In Proceedings ofthe Commission on International Adult Education [CIAE] Pre Conference, American Association for Adult

University Faculty have occasionally been asked if they model the kind of teaching they ask of their teacher candidates and the adult educators with whom they work in the public arena and the marketplace. On the one hand autonomous individuals or self-directed learners resist learning conditions that are incongruent with their self concept. However, on the other hand, autonomous individuals or self-directed learners flourish with learning conditions that help them realize their unique potentiaL Nonetheless, not all adult learners are self-directed. Depending on their knowledge and experience with the content, an adult learner can actually be in two stages of learning at one time. This has again been shown to be the case in the experiences of the authors in the USA, Brazil and Austria. This paper describes each of the authors ' journey in continuing to realize how to reach and teach various learners based on where they are in their understanding. As a Teaching Assistant in the Teacher Education program and the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UM-St. Louis), I [Amy Narishkin] taught methods courses to pre-service elementary teachers. At the same time, I was a doctoral student taking classes in Adult Education. During one of my semesters at UM-St. Louis, I took a course entitled liThe Adult Learner. " In that class, my colleagues included a nutritionist, accountant, pastor, and among others, a chef. I