The Adult Learner. By Willian Lemos

There is some information to be in mind when you have to teach to an adult.

Malcolm Knowles’ principles of andragogy, the artand science of facilitating adult learning, are still seminal to many of today’s theories about learning and instruction for adults.

How adults should be most effectively taught?

✻✻ Adults are self-directed in their learning.

✻✻ Adults have reservoirs of experience that serve as resources as they learn.

✻✻ Adults are practical, problem-solving-oriented learners.

✻✻ Adults want their learning to be immediately applicable to their lives.

✻✻ Adults want to know why something needs to be learned.

How adults will be more motivated, and more successful at learning?

The literature additionally suggests that adults will be more motivated, and more successful at learning, when they have some say in what they are being taught. Therefore, it is frequently recommended that teachers of adults follow a learner-centered model of instruction, which is to say that the teacher should identify the learners’ needs and interests in learning and incorporate these into his or her lesson planning, and allow the learners to learn from each other as much as, or even more than, the teacher.

What else recommendation for the adult leaning?

Project-based learning is also often recommended, as it allows adults to pursue their own interests during the process of studying English. Furthermore, authentic material should be incorporated wherever possible, as this material relates more directly to the adult learner’s daily lives.