do is get to know your students. You can do this by setting a short self assessment or find out why they have chosen to do the subject you are teaching.

Some of them may feel slightly overwhelmed coming back into a learning environment and some of them will find adjusting to being in the student role difficult so give them time, make your guidelines clear and also take the opportunity to outline the course clearly and what you expect from them.

Tell them about your experience in the subject and what your course will provide so they are clear.

Be prepared also to be flexible because adult students will often have committments outside college which can take up a lot of their time so make sure you are aware of those for whom long projects are going to be a problem and make sure they are clear on the work load involved.Within an adult grop you will also fnd that their abilities vary enormously so be careful to teach to a suitable level so you are neither patronising nor going over their heads.

Using the strengths of those in your group can work wonders for adult learners. There will be those who learn best in a practical situation and have experience in technical skills, there will be those who take notes clearly and can put down information in a logical manner, there will be those who benefit most when a subject is discussed rather than copious notes and hand outs produced and there will be those who need every kind of learning tool available so the information sticks.

By knowing your group, you can play to their strengths so none feel left out or overwhelmed. Using a vasriety of learning tols such as hand outs, practicals, overheads, slide shows and Powerpoints as well as traditional front of class talks can make lessons interesting for all.

One area which can be difficult with adult learners is the equality issue. They are your peers and equals and in many areas they will be more experienced than you but you must remember that you are the teacher or lecturer and there has to be some distance created, much the same as for younger students but with many adults this is harder to maintain. Yet maintain it you must in order to be able to mark, assess and criticise constructively without feeling you are impinging on their friendship.

You must set the standards and keep to them.

Adult learners are usually there by choice and this can make quite a difference to your teaching because they will be hungry for knowledge, They will have chosen to be there and chosen your subject so make sure you prepare well and always have more up your sleeve.

Teaching adults can be incredibly rewarding when you see them develop skills and become confident and interested learners but it is a little different from teaching young students.

Learn more about this author, Sammy Stein.
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