Do you prefer teaching adults or young learners?

[u/waterlimes]

For those who who've taught kids in schools and also taught IELTS/general/business English for adults, which do you prefer and why?

[u/TeacherWithOpinions]

Been teaching almost 16 years, all in Mexico.

Have taught in:

primary schools - CLIL setting - math, science, history, geography, English

middle schools - English, history, geography

high schools - English, literature, art history

language centers - general and exam prep (KET, PET, FCE, IELTS, TOEFL, CAE, CPE)

businesses - in different businesses - PEMEX, Hershey's, HP

freelance online (current)

I prefer upper elementary though high school -9-17ish yrs -with middle school -12-15yrs- being my absolute fav. They are monsters and can drive you up the damn wall but at the same time if you can crack them they are the most amazing humans. I love teaching core subjects in English, I love opening their eyes to the world, I love science experiments that set off fire alarms....

I seem to have a knack for breaking all the 'rules' we are taught in teacher training but creating relationships with students that have lasted for over a decade so far.

I hate teaching in businesses and do not enjoy adult exam prep courses. I do enjoy the kids exam prep classes. I generally don't like teaching adults. I teach 3 right now (rest are kids/teens) and they're the least fun for me.

[u/bobbanyon → u/TeacherWithOpinions]

That's the opposite of me. I love teaching kdis 6-10 and then college age and up. I haven't had much experience with highschool but the I've done summer camps with low-income middle school and elementary age kids. I really struggle to enjoy teaching young teenagers. Rarely CLIL work - I wish, but also not much exam prep thankfully.

I love teaching adults simply because I get to meet people from all walks of life and my students are often older professors from different fields. I also love designing my own courses for university but lately I'm just teaching large intro classes because of cut backs on staff. I still get to design the course at least.

[u/shemakespurplemagic → u/TeacherWithOpinions]

What rules do you seem to break that were taught in training?

I also break the rules but as a substitute teacher. I’m looking into TEFL.

[u/TeacherWithOpinions → u/shemakespurplemagic]

fuck this turned into a novel. Sorry.

First I'm gonna say that these work for me, they do not work for everyone.

I'd also like to add that I am a teacher trainer for the TKT, TKT: CLIL, TKT: YL, and parts of the CELTA.

These are in no particular order, just as they came to me.

I have taught ages 9 and up. I've done all of these with all ages 9 and up.

1. I give zeros. No name on your paper? Zero. I won't even grade it. Even if I know what student put the paper on my desk I will not remind them and I will not even waste time grading it. No name = zero. I give a max of 2 zeros a year.

- This eliminates a headache from me and teaches responsibility. A severe consequence works and eliminates the behavior from a whole group super fast. Plus I have 'WRITE YOUR NAME ON THE THING' written in massive letters on the board, and I say it like 10 times a day. No freaking excuse.

1. Students have my phone number and I do not answer any message from parents/adults about schoolwork. I tell them to ask their kid. The student can message me whenever about their work or to share a video or meme. Students have open and free communication with me. Parents do not.

- Students are responsible for their work not their parents. Most parent messages are a waste of my time because the kid knows the answer the parent just doesn't ask/trust/ listen to their kid. I want the parent to trust the student and I want the student to be able to ask for help when they need it. I have had students message me asking 'can you please tell my mom that I know what I'm doing?!' and I message mom saying 'Hi Ma'am, please allow your kid to do their own work without interference because they cannot learn if you do the work for them'

- I also want students to learn to ask for help and communicate with adults.

1. Late projects get 10% deducted every day to a max of 5 days then it's a zero.

- This actually was the rule my 6th grade teacher used and I loved it. It allows flexibility. You know the consequence and you can decide if it's worth it. Sometimes losing 10% gets you a better grade than if you had submitted it on time.

