Analyzing adults in this generation means that we must be perceptive in understanding them. In recent years we have seen many paradigms describing adulthood. Actually, the journey of adulthood has a rich and colorful past, and most of the serious research has been done in the 20th century. As we study the adult journey, let's pause and describe what we mean by adult development.

We say that flowers develop from bulbs, that Maria took a roll of film to be developed, that Ron is developing a cold. Obviously all development means change, but not all change is developmental. For instance, if we change from an older small car to a sports utility vehicle (and incur a $37,000 debt!), it is a change but hardly a sign of development. (Some of you would challenge that statement!)

Change is inevitable and continual. But more pertinent to this discussion is the idea of development. Development is coherent and organized, somewhat predictable, and progresses from simple to complex. Obviously, the adults in your group want to develop, not just change. In the spiritual arena the term development means "getting better." Persons grow through learning experiences and because of maturation. People develop throughout their life span.

The interaction of maturation and experience varies as we grow older. In childhood and youth years maturation plays a more significant role. Adult experience begins to play a more important role. For instance, a small child cannot manipulate today's multifaceted remote controls, but adults quickly gain expertise in flipping channels. In Christian education one must truly believe that older adults should continue to develop, regardless of their physical condition.

Another way to describe adult growth is by age- and history-graded influences. In adulthood, age-graded influences include biological influences such as menopause and diminished sexual potency. They also include cultural events such as retirement, marriage, and the choice to remain single. On the other hand, history-graded events such as the worldwide depression of the 30s, the Vietnam War, the GI bill, and the introduction of Medicare in 1965. These events affect persons differently. For instance, the explosion at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in eastern Pennsylvania did not affect me. However, the rise and eventual fall of the Texas economy in the 1980s did affect my family and me. History-graded events also include such cultural developments as computers, television, and the changing roles for women.

Finally, nonnormative life events are unusual events that have a major impact on people. For instance, a man remarries following widowhood and becomes a father at 55, or a woman has great success in her business and retires at 40 to spend the rest of her life as a volunteer chaplain at a woman's prison. Such events, whether negative or positive, can cause stress if a person has not prepared for these events or has to have special help in adapting.

AdultApplication: Using an approach to understanding adulthood based on age and history is both comprehensible and flexible. Which age and historical events have shaped you? What kinds of events have shaped members of your class? Were events normative or atypical? Were they expected or unexpected? How do these influences on your life influence your participation in adult Christian education?