The Theory of Androgogy: Assumptions, developments and trends
Androgogy is a word derived from Greek word “Andros” which means “adult man” and the word “ago” which means “I guide”. According to Zmeyov androgogy is “ a new field of human science sciences, one of the new sciences of education that is now in full evolution” (Zmeyov:1998). One has to question this assertion as the origins of androgogy has its roots in the 1950’s and now 65 years later its difficult to see this as a new science, however the importance of this science may have reached a new place of importance due to a rapid changing and competitive society in the 21st century.
Malcolm Knowles in the 1970’s popularised the androgogy as a concept through his book, The Modern Practice of Adult Education. The term was already in use in Europe and referred to both the practical aspects of adult teaching and learning and also referred to the academic study of adult education.
According to Malcolm Knowles andragogy is based on assumptions about the characteristics of adult learners that is different to the assumptions about child learners which presents the adult learner as autonomous, free and growth orientated (Knowles:1980).
These assumptions are:
• Adults are internally motivated and self-directed. As adults mature, they move from being a dependant personality to increased self-directedness where they will resist learning when they feel others are imposing information, ideas or actions on them (Fidishun:2000).
• Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences. As adults mature they grow a vast base of experiences that could create a foundation of knowledge. People attach more meaning to learning they gain from experience than those they acquire ...
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...and values to be acquired by the learner (learning objectives), (2) how these objectives are to be accomplished (learning resources and strategies), (3) the target date for their accomplishment, (4) what evidence will be presented to demonstrate that the objectives have been accomplished, and (5) how this evidence will be judged or validated.
1.3.2 Constructivism as a theoretical framework
Professor George Hein from the Lesley College in Massachusetts, USA states that the term “constructivism” refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves as well as meaning as he or she learns. Constructing meaning is learning (Hein 1991).
According to Spigner-Littles and Anderson new information must be related to the learners “goal, experiences, previous knowledge, values, beliefs and socio-cultural factors where learners then construct their own schemas.
Pedagogy is the passive trends from transfer of information from teachers to students, Andragogy is about active information seeking by the learner. Pedagogy assumes that students comes into the classroom with no life experiences to build on. Andragogy assumes that students have prior experiences that they can apply to the learning process. In Pedagogy teaching structure is subject-oriented, In Andragogy learning is less instructed and more relevant, relevance to real life issues are usually more essential using Andragogy as compared to Pedagogy. Pedagogy assumes that students have few internal motivations to learn and must rely on rewards and punishments. Andragogy assumes students have more internal motivations to learn. In Pedagogy students are dependent on teachers, In Andragogy students are more independent and responsible for their own learning. Pedagogy is more authoritarian model and Andragogy is more collaboratively learning model. In summary Pedagogy is more suitable for children in most cases and Andragogy is more suitable for adults in most
Adults are self-motivated. They learn best by building on what they already know and when they are actively engaged (Lindeman, 2010). The approach of adult education revolves around non-vocational ideals and is based on experience rather than subjects (Lindeman, 2010). It helps adults gain knowledge about their powers, capacities, and limitations (Funnell et al, 2012).
What is andragogy? Andragogy consists of a theoretical model of six assumptions that was developed by Malcolm Knowles in order to “distinguish adult learning and adult education from other areas of education” (Mirriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007, p. 83). And so, andragogy might also be defined in terms of the efforts of “multiple researchers and scholars” (Henschke, 2011, p. 35) searching for a way to “establish andragogy as a proven theory and strong method for teaching adults” (Henschke, 2011, p. 35). But why is the topic of andragogy important for both adult learners and teachers? It is important because in order to effectively teach adult learners we must first “be cognizant of the differences which adult students bring to the classroom” (Schultz, 2012, p. 1) and to also understand that among adult learners, there exist “varying expectations and reasons for learning” (Schultz, 2012, p. 1). Andragogy is more¬over important to adult learners and teachers because both “learners and educators alike can use [it] to strengthen the learning transaction” (Mirriam et al., 2007, p. 84). With this brief definition of andragogy, along with the corresponding reason for its importance in mind, what now follows is what this paper is going to be about. The topic of this paper is an evaluation of whether or not the traditional learning environment is conducive to learning for adult learners as opposed to the andragogical environment. And the dual purpose hereof is to first briefly relate my own personal experience in a traditional learning context (under the heading of a ‘Traditional Learning Environment’), and then to reflect upon whether or not that traditional context (this time under the heading of ‘Andragogy Reflection’) i...
