Managing Adults
Adults!!! That is exactly what they are, whether in a class or in the work environment, so it is important for the instructor to treat each individual as an adult, and for each adult in the classroom to act as one!!
Well said. Be firm and adhere to the rules, but also help the students to understand that you're in a mentoring position. Temperance is the key!
Well said. Be firm and adhere to the rules, but also help the students to understand that you're in a mentoring position. Temperance is the key!
You either build in a task to spend a bit of flex time waiting for late students or give everyone a start on time that meets your needs and stick with it. Probably no one wants to stay late if they came late. Being on time because of traffic - that seems like a tough one to call.
Yes, it can be frustrating. In my situation students frequently are tardy, even by just a few minutes, primarily because they come to campus directly from work (all classes begin at 6 PM) using a major highway which is almost always bumper to bumper at rush hour, especially when it rains. Because of the nature of our accelerated program, two tardies equal one absence and two absences means failure. Therefore I find it challenging to follow the policy to the letter; how can I penalize a student who comes directly to class and gets stuck in traffic? Using any alternate route would result in their arriving even later.
We can't change the mentality necessarily but we can affect the behavior by control. All students are paying a heafty fee for the education and I will not allow one student who is not taking this education seriously to become my sole focus. He or she will be out if they will not abide by the doctrine of the school policies.
Well said..however one of misconceptions of teaching adults is the few who still have a Jr High mentality and can still disrupt the classroom. I try to be positive and treat them as adults but there are times it can be frustrating
I agree. However, sometimes adults have never learned how to be responsible! I think the consequences of their decisions are sometimes the best teacher. If they choose not to pay attention they miss material which results in low scores which ultimately effects the outcome of their education and ability to be what they want to be. As long as it does not affect others! That is the problem!
Anna, in a perfect world I would totally agree but we do not live in that world. Being an adult is not a chronological event and maturity is not always associated with age. You are just as likely to have 35 year old adolescents in your classroom as 25 year old adults and this is just the reality of higher education today. The focus here is to communicate with your students, set the stage for expected outcomes and behaviors and be prepared to assist those less mature to become more mature. For some students they only need to be told what adult behavior looks like while for others you will need to exert more energy and have more frequent conversations. Bringing someone who is immature to a higher level of maturity is not easy but is part of the teaching methodology in today's higher education setting.
James Jackson