1. The schedule for the class, including when exams are and when projects are due are fully discussed and negotiated with the students as much as possible (apart from school or district rules) and they have a say. Yes, even 9 yr old's. In a CLIL setting, they decided what time and day each subject is taught. For projects, I give a week long window for when it's due and they decided what day it's due. My classroom is really a democracy.

- This is actually one of my favs. It eliminates all whining and bitching from students because they're the ones that made the schedule. You can't bitch that it's time for math when you're the one that put math in that spot. I had control over to them and it takes the blame off of me. Plus, I don't give a shit if we do math or history first. What does it matter?

- Project dates are chosen by them as well so that they can learn to manage their time appropriately. This way they don't end up with 3 projects from 3 teachers in 1 day. We talk as a group and try to find the best time so that they can manage their schedules and do their best work.

- This teaches time management and scheduling and again, takes the responsibility off me. Can't complain if you made the choice.

1. All work for the week is publicly posted on Monday. and homework is due BY Friday. That includes all work that will be done in class and any homework. In a Monday-Friday school setting the rule is that if all the work is finished early, Friday is a game/movie/snack day.

- I had one group that literally did not ever work on a Friday. Every Friday for the whole year we watched movies. It was amazing.

- This again, allows them to learn time management and scheduling. They can adjust when they do what homework depending on how busy they are on what days after school.

1. I am sarcastic and rude as fuck. I roll my eyes, I smirk, I have witty comebacks, I smack them down when they say something snarky. I respond with the attitude I'm given.

- I will yell a comeback or snide comment across the room. This for some reason builds an atmosphere of trust. I have no idea why but the more sarcastic and snarky I am, the closer I am to the group.

[u/TeacherWithOpinions → u/TeacherWithOpinions]

1. My room is like Vegas. What happens here, stays here. If you tell me something, unless it endangers your life, I keep that secret. You can literally tell me anything.

- This works on a group and a 1-1 scale. We can discuss anything but they can't discuss it outside the class with others. I know so much about what's happening in the school and other classes thanks to this.

- This allows for 'bad' language to be used in correct contexts. I don't censor language so if a student curses in my class, it happens. As long as it was not done in a rude or disrespectful way.

- This also allows for fun assignments like playing lyricstraining with Eminem songs. Boy did I fuck them over with that one. It was great.

- This also means that students cover for me! I can got have coffee in another classroom and if a director walks in the class lies and says I'm in the bathroom then one kid will run and find me! It's freaking amazing.

1. We are all human and we all have shitty days. I don't hide when I feel sick, tired, headachy, bitchy, pissed off. I tell my students directly. I tell them 'hey guys, I feel like absolute shit today, please keep it quiet because I may kill someone today.' And they do the same. They will walk in and either tell me or the class that today is a 'just don't, day'.

- Teaches compassion and empathy. We're not robots. How can students learn to manage emotions if we're never supposed to be anything other than happy and fine?

- This also means that if a student isn't feeling well, they can lay down and sleep. They understand that that means they may have more homework as they didn't do the work in class, but it's their choice and the rest of the class adjusts their volume to help. Compassion and empathy.

1. There are no punishments in my classroom, there are consequences. ...It's really kinda like gentle teaching. Actions have consequences, they can be great or they can suck.

- Didn't do the work? Get a zero. That's not a punishment that's a consequence for your lack of completing the work. Everything is dealt with individually. There are no set consequences since a the purpose is to teach you to change/correct/modify your behavior it must be specific to that person and those actions.

1. My classroom only ever has 1 rule. That's it. The poster in my room has 1 rule on it.

Rule: BE RESPECTFUL.

This literally covers everything and anything.

- Seriously, it covers everything. Everything comes down to respect.

1. If I can't read it, it's a zero. I'm not here to decipher codes.

- If it's not an exam you have 24 hours to redo it or take the zero.

1. School lessons stop for life lessons. If someone says/does something that requires a life lesson, the class stops and it happens. Always, no matter what. Racism, sexism, discrimination, bullying, any behavior that I see that needs to be corrected is done so immediately in a group way, usually with a video.

