Essays on Adult Students

Writing on a complex problem like adult learning can itself be a complex process. An adult student’s cultural literacy is formed over a lifetime of experiences with the written word and encompasses their expectations, their goals, and their understanding of their relationship to the broader world. It is no surprise, then, that I faced several challenges as I began to explore this issue and its impact on the educational experience. Being able to explain a complex concept to others requires you to first reach a complete understanding of the topic—no small task in itself, when faced with ...

For the traditional student, college is the next step after high school. He takes only a few months off between high school and college as he did between the previous 12 years of his scholastic life, a whirlwind transition that leaves little time for maturation or new life experiences between being a senior in one place and a freshman in the next. Adult learners, however, bring a fully-formed identity as an adult with them into the college classroom. Educationally, they may have finished high school several years prior, not have finished high school at all, or be completing a ...

For the traditional student, college is the next step after high school. He takes only a few months off between high school and college as he did between the previous 12 years of his scholastic life, a whirlwind transition that leaves little time for maturation or new life experiences between being a senior in one place and a freshman in the next. Adult learners, however, bring a fully-formed identity as an adult with them into the college classroom. Educationally, they may have finished high school several years prior, not have finished high school at all, or be completing a ...