1. The Adult Learner Knowles, M.S., Holton, E.F., & Swanson, R.A. The Adult Learner, 6th Ed. 2005. Elsevier, New York.
2. Agenda Terms: Pedagogy vs. Andragogy What are Pedagogy and Andragogy? How do they compare? Andragogy Model Knowles, M.S., Holton, E.F., & Swanson, R.A. The Adult Learner, 6th Ed. 2005. Elsevier, New York.
4. Pedagogy The Art and Science of Teaching Children Assigns the teacher full responsibility for making all decisions about: What will be learned How it will be learned When it will be learned If it has been learned Teacher-directed and Teacher-centric Knowles, M.S., Holton, E.F., & Swanson, R.A. The Adult Learner, 6th Ed. 2005. Elsevier, New York.
5. Pedagogy (Continued) Knowles, M.S., Holton, E.F., & Swanson, R.A. The Adult Learner, 6th Ed. 2005. Elsevier, New York.
6. Andragogy The Art And Science Of Helping Adults Learn Responsibility for decision-making shifts to learner Learner-directed and Learner-centric Knowles, M.S., Holton, E.F., & Swanson, R.A. The Adult Learner, 6th Ed. 2005. Elsevier, New York.
Here’s what we’re going to cover:Pedagogy and Andragogy—We’re going to define and compare them.Then we’re going to look at the Andragogy model itself and how that looks in regard to a couple of case studies.
Pedagogy is the art and science of teaching children. The teacher has full responsibility for all decision regarding what will be learned, how it will be learned, when, and if if has been learned. Pedagogy is teacher-directed and teacher-centric.
These are six principles of pedagogy, which are common to both models.The Need to Know: Learners need to know that they must learn what the teacher teaches only if they want to pass and get promoted to the next levelLearner’s Self-Concept:The teacher’s concept of the learner is that of a dependent personality; Learner becomes dependent on teacher.Role of Experience: The learner’s experience is of little worth as a resource for learning; Teacher’s experience is what counts.Readiness to Learn:Learners become ready to learn what the teacher tells them they must learn if they want to pass and get promoted.Orientation to Learning: Learners have a subject-centered orientation to learning; they see learning as acquiring subject-matter content. Therefore; learning experiences are organized according to the logic of the subject-matter.Motivation: Learners are motivated by external motivators (grades, teacher’s approval/disapproval, parental pressures, etc.).
Andragogy is the art and science of helping adult learn. The responsibility of learning shifts from the teacher to the learner, therefore, andragogy is learner-directed and learner-centric.
So, let’s look at the principles again from an andragogy perspective:
Here is a comparative slide on both models.
As individuals mature, their need and capacity to be self-directing, to use their experience in learning, to identify their own readiness to learn, and to organize their learning around life problems increases steadily from infancy to adulthood.The yellow line represents the natural rate of growth in a person’s independence to be self-directing into adulthood. The orange, dotted line represents the U.S. culturally permitted rate of growth.The area in between the two lines represents when pedagogy is practiced inappropriately; this is a time when andragogy would be appropriate for the learner.It probably sounds as these two methodologies are complete opposites; that they combat each other or are opposing forces.In actuality, they can work in unison to ensure success for the learner. For example, an adult learner who is completely unfamiliar with a subject matter is more dependent on the teacher to drive the learning.
So, this is the actual andragogy model derived from Malcolm Knowles, who’s considered the “Father of Andragogy.”Notice that there three segments with Andragogy serving as the core. The middle ring is Individual/Situational Differences and the outer ring is Goals and Purposes for Learning.We’re going to discuss each ring in detail starting with Andragogy but notice the arrows in the corners of the rings. This model is meant to “breathe,” if you will. It expands or contracts to meet the needs of the learners based on variables.
These are the core principles, which we’ve already discussed. Each of these can be affected by the two outer rings.
Individual and Situational DifferencesIndividual and Situational Differences are portrayed as variables, the differences that impact adult learning and that act as filters that shape the practice of andragogy.Subject Matter DifferencesDifferent subject matter may require different learning strategies. For example, individual may be less likely to learn complex technical subject matter in a self-directed format.Situational DifferencesThe situational effects category captures any unique factors that could arise in a particular learning situation and incorporates several sets of influences. For example, learners in a remote locations may be forced to rely on self-directed learning or learning for very large groups require learning activities that are less tailored to particular life circumstances.Individual DifferencesLots of research in the last few years on which and how individual differences affect the learning process.
Goals and Purposes for LearningGoals and Purposes for Learning are portrayed as Developmental Outcomes, which serve to shape and mould the learning experience.Individual GrowthThis is the traditional view of adult learning because andragogy is learner-centric.Institutional GrowthHuman Resource Development embraces organizational performance as one of its core goals. Therefore, the ultimate goal of learning activities is to improve the institution sponsoring the learning activity. Societal GrowthThe goals and purposes of adult learning are societal transformation and therefore education is a consciousness-raising process. The aim of education is to help participants put knowledge into practice and that the outcome of education is the transformation of society.
Our Challenge is tackling each one of these components and really putting the model into practice. Traditionally, we’ve addressed a few of these components but not on the whole. We’re starting to do that with new courses that we bring in, but we should be very mindful of the components and the model in order to make it work.