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TEACHING STRATEGIES Adult Learners Teaching adult learners is an exciting and satisfying profession. The students who attend paralegal programs are typically enthusiastic about acquiring new skills and are eager to learn. The varied backgrounds of students stimulate classroom participation. Some students may be newly minted graduates. Others may be legal secretaries, project assistants, or otherwise employed by law firms or legal employers and desire to learn more about the law. Some of these students may be attending a paralegal program to obtain a promotion. Others attend as a prelude to law school or with the thought that if they enjoy the work and the profession, they may ultimately attend law school. Still others are mid-career or making career changes. Finally, many students are older or postretirement or are entering the work force for the first time in a number of years. I have taught classes in which there has been a gap of more than 40 years between the youngest student and the oldest student. One of the most satisfying results of teaching such classes is to observe the friendships, rapport, and collegiality that develop among students with such diverse backgrounds. On the other hand, it is extremely challenging for an instructor to meet the needs of students who are sometimes two generations apart and have such differing goals. Whereas all (or nearly all) students in law school share a common goal, namely, to TESbe TBsaid ANKofSall ELparalegal LER.CO M become lawyers, the same cannot students. Most intend to become paralegals, but some simply desire to know a bit about the law without investing the significant amounts of time and money law school requires. Others may be functioning as paralegals and simply desire to sharpen their skills while others fully intend to attend law school as soon as possible. Each of these students brings certain strengths to the classroom. The younger students are often confident and are familiar with being in school. Those who are working or have worked in legal settings often have a wealth of information about “real life” in a law firm or legal department. Although older students who have not been in a school setting for a number of years often lack confidence and have concerns they will not be able to keep up with the younger students, they may bring invaluable life experience to the classroom. Often their writing skills are superior to those of younger students, and they are usually diligent, eager, and conscientious learners. In general, today’s learners and adult learners are active learners. They prefer being actively involved in the learning process rather than taking copious notes, reading a textbook, and then being tested on the material. This preference for active learning makes legal research and writing a fun and exciting class. Because the best way to learn legal research is to do it, students will spend a great deal of time in the law library examining the books and acquiring skill and proficiency at research. The challenging task of using the law books and finding the answers to
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