Should Teachers of Adults insist all students participate?

Question

I am teaching Adult and Community Education classes as part of a Certificate program. The students have to take my class as part of completing a certificate program. Some believe it or not are not overly enthusiastic about being in class and act bored. I try to make things as interesting as possible but you can not please everyone.

Anyway some students will not reply when I ask them a question. What do you think, should I ignore them and pay attention to the enthusastic students or force everyone to participate in class, or fail them?

Answer 1

As a fellow teacher, I know where you are coming from. But as a student, I was very shy and did not like to talk in class. One thing that worked for me was when the professor went around the room (in a predictable way) and asked us to give our opinions about something. This way, we didn't have to have a "wrong" answer, we could just say what we all thought. For example, you could read a quote and then go around the room and ask what each student thought of it. You could assign certain students certain questions to discuss with someone near them or if they rather write down their answer, that's ok too.

Be careful about trying to get people up making posters, doing presentations, etc. I very much resented that. Think about it yourself: would you like being forced to participate by talking out all the time? Some people participate by listening. Others like to write responses or take notes (like me). Why not require participation as part of the class grade but give them different options for participation such as writing responses to your questions, taking notes, or making eye contact with you to indicate that they are following the discussion.

Answer 2

I wouldn't force participation that may cause resentment.  While they may display a "bored" attitude they may be putting that on as a front for shyness.  I for one did not care to participate in class (be the vocal person), but I did gleam a lot from the classes by listening.

Answer 3

Make them all participate.

After all, that's the only way they're going to learn. If you ask them directly and they ignore you (i.e. don't even try to guess or work it out) then send them out. They might be adults but if they act like children and refuse to co-operate, then treat them as such.

Answer 4

If they are in the class then they should participate. Show them how you grade and how participation is included within your grading rubric.