As an instructor at a state college I know that today’s college student is just as likely to be middle-aged (or older) as a teenager. Yet, I frequently find myself counseling adults who are thinking about returning to school to further their education. Actually, it is not so much a counseling session as it is a bit of a pep talk. One of the major reasons many adults hesitate before going back to school is the simple fear that they will not be able to keep up intellectually with their younger classmates. Well stop worrying about that. Here are three reasons that the majority of older students actually out perform their younger counterparts in the college classroom.

First, the simple truth is that in most cases the older student is more motivated than the younger student. It is more likely that the older student is footing the bill so values their education for that reason and wants to make sure they get the most out of their investment. Also, older students have also experienced the working world without a degree and so are very motivated to gain the financial and professional advantages of an education. This motivation is what gets older students through the challenges that college throws at them — challenges that might derail a younger, less experienced, student. In addition, nontraditional students have usually learned the hard life lesson that having the right attitude is half the battle.

Second, nontraditional students usually know much more about time management than traditional students. Most nontraditional students are balancing work, school, and family so they are very efficient and effective managers of their time. Older students are also more effective at prioritizing their various commitments based on their greater life experience. I see so many more younger, more traditional students getting themselves into trouble with their classes and assignments and observe in many cases the problem is one of simple time management and priorities.

Finally, the greater and more diverse your life experience then the more you know. It is really quite simple. If you have worked, raised a family, and served your community then you know more than most teenagers about a number of things. It just stands to reason. While the younger student might have the advantage of knowledge of certain scientific principles or mathematical rules as well as more recent practice in writing and studying. The older student knows more about people and interpersonal dynamics, their own personal strengths and weaknesses, and historical events as well as current events.

These are not universal truths. Obviously there are younger, more traditional students, who are mature enough to be properly motivated as well as good time managers. Equally there are older students who are not properly motivated and no little about time management. Similarly some older students have lead sheltered lives and some younger students have lead lives of variety and challenge. As a rule, however, I can pretty confidently state that many nontraditional students can find these three strengths — motivation, time management, and life experience — can help them outperform their more traditional counterparts in the college classroom. If your age is all that is holding you back from pursuing your degree then remember that age offers advantages as well as disadvantages.

The teaching of adults differs considerably from children because of the background knowledge of students and the fact that they are usually eager to learn of their own accord, instead of it being mandatory to be taught. Adult education is continually evolving as numerous methods and incentives are established to try and make education easy later in life, and this is being stimulated today with the increased accessibility through distance learning and e-Learning.

Typical adult education centres offer the opportunity for students who have not completed their schooling to continue and aim for an equivalent achievement (such as a GED in the US), or they may well be adjoined to a university or college with the offer of Foundation courses, A-Levels, or Degrees in the UK.

However, liberal adult education is different again and takes its influence from teaching methods that originated in Scandinavia. The folkbildning approach, as well as the folk high schools established in Norway, Sweden, and Germany vary amongst themselves, but are all similar in that students aren’t graded nor do they have any exams. Instead, the focus of each institution is to allow each individual to self-develop naturally.

Many folkbildning lessons will feature a more democratic group discussion as opposed to a lecture from a specialist or teacher. However, this is not to say a teacher is absent, but more in place to organise and moderate the informal nature of the lessons.

Teachers had a similar role in folk high schools that were established in the 19th Century. These institutions also offered a wide and varied range of subjects, with a focus on religion and politics (particularly in Denmark) in order to stimulate patriotic and religious interests, but alongside the other important lessons such as agriculture. By the end of the 19th Century there were folk high schools across Scandinavia and as far south as France, and into the 20th Century folk high schools also became established in the USA.

In recent years, folk high school and liberal education methods have been seen to be adopted by traditional learning institutions, such as the recent importance of peer and self assessment that young and old students are expected to undertake. Similarly, the rise in e-Learning and home study courses can also be seen to adopt folk school methods – especially when the relaxed nature of asynchronous learning is considered, as well as the changing role of the lecturer or teacher in this environment.

How is it different from K-12? Why is this important to us? Discuss andragogy and life-long learning.

Adult education, how is it different? Before we discuss the practical differences, let’s first address the two primary categories of education – pedagogy, and andragogy. Simply stated, in Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, pedagogy is the art science or profession of teaching. Within the profession, however, pedagogy, more often refers to the K through 12 type of approach; the Socratic approach, if you will, where teachers teach and learners listen. The information is passed from the instructor to student – more of a rote learning approach, where the learner is dependent upon the instructor for all learning. The teacher or instructor assumes full responsibility for what is taught.

Andragogy, however, assumes that the learner is self-directed. The learner is responsible for his or her own learning. Self-evaluation is characteristic of this approach. With Andragogy, the learner brings his own experience to the learning process. Each adult learner is a source of knowledge and contributes to the overall learning experience. With this approach is more of a built in readiness to learn than in the pedagogical model. This self-motivation comes from the need to know in order to perform more effectively or to accomplish one’s goals.

So, adult education is focus more on learning what we need to know to accomplish our different life goals. The other education approach is more of a required process to gain certain basic credentials. It is often much less student centered and focuses more on specific outcomes centered around a set curriculum. Adult education in comparison to K-12 is more learner centered in the expectation is more participation based on life experience.

The adult education approach becomes important to us since the goals are primarily different. The goals are centered on achieving a specific task outcome, or learning new behaviors. The adult becomes less motivated by grade point averages, and more motivated by achieving specific goals. Most often these goals are more pragmatic, and are centered around specific outcomes at the learner wants to achieve.

In this 21st century world of complexity, all of our senses are continually being assaulted with multiple types of information. To survive and possibly even to prosper, learning becomes a lifelong process. Most of us become lifelong learners, whether we recognize that specific term or not. In essence, adult education is different primarily from our K-12 experience, and possibly early college, by both our motivation and our need. Adult education becomes a choice, not a responsibility.

Copyright November 4, 2009 Boyd K. Smith, Ph.D. All rights Reserved

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