Differences Between Teaching Adults and Pre-Adults: Some Propositions and Findings

Do teachers teach adults differently from pre-adults and, if so, what are these differences and what factors determine their magnitude? To examine these questions, data were collected from 173 public school and college teachers who taught both adults and pre-adults. Hypotheses related to overall magnitude of differences in teaching behavior were tested using multiple regression. As predicted, differences in teaching behavior were related to the relative age of the pre-adult comparison group (i.e., greater for school teachers), the extent to which adults were perceived to differ from pre-adults on learning-related characteristics, and the extent to which teachers subscribed to the belief that groups of students with different characteristics should be taught differently. These variables accounted for 41 percent of the variance in the measure of overall difference in teaching behavior. Secondary hypotheses concerning the direction of specific differences in teaching behaviors and perceptions of student characteristics were tested with the t statistic. The results suggest that adults are perceived as more motivated, pragmatic, self-directed, and task-oriented than pre-adults. When teaching adults, as opposed to pre-adults, teachers appear to emphasize responsive, learner-centered behaviors and de-emphasize controlling and structuring be haviors. It was concluded that teachers do in fact teach adults differently from children and adolescents and that these differences can be explained to a significant extent by the variables employed in this study.