Nontraditional Teacher Education Students: A Synthesis of the Literature

Abstract

Nontraditional students are a growing part of teacher education programs. Nearly 50% of all college students in the United States are at least 25 years old (Aslanian, 1996). The increased numbers of nontraditional students has affected teacher education. Sixty-four percent of all National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)--approved institutions offer postbaccalaureate programs leading to teacher certification; 40 states provide alternative routes to teacher certification (Carroll & Potthoff, 1997). Although teacher education programs throughout the country have many adult students, literature on nontraditional teacher education students is sparse and unsystematic (Eifler, 1997; Potthoff & Anderson, 1994). Most information about them is from descriptions of alternative certification programs to ameliorate teacher shortages or facilitate career transitions for former corporate and military personnel. These studies provide little sense of how older candidates perform in classrooms or how well teacher education programs meet nontraditional teacher candidate needs. We examined 40 studies of nontraditional students and prospective teachers; only 12 were research-based. Studies of alternative certification programs dominate the literature on nontraditional teacher education students. The studies focus primarily on a subset of nontraditional teacher education students, those changing careers. Researchers lack a shared understanding about characteristics of nontraditional teacher education students; age is only one relevant characteristic. Extensive life experiences and multiple commitments while enrolled in teacher education are more significant than age in determining a person's nontraditional status. Although we draw most heavily upon the research-based studies, we also include insights from program descriptions and synthesize the knowledge gleaned from those studies. In this article, we comment on the characteristics and needs of older students in their education and induction as teachers, beginning with summaries of major points of Kyle (1979) and Knowles (1992). We move from these general profiles to the unique strengths and challenges of nontraditional teacher education students; we present teacher education's responses to this growing population. We show how teacher educators deal programmatically with older students and how they facilitate older students' transitions into their own classrooms. We conclude with a set of practical implications and questions this research generated. Adult Learner Profiles Kyle (1979) noted that nontraditional students have the following characteristics: They attend more than one institution for a degree, attend part-time, have multiple family and professional commitments, are not financially dependent on parents, reflect no predominant socioeconomic status, and represent all racial groups. The studies we reviewed generally affirm this composite picture. The College Board study (Aslanian, 1996), although confirming that nontraditional students are diverse, indicates that the typical adult student is a White, 33-year-old female. Knowles (1992) asserts seven assumptions of andragogy: Adult learners need to know why they need to know something before they start learning it; have a self,concept of being responsible for their own decisions and lives; bring a greater degree of varying experiences into the classroom than younger students do; become ready to learn when forced to deal with their real-life situations; are life-centered in their orientation to learning; are motivated by several factors: negative self-concept, inaccessibility of opportunities, time constraints, violations of principles of adult learning; and favor being active learners over being passive learners (p. 11). College professors generally favor older students, a condition positively affecting their academic performance. Melichar (1994) reports that the 400 college instructors she surveyed were overwhelmingly more positive toward nontraditional students than traditional students in every regard, citing their ability to concentrate, sound reasoning and listening skills, eagerness to learn, initiative, and time management. …