Give Respect to Adult Learners

Give Respect to Adult Learners

Adult learners come from diverse background with varieties of knowledge and wide range of experience. If this can be well appreciated by the trainer showing a sense of respect to them, definitely a positive learning environment can be created as it is a general tendency of an adult to reciprocate.

What could be the consequence if adults feel disrespectful?

Showing respect and being thoughtful of others really doesn’t take much. In fact, it feels a lot better to treat others in a fair and justified manner. If learners feels ignored it can create lot of issues in learning, below given some issues may occur if educator does not value their opinion:

• Pessimistic feedback from learner’s side
• Lack of urge to attend classes which result in drop out
• Unpleasant emails which aggravate learners to initiate a formal complain
• Punishment in the form of doing more work or assignments demotivate the learners

Respect is a two-way street, if you want to get it, you’ve got to give it. So, it is essential for any educator to pay attention and give respect to adult learners. If respect exists mutually from both sides, learning outcomes will be surely positive.

How can you use respect to build up a positive and amicable learning enviornnment?

As we have discussed above, respect should be the foundation pillar between the tutor and learners to get superior results out of that learning. And it is not difficult to do so, as you need to understand your participants and try to get a fair demography which will help you to lead with a proper strategic approach. Here are some ways which can be used to create better outcomes for everyone involved in the learning process:

Don’t be relentless in giving outstanding feedback

Learners are considered as our customers and it’s important to make them satisfied too while maintaining educational standards. Your decision in a class should be firm which also shows that a fair and transparent decision has been taken. No harm to apologize or ask learners to re assess their work if you made any mistake or wrong grade has been given to them. However, if you feel your feedback is appropriate and your customers are not happy, you should go ahead and present a constructive detailed feedback so that customers can understand the learning process is rigorous and transparent.

Introduce yourself as an expert

You are the expert to teach the course to your learners because you have the knowledge about the subject and course content. Don’t be hesitant to present yourself with proper official credentials, put your email signature and designation for mails. Make a professional profile and include your experience into the LMS profile. You should know who are you and about your background to carry that respect for their trainer which is essential for any learning platform.

Make expectations clear

You may get many anxious learners, who join the course with lot of stress and come unprepared. Trainers do not need to be worried about them, instead the trainer should acknowledge their anxiety, try to relax them and give a brief and lucid idea about the core aspect of the e learning process to the learners. This can be done by:

• Explaining time frames for communication, and for returning graded work
• Making deadlines and important dates highly visible
• Ensuring all assessment information is self-explanatory
• Setting up an FAQ page that answers learner questions on demand

This approach reassures adult learners, and makes them feel more in control of their own learning process.

Be approachable

As we know adults learners come from diverse background having different varieties of experience which include who belongs to highly corporate field whereas on the other side there might be learners from typical business background. All of them are knowledgeable and experts in their own area, so it is not easy for them to come up with their queries openly until and unless they feel very comfortable about the learning environment. Trainer should explain that asking question is a natural process of any learning and ensure them they can come up with their queries to clarify it.

Don’t ignore your promise

Promises make the best policy; try to keep your words as much as possible; this brings a sense of respect and reliability in between the parties. If you have committed any class to be held on a specific date or promised to return the grade reports to the learners, do not procrastinate and maintain your promise as this in return gives you faith of your learners. This will create a safe, healthy and professional environment where everyone has respect for each other.

There are many other ways of creating a productive environment but when a relationship is built on respect, working with each other becomes easier with better learning outcomes.