Common Barriers Experienced by Adult Learners Returning to School, Group 1

1. Common Barriers
Experienced by Adult
Learners Returning to School
Group Assignment – DU-TEACH1980
By:
Catherine D’Amico-Maharaj, Heather Gregg, April
Leblanc, Hetal Peshavaria, Connie Wang, Stacie White

3. Barriers for Returning to School
Found Within the Case Study
O Time
O Finances
O Family
Commitments
O Motivation
O Self-efficacy

4. Carolyn has multiple priorities
that she must balance: her
children and family
responsibilities, volunteering,
working full-time, her job search,
and finally the commitment to
her education and the course
she is planning to take.
She may also need time to
adjust to the technological
platform that her online learning
course will be using (eg:
Moodle) and more time may be
required to learn the material,
given the years she has been
out of school.

5. Barrier 1: Time
O Bandura’s theory outlines “4 necessary conditions for effective
modeling…attention, retention, reproduction and motivation”. (Learning
Theories, 2015) If Carolyn is busy with all of her other obligations and is
distracted or stressed, she does not have the capacity to be “attentive”.
O The complexity of the online portal can make it difficult for her to navigate
to obtain the information she needs. Given that she has limited time to
allocate to her online course, retention would also be difficult to achieve
without full attention and she will be unable to review and understand the
material.
O This also affects reproduction because she is unable to remember the
topic or have a mental “picture” of what was learned. Due to a lack of
time she may not be motivated to imitate what was learned or apply it to
her everyday life.
O Time management is critical to self- directed learning success. An adult
learner must “find and manage time effectively to allow for learning to
take place”. (Cobb, 2011)

6. Barrier 1: Time
Methods to overcome:
Determine Flexibility
Carolyn will need realistic goals on
how much time she can contribute to
her studies weekly, daily and so forth.
By understanding what efforts she can
in reality contribute, she can choose a
class or two to see if her time can be
managed and if not she can adjust
accordingly.
Determine Availability
If she works during the day and has
family matters early evening, maybe
she can focus on school work at night
or on the weekend.
O The instructor can ensure a course
syllabus is provided in advance.
This will outline the scope of
learning outcomes as well as
identify course deliverables and
deadlines. This offers a platform
for feedback on weeks that could
be an issue for the students.
O Feedback allows the instructor to
gain a better idea of the time
constraints and personal
commitments that students have.
This may also be an easy way to
determine which students may
need a bit more assistance.
O It may be best, for Carolyn, to
divide larger assignments into
shorter pieces over a span of a
week or two. This can minimize
the weekly workload and allow for
regular feedback from the
instructor.

9. O As an educator, it is common to see
adult learners struggle with financial
situations. These can manifest as
increased stress and the inability to
focus.
O Abraham H. Maslow, in his Theory of
Human Motivation (Durham College,
2015), explains that physiological
needs must be satisfied first. If a
student’s basic needs are not met, it
will be extremely difficult to
concentrate on their personal
development and self-actualization
goals.
O Safety, the next level in Maslow’s
Hierarchy of needs, is another
necessity that must be met for the
adult learner. Being financially
prepared to return to school provides
a sense of safety and well-being for
the student and their family so that
the next stage of the learning process
can take place.
Finances in the classroom

11. O Carolyn is motivated by
the
economical advancement
of her family, after making
a decision to return to
school. However, she is
feels the burden of self
guilt; realizing that having
a family and being
employed full time is
proving to be a barrier to
getting an education.
O Family demands such as:
unexpected emergencies,
engagements, social
activities and
unpredictable
circumstances are making
her commitment to further
her education challenging.
Barrier 3: Family

12. Barrier 3: Family
Methods to overcome:
O Redefine the roles of
responsibilities within the
family. For example:
Having your partner be
the primary contact for
emergency situations
after hours and seeking
assistance from other
family members.
O Delaying and
rescheduling social
activities until after the
course is completed
In the Classroom:
O Inform the instructor of
unexpected
circumstances that arise
immediately
O The instructor should
also create online forums
where individuals who
have successfully
completed the program
are able to encourage
and support student who
are experiencing similar
barriers
Self-guilt is a real factor that can impact the mother’s success. Parents feel guilt about being
unavailable when their children need them, with mothers of children younger than thirteen
feeling the most conflict (Terrell, 1990).

14. Barrier 4: Motivation
Methods to overcome:
O Be proactive! Make the best
use of available resources
O Use job sites to find out
what employers are seeking
(like Monster and
Workopolis)
O Investigate aptitude testing,
career counseling and
course calendars at the
local college
In the Classroom
Carolyn, with her deficiency
needs met, is highly
motivated to upgrade her
professional business skills to
improve her family’s quality of
life.
O An instructor would be thrilled
to have a motivated student
like Carolyn, in class (or on-
line) as they recognize the
sacrifice she is making to be
there and her desire to
succeed.
O The instructor could suggest
that Carolyn submit her
previous diploma for
consideration as she may be
able to transfer some of her
past coursework toward this
new credential.

16. Barrier 5: Self-efficacy
After returning to the workforce
following a long hiatus, and facing the
daunting prospect of also returning to
school, it is easy to understand the
self-doubt and lack of confidence
Carolyn feels. If Carolyn does not
have the self-confidence in herself, it
will be difficult for her to learn and
absorb new concepts because of her
self-doubt. Ultimately this will be an
obstacle for to advance her
knowledge and achieve new heights
in her career.
Methods to overcome:
O Find others in your class that are
in a similar situation. Be supportive
to one another.
O Uncover common ground between
new learning and real-life.
Knowing that you have shared
accomplishments will build
confidence
O As defined by Bandura
(1997), self-efficacy is "a
person’s belief about
his/her abilities to
complete specific
actions" (Vilkas &
McCabe, 2014).
O There are four key
factors that influence
self-efficacy: mastery,
vicarious experience,
social persuasion and
psychological factors
(McCabe & Vilkas,
2014).

19. References
Anderson, Charles & Johnson (2003). The impressive psychology paper.
Chicago: Lucerne Publishing.
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http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html
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20. References
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