About the Book

When I started, I didn’t think you needed any special skills to teach adults. Then, about a month into my first semester, I taught a class where every one of my students went home during the break. An hour in a classroom by myself gave me a lot of time to think about how there was more to this “teaching adults” than I had anticipated.

I’ve since learned that most adult educators receive no training in how to teach adults. As someone with a master’s degree in teaching, I can tell you that even the training we do get isn’t always very practical. That’s why I decided to write How to Teach Adults. I didn’t want any other teacher to have to spend so much time learning the skills and information they should have started with.

After 3 years of writing, How to Teach Adults is finished and ready to download. If you’re thinking about making this your career, it will convince you that adult education is the greatest job in the world. If you’re a beginning teacher in need of some guidance, it will give you concrete advice to build your career. And if you’re a veteran instructor looking for something you can use tomorrow, you can go directly to Chapter 7, “Tips for Running Class,” for advice you can use tomorrow.

How to Teach Adults is written for athletic coaches, yoga instructors, spiritual leaders and drill sergeants, in addition to the math professors and English as a Second Language instructors we usually think of as adult educators. Whatever you’re trying to achieve, I want to help you do it. That’s what adult education is all about.