Job Discussion Forums

[Capergirl]

After browsing some of the threads, I see that some people have a definite preference of either adults over children or children over adults when it comes to teaching ESL/EFL. Which do you prefer and why?

[Shonai Ben]

I prefer teaching adults.I have taught many children's classes,and some of them were quite fun and I felt they learned something,but I have had too many classes where I was nothing more than bozo the clown.Being a clown for me is not my idea of teaching.Another turn-off with kids is that they are always sick and cough and sneeze all over me.Then I get sick.
Their attention span was something else to be desired.
Anyway,give me an adult class anytime,and after class we can go out for a beer.

[Cobra]

If you teach adults you have the option to go out for a beer afterwards.

If you teach children the option is gone. You MUST go out for a beer!

[Wolf]

I prefer to teach adults. I don't feel cut out to teach children. Unfortunately, where I live many locals have the "any foreinger can teach English to anyone" mindset. So when I tell them that I don't feel qualified, they are mystified. And I got asked to teach kids a lot this summer.

I'm doing a summer course with a dozen high school kids right now. That's as low as I'll go chronologically.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

I voted "only adults," but I taught a few children's classes that I enjoyed. The truth of the matter is that little kids wear me out!

I spent most of my adult working career teaching middle school and high school kids in public schools in the U.S. University "adults" are a breeze by comparison, at least those I've taught here in Mexico.

Hats off to anyone who has the patience and energy to teach little kids either in EFL classes or in elementary school!

[Roger]

Why is it that one feels more attracted to people one's own age? Because one is conditioned to talking like adults, right?
BUt adults have a fixed mindset, and you must make nmore compromises in order to accommodate attitudes and social/national reflexes. That's why I prefer preschoolers - here, I am one of those who condition young minds.
I do not feel insecure, far from it; children are so much more natural, curious, unbiased.
Of course, I also respect and like to teach mature adults. But schooling in most countries warps minds. In an authoritarian country, education is a means to maintain social "harmony"/structure/power structure. Few individuals escape box thinking. Teaching adults from a country whose leadership takes a paranoid world view is often unrewarding.

[khmerhit]

Both, but kids are a lot more fun, not as serious or dour (most of the time)
and they give lot more back. Adults appear to be easier to talk to but they arent really, though they are less work, since theyre not so unruly. Kids can be exhausting.

Im just wrapping up my bachelor of adult education. Its a huge and growing field (not so well respected) of which a great part is dedicated to the psychology of adult learners. Judging from what i saw of my fellow students, and my own reaction to returning to school, the kid in us isnt far below the surface!

[chinagirl]

I find both to be rewarding for different reasons. Adults usually give you more positive feedback than children, but seeing children learn and grow is sometimes its own reward. I love getting hugs from the little guys.

Chinagirl

[denise]

My ideal age group, which I am lucky enough to be working with now, is young adults--18-20 years old. Old enough not to have the discipline/sneezing/coughing/etc. problems that children have, but young enough to still be forming ambitions, opinions, etc., and young enough to still appreciate fun and games.

I cannot, will not, dare not teach children. I have no desire to sing and dance, wash faces, etc. I guess I just don't have a kid-oriented personality--I feel equally uncomfortable around them outside the classroom. I prefer to discuss, analyze, etc.

d

[Capergirl]

[Glenski]

Two points I'd like to bring up.

1. The age group of the children makes a big difference. Pre-schoolers and elementary school ages are one thing, while junior and senior high level students are another.

2. The setting for teaching children or adults does, too. Is it a formal school, like elementary or high school, or is it something less formal like an eikaiwa, or is it even more informal such as private lessons?

I guess, if you'd have to add a third point (and I'm always coming up with additional points, if you hadn't noticed), it might even depend on the age of the teacher. I would suspect that older teachers would not choose the children's classes (and might not be chosen for them, either!).

I've taught language school classes for adults from 18 to 83, and private classes for adults over 25, as well as high school students where I work now. My wife suggested keeping some adult classes just to retain my sanity on an adult look on life, because after teaching "kids" all day long, I would need something more mature, or I'd go crazy. She's right, but that's just my situation. (I'm 47, if that makes any difference, and I've always held a rather serious outlook on my jobs, whether they've been teaching positions or scientific research.)

