Adult education generally refers to further education in later life. This may include learning directly related to an individual’s new or ongoing career, or studies that are entirely independent, such as: B. Languages. As online learning evolves, adult education is becoming more accessible, and while the general process of teaching and learning is similar for children and adults, there are additional factors that impact those who continue their studies into adulthood.
One of the most common and logical factors affecting adults more than children during education is the perception of the knowledge they have already accumulated. This has a positive effect on the speed of learning, as they often have prior knowledge of the subject they are studying. Alternatively, bad practices can also be learned in adulthood, and methods and processes learned in a now-obsolete curriculum can also be difficult for some adult learners to shake off.
A 1993 paper by CHIU Mo Chi entitled A Study of the Factors Affect Attendance at Adult Education Short Courses provides further insight into the differences between adult education and child education. CHIU found that there are a number of self-esteem issues in adult learners. Those who came from academic backgrounds that lacked academic achievement are more apt for frequent confidence boosters “because the result of effort is the pain of failure rather than the reward of a new job, promotion, the admiration of others, or the Self-satisfaction with successfully mastering the learning task.”
However, with this in mind, others have expressed that motivation can be an important aspect related to adult learner achievement. Where students have entered adult education of their own accord, they have usually identified exactly what they want to learn and why it is important for them to stick with it despite their difficulties. Additionally, adult learners are often more aware and accepting of the financial and time implications of later enrolling in a course.
A student-perspective forum on the Adult Education Wiki (wiki.literacytent.org) provides some other information from adult learners themselves. When it comes to learning literacy skills in adulthood, the most difficult problem for many students to overcome seems to be fear . “I’ve been a lowly reader and I want you all to know how afraid we are to come here and get help,” one student wrote in 2007. “I think fear is what’s holding a lot of us back in front, that everything is fine and life is good, but we know in our hearts that we are not fine at all.” Problems with embarrassment among peers and an inability to admit difficulties to other students are persistent factors that hamper learning into childhood adulthood, and this is perhaps something that adult education centers still need to address today.
Thanks to Sarah Maple