Adults learn best in an environment of structured freedom created by thoughtful attention to a variety of factors, including space, time, questioning and assignments in which they feel supported, respected and accountable, but not confined. Considered attention to time boundaries, without rigidity or condescension, conveys respect for participants’ lives and work. Adults learn best from facilitators who are confident in their authority—but not authoritarian—who create questions and activities that are structured enough to provide an edge against which to define ideas, but that capture the complexity of real life and are thus open to a multiplicity of answers and solutions. Adults learn best when an environment of structured freedom invites them to bring to bear the full range of their intelligence, experience and capacity for self-determination.
©2008 NYC Leadership Academy