adult learner
Many times an adult learner has ingrained habits that are not the best for learning. What is good good approach to help them change.
Latika,
It is important to make sure that the teacher is seen as the leader of the class. Addressing the issue up front through strongly planned lessons is a good start.
Jeffrey Schillinger
Adult learners are definitely the hardest to deal with. They already ready set it their ways and often times feel that they are not going to trust leadership from someone that may be much younger than they are.
I always like to begin a new class with the famous Einstein quote “Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.†I preface this statement by asking my class, consisting of mostly adult learners, how successful they were in the classroom previously. I, then, launch into a discussion about changing habits that were unsuccessful in learning environments in the past and replacing them with new habits. I have found that by talking through the idea of leaving behind incorrect thought and behaviors that the students are much more receptive to new habits and ideas.
Arthur,
One approach is to share best practices and to ask the learner which of these things might work best for them. Another is to have them describe their habits and then compare those with known best practices.
