Any classroom -- regardless of student age -- should have a set of rules. Rules are an effective management technique that teachers develop so that all of the students are clear on what types of behaviors are acceptable and which ones will not be tolerated. Rules are a firm management style for adult classrooms, but they also are necessary. Some age-appropriate rules for adult classrooms are for students to turn their cell phones on silent, only take phone calls outside of the classroom and to leave the teacher a message or email if the student is going to be tardy.
Educators of adult classrooms often establish objective-oriented management styles that encourage adult learners to prepare personal academic goals to strive for. It is important for adult students to learn the value in goal-setting, as this technique is used widely in the business world for professional development. Having an objective-oriented management style requires adult students to monitor their academic goals and check on them throughout the course so that they can evaluate their progress and see how they are developing.
Teachers who are in charge of adult classrooms do not have to do as much hand-holding with students as they do with younger populations. Accordingly, teachers of adult learners have higher expectations when it comes to student responsibility. The teacher will provide adult students with a course syllabus that outlines all of the project deadlines and homework assignments. However, adult students will have to stay on top of their homework, pay attention to deadlines and they are held accountable for turning projects in on time without much prompting from the teacher.
In an adult classroom environment, teachers might do less lecturing and more facilitating so that adult students can share life experiences that relate to the course work. Group discussions are a common learning format found in adult classrooms, giving students an opportunity to connect the working world to concepts and theories they study in class. The teaching and learning format also impacts how the classroom is set up. Adult classrooms might not be designed with all desks facing the teacher at the front. Rather, some adult classrooms are set up with the desks in a circle around the room, so everyone can see one another.