What Motivates Adults to Learn?

Adults have very different motivations and needs for seeking out learning or educational opportunities. As an educator or trainer you should be familiar with these differences and tailor your interactions to meet these unique needs. To help you understand, here are some of the motivational factors that adults use when seeking out new learning opportunities.

Life events: adults may seek out new learning experiences in order to cope with specific life-changing events such as: marriage, divorce, a new job, a promotion, being fired or laid off, retiring, loss of a loved one or relocation to a new city.

Accumulation of life events: the more life-changing events an adult encounters the more likely he / she is to seek out new learning experiences. As stress increases when life-changing events start to accumulate, the adults need to cope with these changes by increasing their learning opportunities also increases.

Correlation: to the adults perception the learning opportunities that they seek out will be directly related to the life-changing events that they are experiencing.

Immediate need: adults are most generally willing and motivated to engage in new learning experiences before, after or even during the actual life-changing event is taking place. Once they are convinced that change is a certainty, they will engage in learning opportunity that promises to help them cope with the life-changing event.

Applicability: the need to seek out new learning opportunities usually arises because the adult has an immediate use or need for the knowledge or information that they are seeking. Learning, then, becomes a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Empowerment: engaging in new learning experiences will increase or maintain an adults sense of self-esteem, pleasure and sense of value to their workplace, community or social circle. They become empowered by this new knowledge and experience, particularly if it is a positive encounter.

If you are an educator or trainer in adult learning you should spend some time reviewing these motivating factors and then reviewing your course materials to determine that it meets these objectives. By taking some time to ensure that you completely understand what motivates an adult learner you will enhance the learning experience for both the adult and yourself.

Copyright M. A. Webb, 2005. All Rights Reserved

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