Instructor's Age
I have to admit I am a relatively young instructor (22) and usually my students never really gave this matter importance, nor had realized their instructor was half their age. In the last course I taught, the students figured out my age and it was an ackward situation... For some reason, I had the impression they were not taking me as seriously as in the first day of class. Can you provide me some advice to counter this situation?
Hi Carlos:
Instructor's age is not a problem at all. Just follow the steps;
#1. Don't discuss your personal affairs with the students and donot act as a pal.
#2. Be prepared for the class, show your mastery.
#3. Your lecture should reflect the course content and should be pallatable for the students.
#4. Select the proper methods and media.
HI Carolos,
As a young instructor it is up to you to establish that you are in control of the learning environment. If you don't take charge you students will and that will lead to a very long training phase for you. You can set the ground rules the first day, even though the students may not take you as serious as they should the first day. The key is how serious they take you the second day and all the days after that. You are the expert in the classroom and you are going to share with them your knowledge. You need to conduct yourself in such a way as to make sure there is no misunderstanding as to your status in the classroom. This is not to say you have to be overly harsh, just fair and consistent.
Through illustrations you can show your students that you have the knowledge base to be their instructor.
Gary
Hi, I am a younger instructor also. I teach medical assisting so we wear scubs alot. So I look just like they do. When I notice my class beginning to be more lax, I wear proffessional attire. Then they remember that I am the authority. So my advise is to be more professional. You need to stand out from the rest of the class. If they wear business casual then you wear suits. If they wear jeans then i would wear business attire. Know what you are teaching and follow school rules to the T because they will test you. It may sound silly but it works every time for me. I hope this helps because it does make your job alot harder when you are not respected as an authority figure.
I am a young instructor as well, but 1) I do not discuss my personal information with the students (when students ask I wisely say "I am old enough", 2)I do not give them the oppotunity to get on the subject, when they start discussing something that is not relevent to the lesson, I remind them what our topic is, 3)I remind them of the experience, the things I have done and how long I have worked at the campus - the school has been open for two years I have worked there for 1 year and 11 months. I am time wise, the oldest instructor on campus.
Hi Melissa,
Thank you for your comments about how to protray your role as a professional. Each of the examples you cited give support that YOU ARE THE INSTRUCTOR! By doing this you will be respected as the authority and your classes will flow much smoother.
Gary
Hi Annie,
Great example of using experience to your benefit. You are in fact th oldest instructor on your campus. Your other strategies for keeping the students on topic rather than on you are good as well. Experience has shown me that no matter the age of the instructor if he/she is respected, has rapport with the students, and knows the subject matter age does not become a factor.
Keep up the good work!
Gary
I am in a strange position because I am older than most of the other instructors here, but I am less experienced. Luckily I feel respected by the students and the faculty. I guess the only problem is sometimes I wonder if I have earned that respect yet. Perhaps it is just a self confidence issue realted to age.
Hi Sam,
You are in a different situation. The only point I would have on this, is try and play up your life experiences. To have an older experienced person in the classroom, even though a new instructor is a great assest. That should be a part of who you are as a developing instructor. Your experiences are what brought you to the classroom and now you can develop your skills as an educator.
Gary
I'm also taking ED201 about Hiring Instructors and the course talks about the difference between knowledge and skill. Knowledge is information you have to do a job, skill is the ability to actually do it.
I find most students tend to be resistant to my age because they assume I probably have the knowledge but not the skills. So when I briefly discuss my professional background, I list my experience, not my training.
Even if your skills may be lighter than your knowledge, find ways of doing real world projects. Do consulting, volunteer, whatever it takes to keep adding to your skills.
This also means you won't fall into the "Ivory Tower" category or the "Those Who Teach, Can't" fallacy.
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Good comments. Career colleges exist for the purpose of training students to succeed in their career area. Thus, experience really counts. These students are much more interested in the experience their instructor has rather than degrees. Having the students know that you have actually earned a living in the skill and/or knowledge area is so so important in establishing yourself with them.
Way to go.
Gary
I have a young instructor on my staff who is a subject matter expert. He had concerns like yours. He turned to humor control to establish class control. One example is clean hands. He would inspect every ones hands before dismisal. The class thought it was a hoot but it established him as the leader.
Hi Leslie,
Great example. Thanks for sharing it. This is an instructor that has a sense about himself and how he can manage a class of students.
Gary
I have the same concerns about looking like the students do and was looking forward to getting out of the scrubs and appearing more businesslike. I am not only a young instructor but a very tiny one at that, and I wanted to set the tone as class leader and feel street clothes would help me portray that image more so than scrubs. However, my program director suggested I wear scrubs because that is what professional Medical Assistants wear. I can see her point. I just make sure not to wear any scrubs with cartoons on them and that my scrubs are always clean and pressed.
Hi Annie,
Good question and one that dictates in many situations how your class is going to respond to your leadership. Your wearing of scrubs I think is important. You hit upon two key areas, no cartoons and having them be crisp is important to setting the field standard. You are modeling both what the students need to wear as well as how professional they can be by having clean, pressed scrubs.
Your attitude, carriage and rapport will help you to be the class leader you want to be, no matter age or size.
You are going to do well as an educator. I base this upon the questions you ask and the concerns you have about being a well prepared and competent educator.
Gary
i don't believe that the age should matter, but depending on the class it could have more of an affect. i have found that with younger age classes, myself being middle age can relate to them and make a few adjustments to my lecture and presantaion, and also the same if the class age is a little older. i think the biggest thing is being able to adapt to the class that you have.
