3.2.5.1 Pedagogical barriers

A report by Cumming (1992) on access to literacy programs for language learners points out that pedagogical or teaching factors can act as barriers to learning and to continuing success within an educational program. Too many instructors in educational institutions have no understanding of the teaching strategies that best support adult learning.

Pedagogical barriers include:

• Not understanding how learners learn (Angelo, 1993); not understanding that the most effective teaching is learner- and learning-centred; not incorporating appropriate adult learning strategies into instruction (Grognet, 1997).
• Not taking into account diversity in information preferences, learning orientation factors, adult learning styles (Molinari, Blad & Martinex, 2005).
• Not taking into account learners' prior knowledge and experiences (Polson, 1993); lack of responsiveness to interests, backgrounds, and existing skills of learners (Cumming, 1992).
• Not providing enough time for adult learners to reflect on and integrate new knowledge and skills (Polson, 1993).
• Lack of recognition of prior learning (OECD, 2002; Potter & Ferguson, 2003).
• Not making the learning situation and materials relevant to learners' needs (Grognet, 1997; Polson, 1993); not focusing on the immediate application of new knowledge and skills in solving day-to-day problems (Polson, 1993).
• Administrators and instructors who hold over-inflated expectations about the benefits of learning (Butler, 2004)
• Administrators and instructors who attribute failure to learners' individual flaws rather than examining the quality of learning programs (Butler, 2003).
• Lack of understanding that learning is basically embedded in social relationships (Lowe, 2001); not providing sufficient opportunities for social interaction among learners (Dench & Regan, 2000); structuring online learning without providing opportunities and support for synchronous learner-to-learner interactions (Mercer, 2002); lack of face-to-face contact in distance and online courses (Galusha, 1998).
• Lack of communication and feedback between instructor and learners (Furst-Bowe & Dillman, 2002); lack of suitable strategies for providing feedback to students on their academic performance (Galusha, 1998).
• Lack of support for distance learning (Galusha, 1998); lack of technical support for using instructional technologies (Furst-Bowe & Dillman, 2002); lack of user-friendly technology-based services for learners (Jessome & Parks, 2001).
• Lack of concern and understanding for the culture of learners (Gaikezheyongai, 2000; Moquin, 2004); challenging or discounting learners' belief systems (Polson, 1993).
• Lack of instructor training in course development and the use of technologies in teaching (Galusha, 1998); lack of training in multisensory teaching methods (Winters, 1996).

The literature in higher education – a body of knowledge too rarely tapped by adult educators – is replete with suggestions for improving instructional strategies (e.g., Angelo, 1993; Gardiner, 1994; McKeachie, 1994; Stage et al., 1998) as is the literature in adult education (e.g., Davis, 1993). Jessome and Parks (2001), after conducting interviews with older learners, conclude that existing knowledge about how to design and deliver products, services and programs is not being used. The same concern could be said about other groups of adult learners. The literature on best practices in facilitating adult learning does exist – it is just not being taken into consideration in the design and delivery of many adult learning opportunities.