One of the most important things to remember about adult learners is that they expect to be treated like adults. This may seem obvious, but if you’re used to teaching children and you’re in a school setting, it may be easy to slip into “teacher/child” mode instead of “adult presenter/adult learner” mode.

You can’t send a disruptive adult learner to the principal’s office or talk to your learners in the same tone you might use for young children. Moreover, you can’t really ignore a question or concern your adult learners may have.