The instructors you work with are all adult learners.  Different from participants in your programs, the adult learner has different motivations, needs and requirements for learning. There are generally eight principles commonly used to define best practices for adult learners. Below we will highlight the four which are most meaningful for your context. Understanding these principles will help you approach your training and orientation activities with a new lens. 

The following are best practices for adult learning that are applicable and most relevant to your instructors.

1. Goal-oriented; while we teach children many things for the sake of learning, adult learners are motivated by the why behind what they are learning. Adult learners should have a goal associated with their learning. Establishing learning outcomes and being able to communicate why certain material is included in training or orientation helps you achieve this goal.

2. Acknowledging learners have past work/life experience; adult learners will come to learning activities already having a background of knowledge that varies in relevance. It’s important to apply this principle when thinking about training and orientation for a few reasons. Firstly, participants will be able to contribute and add value to the training based on their own experiences. In order to maximize their ability to add value, you can ask/assess what learners already know about certain topics and encourage them to share their past experiences that might add value to the group. This principle is also important to keep in mind because you do not want to bore your audience with training/orientation activities that are far beneath their current experience and knowledge level.

3. Active and self-directed; effective adult training allows learners to take ownership over some of their own learning. It involves them in the process and encourages participation. 

4. Providing feedback; adult learners require feedback. Since effective adult learning is relevant to a current situation and has a goal in mind, learners need feedback to know if they’re on their way to achieving that goal. Feedback can be provided in multiple ways including formal evaluation methods and informal conversational feedback.