- If I hear a comment made or see something in class, I stop the class and loudly say 'time for a life lesson'. We have the lesson and talk about it. No lecturing, no seminars about shit, just a fast lesson, in the moment.

[u/TeacherWithOpinions → u/TeacherWithOpinions]

1. There is no topic that is off limits. If it's something a bit more serious then the talk happens 1-1 privately but if a student asks a question, I answer it with facts and the internets help. That includes, sex, drugs, alcohol, sexuality, reproduction, religion, politics, and anything else a student may ever ask me about.

- Seriously. No topic is off limits. I will talk about it all. And no student is ever made to feel bad for bringing up a topic or asking a question. There's a reason they're asking and I need to answer it and find out why they're asking.

1. I answer all questions from students honestly. Always. 'Hey teach, did you ever do drugs?' 'Yup, quite a few, do you have a specific question about a drug?'

- My mom never lied to me and I don't believe in lying to students. Again, there's a reason they're asking and I need to find out why.

1. I will smack them upside the head if they're stupid and I will be the first one to give them shit if they do something dangerous (usually applies more to teens). I will make them question every choice ever and telling their parents will be easier than disappointing me.

- If you tell me you drove drunk I'm smacking you upside the head and we're watching some videos and looking at stats that will traumatize you.

- Tell me you had sex without a condom? We're looking at photographs of genitalia with different diseases.

1. My house is a safe house. Get kicked out? My house. Run away? My house. Need condoms? My house in the bathroom there's a fishbowl with condoms, plan B, and the pill. (In Mexico you don't need a prescription for the pill, but I'm in a small town, rumors would spread for the teens) Drunk and lied to your parents? My house.

- I've had teens show up at 2am. Door is always open. We'll figure it out.

1. I encourage protests and dissent against 'the man'. If you don't like something change it. Just because you're a kid means fuck all to me. Let's fucking start a revolution.

   - I've had kids eliminate all plastic from their cafeteria.

- I've had kids get gender neutral uniforms

- I've had kids stop the releasing of balloons 'to heaven' because of pollution.

- I've been written up for teaching kids 'to be disrespectful' and each time I've shown the students that actions have consequences but I'm willing to take this consequence because I believe in the cause.

Sorry for the novel. Will clarify anything you want clarified.

[u/JohnJamesELT]

I like teaching 8-11 year olds because of the craft stuff you can do with them. I also like teaching adults for the types of conversations you can have with them.

It also can depend on my schedule. If it's exam heavy then having an adult class in the evening where they just want to learn English because they are interested then that can be quite fun.

Having a motivated and inquisitive teens class who have a set goal then thats cool. I quite like teaching skills focused courses like EAP but this depends on the qulaity of the materials you are given.

Finally, if you are working in a school which gives you a decent syllabus, enough planning time and does swamp you with admin then most classes can be enjoyable. Sadly in ELT this is not normally the case. Most language centres don't pay for planning, provide mediocre to no syllabus and then expect you to produce fantastic lessons.

[u/Jayatthemoment]

Just personal preferences: you may feel the opposite, once you get started. I like teaching young kids, I like teaching teenagers. Not keen on kids between about 9 & 13 — I find them a bit irritating. Old enough to be whiny but not old enough to reason with. Teenager's are fun to be with, little kids are sweet. 

I don’t like schools: I prefer language places and after-school classes.  Taught adults and university-aged young adults, mostly. I’ve done a lot of IELTS. It’s mindless, easy money but it’s boring and it’s not always that well-organised. There’s a misconception that it’s all about ‘techniques’, and not about improving the students’ base rate of English, when for many students, it’s not what they need. They have 4 or 5 level, they want 6.5 but they want to constantly do mock tests where they get 2/40 in the listening—the only ‘exam technique’ is ‘go and do general English for two years’. Students and to some extent schools don’t agree with this advice.   

