Characteristics of Adult Learners in Professional Development
CHILDREN |
Children depend upon adults for material support, psychological support, and life management. They are other-directed. |
Children, to a large degree, learn what they are told to learn. |
Children view the established learning content as important because adults tell them it is important. |
Children actually perceive time differently than older people do. Our perception of time changes as we age–time seems to pass more quickly as we get older. |
Children have a limited experience base. |
Children generally learn quickly. |
Children are open to new information and will readily adjust their views. |
Children’s readiness to learn is linked to both academic development and biological development. |
Children learn (at least in part) because learning will be of use in the future. |
Children are often externally motivated (by the promise of good grades, praise from teachers and parents, etc.) |
Children have less well-formed sets of expectations in terms of formal learning experiences. Their “filter” of past experience is smaller than that of adults. |
ADULTS |
Adults depend upon themselves for material support and life management. Although they must still meet many psychological needs through others, they are largely self-directed. |
Adults learn best when they perceive the outcomes of the learning process as valuable – contributing to their own development, work success, etc. |
Adults often have very different ideas about what is important to learn. |
Adults, in addition to perceiving time itself differently than children do, also are more concerned about the effective use of time. |
Adults have a broad, rich experience base to which to relate new learning. |
Adults, for the most part, learn more slowly than children, but they learn just as well. |
Adults are much more likely to reject or explain away new information that contradicts their beliefs. |
Adults’ readiness to learn is more directly linked to need – needs related to fulfilling their roles as workers, spouses, parents, etc. and coping with life changes (divorce, death of a loved one, retirement, etc.). |
Adults are more concerned about the immediate applicability of learning. |
Adults are more often internally motivated (by the potential for feelings of worth, self-esteem, achievement, etc.) |
Adults have well-formed expectations, which, unfortunately, are sometimes negative because they are based upon unpleasant past formal learning experiences. |
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT |
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