Response to "Older College Students as Tutors for Adult Learners in an Urban Literacy Program" by Daphne Ntiri

     The program described by Daphne Ntiri in “Older College Students as Tutors for Adult Learners in an Urban Literacy Program” is of great interest to me personally both because I was both an older college student and a tutor of adult learners. Of particular interest to me were the differences in “norms” between older and traditional college students. The article states that, “norms more characteristic of adults than traditional age college students include good class attendance, attentiveness, active class participation, motivation, completion of assignments, self-reliance and academic honesty” (49). This quote bears out my personal observations with regard to the older students I’ve encountered during my long and sometimes sporadic pursuit of post-graduate education.      I think that older students have experienced more obstacles with regard to attaining higher education and it is, therefore, perceived as something more valuable to us. In addition, because we have experienced difficulty in reaching standards we’ve set for ourselves we can better understand the experiences of adult learners generally. Perhaps, we offer a kind of support that traditional students can’t. We can say things like, “I hear you. I understand your situation. I know it’s hard, but you have to keep working. If I could do it, you can do it.” These things we say combined with the help we can provide offer both academic and emotional support for adult learners. Adult students might also feel more comfortable sharing their perceived inadequacies with tutors who have perceived inadequacies in themselves. Perhaps, they don’t feel judged as someone who has ever lacked anything except the opportunity to learn.