If it seems I'm waffling on an answer, you're right. But, that's just because there are too many factors to consider here.

[Peter]

In
the past, teaching adults, I always be came disappointed with the endresult of the education system in China
The contrast with what was and what could but,but never would be in(as I have taught in NZ for so long) was too much.

Kindergarten work is repetitive and on the surface only, but the input equals the outget.....something you never get in adult classes

[yaramaz]

So far, I have found that I like teaching most ages, but for different reasons. I like kids because of their wild enthusiasm. If a lesson is masqueraded as a game, they can become totally immersed in it and never realize they are learning until it's too late. However, after a year of teaching 10-13 year olds last year in my turkish k-12, I found myself craving mental stimuli and physical rest. The kids were fun, the kids were pretty mentally undemanding (ie they didn't complain constantly that they weren't learning fast enough ergo I'm a bad teacher), the kids were pretty open minded. However, they were also noisy, chaotic, undisciplined, unmotivated. I had to be like a cheerleader and gawd I am SO not a cheerleader. A few times a week after school I did tutoring for two doctors and my one hour lessons with them were so calm and intelligent that I often couldn't think straight-- I was so used to spending my time calming down the students, demanding attention, and constantly repeating instructions. My brain didn't know how to deal with students who actually answered my questions AND supplied their own ideas AND asked further, intelligent questions. Freak out!

In Canada I had taught all ages, from 9 year olds to 80 year olds. Each had their merits. I actually found that I loved the 15-25 year olds the most. Intelligent, with their own opinions and ideas and life knowledge, but somehow not as fussy as the older ones who seemed to expect automatic learning. I.e. I 'tell' them English ergo they will 'speak' English. Kinda like some sort of Jetson's language-acquisition pill.

[Celeste]

I love teaching children, especially elementary school aged children. I can see that it is not for everyone. I think that classroom management and discipline are very important at this age, and it doesn't come naturally to everyone. Kids really need routine, so my lessons with them all follow a set pattern. First I have them all stand up and we greet eachother- in fabulous Japanese English style (I'm fine thank you and you?????) but it does signal to the kids that class has begun and it is time to behave accordingly. Then we usually do a song, one warm up activity and then the main activity, and then in the last 5 minutes of class, we have reflection time where the students can stand up and give their opinions. Most times reflection time is in Japanese, but every now and again, a kid surprises me and tries to do it in English. Very cool.

I had an interesting situation at the start of the new schoool year in April this year. There were a couple of new homeroom teachers at one of my schools, and they were supposed to combine their classes. I was waiting in the English room, and I could hear them coming from 2 floors away. The kids were going ape. As soon as they got to the door of the English room, I came out and said "Come in and sit down quietly please." All 68 kids were immediately silent, lined up in their rows, and sat down in the English room. They know the rules in English class, but they didn't start out that way. We had had to practice coming into the room quietly quite a few times at the beginning of the previous school semester. The new home room teachers were stunned.

I love teaching kds, but classroom management can be tedious hard work.

It is so rewarding, however when kids come up to you at the end of the school year to give you a big hug or draw you a thank you card.

I do continue to teach some adults, mostly teachers, and I think that it is good for me to dabble in it, as it keeps my mind from being entirely taken over by muppet like concepts, but I would have to say, I like kids better.

[Roger]

Thanks to Peter, yaramaz and Celeste for their votes for the youngest learners!
Teaching English to students from other language backgrounds requires a holistically-trained mind. You have to take stock of a student's abilities, and they are largely influenced by the local culture. If you begin at preschool level, you can teach them to learn our way.
Preschoolers learn how to learn, and only by the by do they learn other subjects as well. For most of them, school is a socialisation process, a weaning from more familiar surroundings and people. Discipline is a necessity if social beings interact with each other. I find that older learners often have some form of discipline, but not the right frame of mind to cooperate with a native English speaker. The end results of our teaching input very often is, as Peter put it, disappointing.
I do not have that kind of problem with young learners.