Respecting Adult Learners' Journeys

The Zemkes knew that adults learners have expectations about educational objectives in a given course, and it's clear these should be stated early and often, not just by the classroom teacher but also by the institution. They should be codified in a contract document, at best.

Pre-testing and post-testing are also still needed to assist students to "manage" their expectations and view their own growth. It is popular to overstate the unfairness of testing these days, but I believe adults are capable of affirming objectives and standing up to the measurement of them, as it relates to personal satisfaction and the notion of tuition money well-spent.

Can teachers sharpen up their daily practices, to show respect for adult students' needs and styles, and to make learning sometimes dry material a bit more palatable? Suggestions include:

• utilizing pairs and group work (Long and Porter, 1985) and tolerating “good noise” so long as the discussions stay collaborative and on point. This shows respect for students’ adulthood by modeling normal, daily give-and-take.
• augmenting publishers' offerings with teacher-made puzzles, flash cards, felt boards, word lists, resource lists and bibliographies with website URL's for suggested home study. This enhances the role of the instructor as facilitator and reliable resource for out-of-class, self-directed learning. Thompson (2001) found that irrespective of student gender or age, application of teacher-created materials tends to sustain and attract attention, and make teaching and learning more interesting.
• permitting song and artwork in the lesson, appealing to pupils' creative side. This accepts the alternative learning styles of adult learners. (Take care when selecting a song because some songs have irregular sentence structures and vocabulary not typically used in English conversation.)
• using portfolios to aid learners’ perceptions of their growth as readers and writers, thereby reinforcing the notion of a journey toward an achievable goal - a very grownup concept.  
• instituting the habit of continuous student self-reflection concerning comprehension and satisfaction with progress through journaling. (Black & Henig (2005), Bourner (2003) and many others.) Adult students can feel free to focus on the exploration and discovery process in a less-threatening genre than a formal composition.