Learning Styles for Older Adults

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In the past, adult learning disabilities were rarely detected. Even if they were, no remedial reading programs were available to help struggling students. Many seniors in their sixties and seventies have lived lives full of frustration, low self-esteem and hardship. They can't write shopping lists or greeting cards, they can't read books or signs, and they can't reach their full potentials. Older adults may decide that "enough is enough" and opt to return back to school to get this monkey off their back once and for all.

Teaching adults can be a real challenge because of many hindering factors like poor vision, inability to concentrate on nearby objects or withstand the glare of a computer screen and difficulty in reading small size letters or identifying colors properly. To teach adults, teachers need to take into account all such varied problems so that stress on their pupils is avoided. Some adults with hearing disability may try lip reading, but they can be helped in a better way by using a loud voice or a microphone. Instructors should cultivate a friendly atmosphere with less surrounding noise and minimize disturbances by switching off mobile phones. It would also help to keep a straight face while talking.

Many older adults in basic education courses also suffer with a learning disability. For these students, it's extremely important that instructors take different adult learning styles into consideration and approach the classroom with multiple teaching modes. Some students prefer visual learning (with charts, videos, diagrams and illustrations), while others prefer auditory (with lectures, music, group discussions and tapes), while others yet prefer kinesthetic learning (with hands-on activities, field trips, role playing and experiments). It's important that instructors keep the learning disabled students motivated by sharing helpful techniques, building on the students' strengths, giving positive reinforcement and showing how short-term goals connect with long-term goals.

Teaching older adults should be an enjoyable process from start to finish. Seniors have a lot of rich experiences, interesting stories and knowledge to contribute to a class, which should make it a learning process for the instructor too. The tricky part can be balancing a deep respect for the seniors' existing skills and knowledge base, while also introducing new topics developed for their pace and with different adult learning styles in mind. Students with adult learning disabilities may require extra motivation, positive reinforcement and patience, but they are often excited to learn new things.

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