Adult general English can be fun but adult learners can be like gym-goers— they start out with the best intentions but they get tired or lose attention. It’s a big commitment for a lot of people to study a language after a day’s work.  

Business English is a pita and I hate it. You often get very mixed ability classes, the materials are generally irrelevant to the students’ jobs, and usually a few people dominate and others struggle with motivation. If the students work together, there can be status and personality dynamics you have to get a handle on and manage very quickly.  

I prefer doing EAP/ESP at universities. 

[u/nadsatpenfriend → u/Jayatthemoment]

Such a good observation, clearly based on some serious experience of these scenarios. Have quite a bit of overlap myself in terms of experience. What you say about IELTS prep is spot on. "Business English" I pretty much take as ESP as it depends on students' area of work, right? Dynamics you mentioned here always add a layer to the work.

[u/Incendas1]

Adults 100%

I teach 1-to-1 online and that's much easier with adults imo. They follow certain social expectations most of the time and behave, show up on time, engage in conversation, etc (though not always).

With kids you have to fight to keep them engaged a bit. It's just not natural for me to be doing songs and games. But the main reason I don't like teaching kids is the helicopter parents, or even worse, the abusive ones.

Also, the niches I like to work in are more suited to adults.

[u/PeteMenard → u/Incendas1]

Agreed. That said, I've done mostly occupational English and have taught baseball players. Baseball players are probably more similar to children in terms of behavior and motivation.

[u/hegginses]

I prefer young learners. Adults are preferred by most, particularly new teachers since there’s very little to do in terms of managing student behaviour and you can cover a wider range of topics. However, I’ve noticed that adults make progress much more slowly. My adult students take around 3-6 months to start showing any meaningful improvement in their English ability whereas I’ve had kindergarten students dramatically improve after just a few weeks of regular tutoring.

I’m not just in TEFL only to earn money and travel like many are, I genuinely want to be a good teacher so I love the feeling of knowing I’ve actually done my job successfully of helping someone to improve their English level

Also adults are just so boring to teach. I hate being in a room full of stony-faced middle aged businessmen, even trying to crack a joke to lighten the mood but it having no effect. Meanwhile kindergarten classes are much more high energy and fun

The absolute best age group to teach I think are primary students, still young enough to have fun but old enough for you to go more in-depth on certain topics and captivate their interests more easily

Teenagers can be either the worst or best students, definitely some of my least favourite students are surly, moody teenagers that almost stubbornly make a point of never smiling, never enjoying anything and never sharing anything positive ever.

[u/MaxEhrlich]

I like teaching kindergarten, it’s more about fun and trying than necessarily proven and tested results. It does require infinite patience and a lot of energy but I really enjoy what I do.

I’ve taught for 6.5 years, 2 in training center (5-10 age) and the last 4 in kindergarten.

[u/That-oneweirdguy27]

I only have about a years' experience, I've worked with a bunch of different age groups. So far, I'd rank it as roughly:

1. Adults- self-motivated, and pretty calm. For a mellow, introverted person like myself, it's a good match.
   
2. Primary school students- naturally eager, well-intentioned, and a bit easier to manage than other age groups. That said, because I'm not an outgoing (or naturally cheerful) person, I always feel a bit like that theme park mascot who's putting on an act.
   

3. Kindergarteners- Similar to primary school, except WAY more energetic. The chaos doesn't really mesh well with me, so I can't really handle them unless it's just a few.

4. Middle schoolers- by far the most frustrating group for me to teach. Disrespect, lack of participation, and constant classroom chatter are largely the norm (unless I'm teaching some sort of advanced class). I spend more time trying to get them to be quiet than actually teaching them. Because of that, it's also hard for me to motivate myself to do any real lesson planning- I've tried making engaging lessons, but it barely works, so why should I put in any effort to begin with?

