What can we assume are some qualities of a skillful teacher in adult education? Brookfield (2015) has 4 core assumptions which are:

1. Skillful teaching is whatever helps students learn
2. Skillful teachers adopt a critically reflective stance toward their practice
3. The most important knowledge that skillful teachers need to do good work is a constant awareness of how students are experiencing their learning and perceiving teachers’ actions
4. College students of any age should be treated as adults

What I would like to offer you is my boiled-down version of the in-depth explanation Brookfield gives of his core assumptions.

We need to be able to adapt to classroom conditions, sometimes very rapidly. These conditions could range widely from gender, ethnicity, culture, background, willingness to learn, and so on. Because of this, we as instructors need to be able to change and adapt to an ever-evolving classroom. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to change your teaching style, but you may need to work with students and get them on board before they feel comfortable joining you on a journey of learning.

One of the best ways to be able to adapt very rapidly to these changing situations is to be a critically reflective person. Constantly reflecting on past instances to shape new interactions so all parties involved have the best possible outcomes. There are 4 lenses that we should look through when reflecting “the lenses of students’ eyes, colleagues’ perceptions, literature, and our own autobiography.” (Brookfield, 2015). Looking through the 4 different lenses requires us to step back and step out of our own body and think of the situation from many different angles.

One of the keys to student engagement and understanding is knowing what they are thinking, and how they are feeling. I’m sure we can all agree, however, being put on the spot for this information can feel intimidating. So how are we do get this information we need to be effective instructors? Ensure anonymity (if so desired by the students) with all feedback devices you supply to the students.

The students we have in a college setting are either adults with some or plenty of experience, or young adults just starting to figure out who they are. No matter the age, they should be treated as adults. They should be respected, they should be able to build a level of trust in you, they should be able to know what is expected of them, they should be able to question and know why a particular lesson is of value.

References

Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The Skillful Teacher (3^rd ed.). Jossey-Bass