Just like learning is hard work, teaching is too. It’s probably harder. While teaching kids is frustrating because they sometimes “just don’t get it,” teaching adults can be frustrating because they sometimes don’t want to “get it.” Individuals within companies charged with training a new workforce are all too often left with inadequate resources and unmotivated participants. Teaching adults is difficult, but these five tips can help you make it successful and, believe it or not, rewarding.
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Encourage Questions
Nobody learns by just passively listening to what an instructor has to say. Questions make us think and when we think, we learn. Encourage participants to actively engage the material. They should think about the importance of the subject and compare it with what they already know.
Participants should always be asking questions. However, the questions don’t always have to be out loud. Instead, encourage them to ask themselves the questions as information is being presented. How will this help me? How does this fit in to the big picture? How does this relate to what I already know?
