Teaching Adult Students in the Middle East

Abstract

The practice of adult education is that adult students have a great impetus to develop life skills and improve their knowledge. The purpose of this chapter is to critically analyze adult education in the Middle East by assessing its trend, differences, and similarities with the West, instructional practices and strategies, and challenges facing lecturers in teaching adult education. The increase in the number of foreign students in US universities is attributed primarily to the quality of education offered. At the higher education level, Smail and Silvera, argue that 21st-century educators should shift from authority and control in the universities to critical thinking, creativity, and project-based learning. With the world being interconnected, higher education and teaching in the Middle East will be streamlined with Western education. As such, there is expected change in the curriculum and teaching style in MENA regions with the western education system considered to be superior.