Understanding Career Context as a Key to Best Serving Adult Students - Essay Example

An educator needs to figure out which category best fits the needs of every student.  The educator should not try to fit all adult learners into one group as each student has different goals in his mind.  

Understanding the life circumstances of an adult learner may also help educators to anticipate their needs.  A student typically returns to school for a better professional image and increased career opportunities. Educators need to be aware of trends while assessing how to address the needs of each student. Some of these needs are: students who work in occupations generally labeled nonprofessional, professionals who want to change career fields, displaced professionals, workers who are concerned about being displaced, and professionals who need a degree to make the next vertical step within their organizations.

Application

As listed above, there are many reasons why an adult student feels the need to continue with his education.  Educators need to educate themselves so they can better help each student to choose the best career path for what they desire to accomplish. However, understanding the circumstances surrounding the return of an adult to school is imperative when providing quality suggestions as to how to accomplish each goal of each student.  Some students will not have the desire or time for a typical four-year college program, so will be looking for shorter programs that offer quick access to better-paying jobs. Short-term programs that provide rewarding work and better pay hold a strong appeal to most time-strapped adults.  Educators and students need to be aware that students who have been in the workforce for a significant amount of time will have earned substantial school credits from work-time experience.  This will help encourage adults to continue with their education.  This article also states  “students with a high number of undergraduate credits can often complete a General Studies Bachelor Degree, as well as a specialized master’s degree, in the same amount of time as it would take to complete a traditional undergraduate major.” (Bohonos, 2014, p. 28). If made aware of this, I think many more adults would continue to gain further education, with the end result being a meaningful and rewarding career.

Adults returning to school need to keep in mind that during the recession, many people with a high school degree or just a few years of college lost jobs and were unable to find work equal in pay and within their skill levels. Adults considering returning to school need some type of encouragement, and seeing what has happened to people with a lesser education could be the catalyst.  As stated in this article, professionals returning to school are not always concerned about the area of study they have chosen; often it doesn’t even relate to their current job. Most organizations are not concerned as to what fields their employees choose to obtain their degree; they just want their employees to have a completed degree.