Who was your favorite teacher? What did he/she do to help you learn? Chances are that person showed an interest in your ideas and made the class fun.

So when we think about adult education, why do we often picture a lecturer at the front of the room talking to a quiet audience? One of the most common myths in adult education is that this is the most effective way to teach them.

Students who are seated at all times and not engaged in a conversation will retain only a minimal amount of knowledge. Studies show that you retain 10 to 20% of what you hear, but you remember 80 to 90% of what you say and do.

Another myth is that the educator is the expert and the student is ignorant. Adults have life experience and professional experience. A key to successfully motivating them is for the educator to treat them more like peers with valuable information to share.

I witnessed a great example of this when I took some business training at a local university. The instructors would ask us first if and what knowledge and/or experience we had on the subject. They would engage us in dialog and we learned together from our shared experience.

We also did many exercises, alone and in a group. We took the principles we heard and read about in class, and were given realistic problems to solve. These problems related to our real life needs - jobs, family, etc. - and gave us a "take away" idea or two that we could apply immediately. I still remember lessons learned in those classes.

Another myth is that adults learn best in a serious environment. Not true. We had lots of fun - the activities we engaged in ranged from competing in board games and building towers with tinker toys to role playing and auctioning off skills.

Finally, we were given much affirmation for our ideas and felt that our contributions were respected. We formed a great bond. What lively conversations we had, often going past our allotted time without even realizing it.

Get rid of the model of making someone an expert lecturer who puts his audience into a hypnotic state. Have fun, be relevant, use real life experience, that's how you effectively teach adults.

Learn more about this author, Em Dickinson.
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