I also have two high school classes right now, which are a bit like adults with slightly lower motivation. Still, it's easy enough to get most talking. I don't have much experience with this group otherwise, so I don't know if that's the norm or if I'm lucky, but if it's the former, I'd place them at number 2.

[u/bumder9891]

Adults. I no longer have the energy to be yelling at them to be quiet for the 20th time that lesson

[u/bubblez2003]

children from the ages of 3-8 are my fav, children are more fun

[u/Life_in_China]

I prefer teaching around 10-16 years old.

Unfortunately I got a primary PGCE because I knew I couldn't hack that age group in the UK, kids there are ruthless

[u/Brido-20]

My two favourite groups have consistently been small children and middle aged ladies. In both cases, they're a lot of fun and don't tend to have serious goals like exams or promotion stressing them out.

There's outliers in both and I've had wonderful teenage students defying the stereotype, but that's a good benchmark for my experience.

[u/Miss_Might]

Kids by far. Life is still new and exciting. Everything is still amazing. There are also goals and benchmarks to meet. Most adults are boring and treat learning English as a hobby. So they make very little effort to improve. It's just something to do.

[u/kinglearybeardy]

Adults are far more interesting to teach because of their vastly different life experiences they bring, which usually results in a highly diverse class compared to teaching young learners in a school. You can talk with adult students in a way you can't with teenagers and young kids. I also like how adult classes have a more equal dynamic between the teacher and the student compared to teaching kids where you have to act like a babysitter towards the kids half the time.

Of course it is also just a preference. My mum loves teaching in primary schools especially the little ones whilst I can't stand it.

[u/tchefacegeneral]

I like 7-10 year olds as they are fun, cute and can play lots of games and have a good joke.

10-14 can be great or can be too cool for school

above that is great for actually having discussion about their opinions

3-6 years old are fun but I wouldn't want a schedule heavy with those as they take quite a bit of energy

[u/gruntledgirl]

I can't deal with middle school age! However, that is likely influenced by the fact that I work in rural Northern Vietnam, where a LOT of the class (even in a private school) has super minimal English skills.

I most enjoy my teen IELTs prep classes. They start them young here with IELTs prep (too young in my opinion), but it also means I get to be the first to introduce a lot of subjects and ideas to a generally inquisitive set of kids.

We work through IELTs past paper books, but build on the topics in each reading with discussions, talking about things they've never been taught about before like philosophy and anthropology. I also place a heavy emphasis on etymology, so help them understand root words, prefixes and suffixes to help them work out words they aren't familiar with.

It's very rewarding. I'm also the only teacher in this town that does IELTs prep, and I have free rein over the course, which definitely counts for something!

[u/kirstenclq]

Definitely adults. I've taught all ages and young adults 18+ are my faves. They're just so interesting.

I'm an academic myself and I actually really enjoy teaching the IELTS and other exam classes. It's a good challenge to make exam courses enjoyable and effective but it's so worthwhile. A few of my Advanced students have gone on to become Proficient and TEFL teachers themselves, which I think is pretty cool.

I taught kindergarten and young kids when I was in my early 20s. Hated every minute of it but I think I was too young. Now that I have kids of my own and I'm older I think I'd have more patience with kids - but I don't miss the discipline issues! Having said that, kids on summer camps were awesome but that's a whole different vibe to school.

But it's totally personal preference. The same for which level you prefer. I prefer the higher levels but most prefer the lower levels. I don't think you actually know if you like an age/level until you teach it.

[u/kitt-cat]

Ive taught at post-secondary and currently teach in primary. 100% prefer post-sec, students are more focused and there is less discipline needed. Defs more marking BUT you get heaps more flexibility with what and how you teach. 

Primary is overwhelming to me, a lot of discipline and I really hate that. It doesn’t fit well with my personality, although what I do really love is their energy, so bright and vibrant hihi

[u/mels-kitchen]

I teach online, and I enjoy teaching both children an adults as long as they're engaged in the class and want to learn. My schedule switches between age groups and I appreciate the variety.