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New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development  
29
Volume 22, Number 2, Spring 2008 
Dobmeier, R., & Moran, J. (2008). Dealing with disruptive behavior of adult learners. New Horizons in Adult 
Education and Human Resource Development, 22(2), 29-54.  
http://education.fiu.edu/newhorizons 
DEALING WITH DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR OF ADULT LEARNERS
Robert Dobmeier
Adjunct Professor
Educational Foundations Department
Buffalo State College 
Joseph Moran 
Professor Emeritus 
Educational Foundations Department 
Buffalo State College 
 
 
Abstract 
The adult education literature on disruptive behavior of adult learners was 
reviewed and a survey on disruptive behavior of adult learners was conducted 
with adult educators. The findings are synthesized in a conceptual framework for 
understanding the types and causes of disruptive behavior, which fall into the 
categories of inattention, acting-out, and threatening/harmful/violent. Factors that 
may contribute to disruptive behavior are the presence of a disability; history of 
an impoverished social background and/or of exposure to personal violence; 
personal stressors such as child care and job demands; and, in the learning 
environment, inadequate instruction, disconnection with the instructor and/or 
other learners, and ineffective intervention by the instructor. A set of guidelines is 
offered for preventing and managing disruptive behavior. It is further 
recommended that research be directed toward identifying interventions that are 
effective with specific adult education populations and how to train adult 
educators to deal with disruptive behavior.
 
There has been growing concern over disruptive behavior, including violence in 
educational and work settings, in the last decade. Adult educators have had to face the challenges 
of disruptive behavior by adult learners in the classroom and in other learning settings. 
Increasingly, there is the need for the adult education field to address this problem so that 
effective prevention and intervention strategies can be identified and presented to adult education 
practitioners in the field and to preservice educators in training. An exploratory review of the 
adult education literature was conducted to determine the nature, causes, prevention, and 
management of disruptive behavior in learning environments. Secondly, a survey was conducted 
with preservice adult educators at a college in New York State to elicit their views and 
experiences of disruption in the classroom and other learning environments.