Adults who cannot read, adults who dropped out of school, adults who do not speak English, do not believe that they can be leaders. They are inculcated with the belief that their teacher is the authority in the classroom.
Self esteem is often very low.
At the same time, Adult Basic Education students are adults - they range from 18 to 70 years old and beyond. They are people with life experience. They have perceptions and a vision of what they want from education. They have chosen to return to education late in life and are making sacrifices. Because they have lived their lives without education, or without speaking English, they have developed incredible life skills to compensate.