The needs of the adult learner will change over time. The goals identified by the learner at the beginning may become more realistic, evolve as learning takes place or change with their life circumstances. For example, wanting to read with their children may become secondary to learning to read messages from the school and write messages to the teacher if a child is sick or having problems at school.
Increased age or poor health or even fatigue can affect the reaction time, vision and hearing of adult learners. Even time of day can be a factor in how effective learning is. However, learners do not lose their capacity to learn simply because they are no longer children.
Adult learners have many responsibilities. They are busy earning a living, taking care of a home and family, often just trying to survive. As a result, many learners have little time to review and absorb large amounts of material at one time. They don’t have time to spend on things they don’t perceive as contributing directly to their learning or their lives.
Adult learners need to see immediate change and growth. They may be intolerant of anything that does not help them achieve their goals. Often, as adults, learners’ goals are overly ambitious. It may be necessary to break goals into smaller steps that are more readily achieved.
Many adults develop strategies to conceal their lack of education and skills. These strategies may show up as excuses for non-performance. Being aware of this helps to identify it as a cause for lack of performance and helps to find strategies to overcome it.
Many adult learners are strongly motivated to study because they see education as a way to improve their self-image and reach other personal goals.
Adult learners will not necessarily learn at an even pace. It may simply be because some things are more challenging for the learner than others. Or, there may be external factors affecting their ability to concentrate.
Red Deer Adult Literacy Program tutor handbook. (n.d.). Red Deer, Alberta: Red Deer Public Library. Adapted with permission.
Handout 2.1