Assessor – assessed The moment one person is placed in the position of having the right to criticize the performance of another, the relationship becomes asymmetrical, dominance being attributed to the assessor. Even if someone else actually checks a final exam and passes or fails course participants, the teacher will be seen as assessor in the daily classroom process; and this contributes to their role as authority, already discussed above. In this aspect, there is little difference between young and adult classes.
Transmitter – receivers This relationship can occur in adult classrooms just as it can in others; it is a function of the methodology the teacher has chosen to employ rather than of the age of the learner. Because of the less formal authority of the teacher with most adult classes (as described in the paragraph 'Authority – subjects to authority' above), adults are perhaps in a better position to assert their right to question, criticize and generally participate actively; on the other hand, they do tend to be more disciplined and conform more to teacher demands than younger learners. The two factors probably offset one another, and it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions about the 'typical' adult class in this respect.
Motivator – motivated As a generalization, adults take responsibility in society: for their own actions and for their consequences. In the classroom also, adults take more responsibility for the learning process, and rely less on the teacher's initiative in making activities attractive or providing incentives. They are also usually more motivated in the first place (partly because most of them are learning voluntarily, while most children are given no choice!), and this motivation tends to be relatively stable: it does not, for example, rise fall so much in immediate response to more interesting or more boring teaching.
Thus although the raising and maintaining of learner motivation is an essential and basic component of teaching activity with all age groups, it usually demands perhaps less investment of effort and time on the part of teachers working with adults.
