• Adults are practical, focusing on the aspects of a lesson most useful to them in their work. They are not often interested in knowledge for its own sake. Instructors must let the participants know clearly how the lesson will be useful to them on the job.
• As do all learners, adults need to be shown respect. Instructors must accept the wealth of experiences that adult participants bring to the classroom. Adult students should be treated as equals in experience and knowledge and allowed to voice their opinions freely in class.
Adult Learner Motivation
Motivation is another aspect of adult learning. Six factors, at least, serve as sources of motivation for adult learning:
• Social relationships: to make new friends, to meet a need for associations and friendships.
• External expectations: to comply with instructions from someone else; to fulfill the expectations or recommendations of someone with formal authority.
• Social welfare: to improve ability to serve mankind, prepare for service to the community, and improve ability to participate in community work.
• Personal advancement: to achieve higher status in a job, secure professional advancement, and stay abreast of competitors.
• Escape/Stimulation: to relieve boredom, provide a break in the routine of home or work, and provide a contrast to other exacting details of life.
• Cognitive interest: to learn for the sake of learning, seek knowledge for its own sake, and to satisfy an inquiring mind.
Motivation and Barriers
Comparing children and teenagers, adults have many responsibilities that they must balance against the demands of learning. As a result of these responsibilities, adults have barriers against participating in learning. Some barriers include lack of time, money, confidence, or interest, lack of information about opportunities to learn, scheduling problems, "red tape," and problems with child care and transportation.
Motivation factors are able also to be a barrier. What motivations of adult learners? Characteristic motivations can include a requirement for competence or licensing, an expected or realized promotion, job enrichment, a need to maintain old skills or learn new ones, a need to adapt to job changes, or the need to learn in order to comply with company directives.
Motivate adult learners simply by enhancing their reasons for enrolling and decreasing the barriers. Instructors must find out why their students are enrolled (the motivators); they have to discover what is keeping them from learning. Also, instructors must plan their motivating strategies. A successful approach consists of showing adult learners the relationship between training and an expected promotion.
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