Junior Instructor, Senior Leaners
I would have liked to see something in this course about interactions with adult learners when the instructor is significantly younger than the oldest students he/she is teaching. Being the average age range is 28, it wouldn't be unlikely to see an instructor around that age such as myself.
I also look very young. It was very hard for me at first to gain the respect of my older students. With each new class it has become easier. Every new class I get, i make sure I give them my background and let them now that I am well qualified to teach them and help them succeed .
Amanda,
Like your style and approach. You have established yourself as the learning leader and thus your students, even the older ones follow your lead. You have the experience and expertise to be the teacher and you are willing to share your knowledge with your students. This is a strong message for your students to receive and it appears that they are receiving it well based upon the success you are having with your students. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
There are a couple of students that are much older then me. I tend to look on the "younger side" which has its positives and negatives. The younger students feel like they can connect to me because I am not some "old teacher" that doesn't understand them (Yes, a student said that to me. :) However, it can be negative when dealing with older students because they ask if I am old enough to teach them. ! Luckily, I bring 10 years experience in my job and other varied experiences. As long as I appear confident, professional and share my work experiences, I tend to develop a good relationship with the adult learners....although there are times that inside I may be uncertain, but I never portry that. I swear that students sometimes can smell fear on a instructor, and when that happens, it goes badly pretty quickly. (One of my peers had this happen to them.)
Teresa,
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I know this information will be helpful to other instructors, especially those just starting their teaching careers and not sure how to handle the age situation. A simple think like how you write your name on the board sets the stage and then the class can move forward.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
As an instructor who is a lot younger than most of my students, I agree with Mr. Thomas as well. Maintaining a professional relationship with students does help. I learned to also not introduce myself using my first name. In the begining I would write my entire name. I had many older students who would then feel comfortable calling me by my first name. As soon as I stopped writing it out on the board, most students stopped using it.
Angela,
Thank you for these good comments on how to be the learning leader of the class, not matter your age. You are there for a reason and that is you are experienced and qualified. When this is understood by the students then the learning process can go forward to the benefit of everyone.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I often have students who are older than me in class. When ever I get a new group of students, I take time the first day of class to introduce myself and talk about my background/qualifications for teaching the courses I teach. This helps establish that, despite my younger age, I am the authority figure in the room and I have knowledge and experience to offer them. I also make sure that my students (no matter what age) know that I am there to help them succeed if they put forth the effort and that I respect all of them. I do get occasional comments from students who are older, but after the initial comment, it never seems to be an issue.
CHRISTINA,
This is a good example of using your experience and leadership abilities to be successful. You were confident in your abilities and shared your personality with your students and the outcome was positive and you did a good job of being a learning leader. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I would tend to agree with you, Gary. I feel that the field experience of the instructor has a lot of weight in showing the students that you are competent in your field.
When I started teaching, I was not younger than my students, but younger than many other instructors in my field. I did worry about that, but soon realized I did have the experience and reflection to help the students to learn.
Brian,
This is a good point that many instructors face when first starting their careers as educators. By being organized, confident and prepared a younger instructor can gain the respect of all students including the older ones. In addition, a younger instructor still has the field experience required to be the instructor and this fact should not be lost when explaining how you are going to be the learning leader of the class.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
