| RETURNING ADULTS |
Borrowed with permission from Honolulu Community College
Adults returning to education display a marked difference among themselves. Some may be homemakers who interrupted their studies to raise children; others may be retired business executives who want to pursue work in fields that always interested them. They may have excellent prior academic backgrounds, or they may have fulfilled minimum requirements for admission. These students may be financially stressed, or they may be very secure. They may be healthy, or they may be experiencing such age-related problems as diminished hearing or eyesight. They may come with or without the academic skills that most faculty members expect.
Most older adults in higher education experience self-consciousness and anxiety about their age and performance. They may feel more obligation to please the instructor than younger students do. They may be too modest about their own abilities and experiences. They may seek more reassurance from instructors, and they may need to verbalize more than younger students do. On the other hand, older students may be more impatient with activities that they feel are not useful in their learning, and they may argue with instructors who present information or ideas that are not consistent with their experiences. Although adjustment for older students sometimes progresses very smoothly, it is often extremely difficult.
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