What are the characteristics of adulthood? We can begin to explore these by recalling a remark made above: sometimes we describe people of adult age as behaving like children, and some children are described as behaving like adults. This suggests that we might identify some of the characteristics of adulthood by considering what we expect of adults, for example in their behaviour.
A short list might include words like maturity, experience, responsibility and independence. We expect adults to show maturity in their behaviour for example; we do not, expect adults to fly into a rage just because they cannot have exactly what they want immediately. We expect adults to have experience of life, and to draw on that experience in making decisions. We expect adults to take responsibility for their decisions. We expect adults to show independence, making their own decisions.
This does not mean that all adults fulfil these expectations all the time. However, if someone has reached adulthood, we expect him or her to show more of these characteristics rather than less. It is important to recognize that adulthood is a state that is incomplete. Adults are changing and developing all the time, just as children are. But in adults the changes are less dramatic, usually.
We should now note another word of caution: words like maturity and independence are slippery. What counts as maturity in one context will not necessarily count in another, and the same is true of words like independence and responsibility.
Clearly defining adulthood is hard. We can see that adulthood involves a range of attributes, of which we have noted some. Our judgement about whether or not someone has achieved adulthood will involve assessing the extent to which they display appropriate attributes.
The immediate significance of this for adult learning is this: we cannot assume that all adults are the same. They differ markedly, and those differences affect the way they learn. To see this we shall look further at some of the characteristics of adulthood which are of significance for learning.