Malcolm Knowles Androgogy Theory Essay

“The individual, independence and self-direction are central to Knowles’ assumptions and principles” (Leach, 2011, p.117) of androgogy which he is defined by as “the art and science of helping adults learn”. It cannot be kept entirely separate from pedagogy, as Knowles had initially implied, when it is put into practice because it is a “system of assumptions that includes…pedagogical assumptions” (Knowles, Holton & Swanson, 2011, p.70). Malcolm Knowles’ 1970s Principles of Motivation as discussed by Knowles et al (2011) are central to his theory of androgogy. Initially these principles considered that, adults bring life experiences and knowledge; adults are goal oriented; adults are relevancy oriented; adults are practical. Later, two

Self-concept; “Adults have a self-concept of being responsible… for their own lives..they develop…a need to be seen..and treated…as being capable of self-direction.” (Knowles et al, 2011, p.63) Role of experience. “Adults come to educational activity with both a greater volume and a different quality of experience from that of youths…this has several consequences for adult education” (Knowles et al, 2011, p.64). Being involved in teaching low-level literacy learners in a community-based English language programme means that my adult learners are older migrants, mostly from Refugee backgrounds who have experienced little or no formal education, even in their first language. Their practical life experience is vast and has sometimes been traumatic prior to arriving in New Zealand. Their academic level is close to that of an Intermediate age child at best and most have acquired less than the first 1000 most common English words. It is for this reason that I believe that while these learners should contribute to the direction of their learning in so far as deciding the purpose, as functioning independent adults; there is little autonomy in their learning as they still require a relatively high degree of support. These learners need a variety of techniques that encourage them to use and extend