Knowles collected ideas about a theory of adult education from the end of World War 2, when he was introduced to the term “androgogy”. In 1966, Knowles meet Dusan Savicevic in Boston, U.S.A. Savicevic shared the term androgogy with Knowles and explained how it was used in the European context. .In 1967, Knowles made use of the term “Androgogy” to explain his theory of adult education. Then after consulting Merriam-Webster he converted the spelling of the term androgoy to andragogy and continued to make use of the term to explain his collection of ideas about adult learning. (Sopher 2003).
Hiemstra, R., & Sisco, B. (1990). Moving from pedagogy to andragogy. Foundations of Adult Education: Critical and Contemporary Issues, Retrieved from http://www-distance.syr.edu/literature.html
One theorist that is relevant to this study is Malcolm Knowles’s theory of adult learning. Though Malcom Knowles may not be the first one to introduce adult learning, he was the one that introduced andragogy in North America. (McEwen and Wills 2014). Andragogy means adult learning. The core concept of Knowles’s Adult learning theory is to create a learning environment or awareness for adults to understand why they learn .Knowles
Andragogy is the way adults learn as opposed to pedagogy, the way children learn. The term was first introduced by Alexander Krapp in 1833. It was later popularized by Malcolm Knowles as he described his theory of adult learning. He had 6 theories as to how adults learn:
Andragogy, made famous in the United States by Malcom Knowles in 1967, is the art and science of teaching adult learners as opposed to pedagogy which is the art and science of teaching but not distinguishing what age group (Rachel, 2002). Knowles implemented andragogy through the use of a learning contract, in which learning objectives, strategies and resources, achievement, and methods for evaluation are all determined by both the learner and instructor (2002).
“Andragogy is based on a number of assumptions about the adult learner. The European…meaning “the art of science of helping adults learn,”…” (Merriam, Caffarella & Baumgartner, 2007, p. 84) Adult learners need to have the ability to be self-directed, to be accepted as a peer, to have their experiences acknowledged, to have assistance and respect from the instructors, staff, and colleagues. Adult students do not learn the same as younger students because experience and past knowledge has formed a great wealth of wisdom in the adult’s informational range. Adult learning is in direct relation to the knowledge gained by the adult students.
Andragogy is the theory and practice of adult learning; the term “andragogy,” was coined by Malcolm Knowles in 1968 and is defined in its contrast to pedagogy, or the theory and practice of childhood learning. (Merriam, Cafarella, Baumgartner, 2007 p. 83-85) The principles of andragogy are founded on six basic assumptions; first, maturation leads to autonomy and self-direction; second, adulthood is characterized by previous experience and background knowledge; third, the capacity for adult learning is directly linked to the relevance of the learning in a social context; and fourth, adult learning takes place in relation to the problems solving application of the learning. Additionally, adult learners are intrinsically motivated and must have a purpose for learning. (Merriam, et al. 2007, p. 85) This “model of assumptions,” as Knowles called it, can be used to guide curriculum design for adult learners. (Merriam, et al 2007, p. 85) Educators of adult learners use the principles of andragogy to develop effective, goal-oriented curriculum. Learning happens as a result of experience; the tenets of andragogy can be used to create optimal learning experiences that are likely to engage the learner in authentic problem solving opportunities while engaging their background knowledge and past experience and with the goal of effectively applying the results of the learning experience to other, related problems in an independent setting. Adult learners benefit from best andragogical practices directly through metacognition and an understanding of the self and one’s own learning processes, and indirectly through optimally designed curriculum particularly suitable for adult learners. Fundamental to andragogy is a consideration of the...
Teaching the adult student is a great and unique responsibility; Andragogy preaches that teaching the adult learner takes a certain skill set and approach in order to be highly effective. The adult teaching theory and approach is based off the characteristics of the adult student. Andragogy views the adult learner as a very highly motivated student, a student ready and prepared to learn, and a student that comes to class with expectations of learning (Knowles 1984, pg12). With such a capable learner in the classroom the teacher must make the necessary adjustments. When teaching the adult learner, the teacher will have respect for their students and respect the fact that each student will have their own individual learning style. The teacher will also allow the adult student to experie...
Constructivism is a method that says students learn by building their schema by adding to their prior knowledge by the use of scaffolding (Rhinehart Neas). Because the students are basically teaching themselves new information, the teacher is there mainly for support and guidance for the students.
There are different theories or approaches of how an adult learn that have been discuss by educators. One of these theories is Andragogy, introduced by Alexander Kapp and developed later by Malcolm Knowles. According to Knowles andragogy is a learning theory that is developed on the specific need of adults, because they are self directed individuals who expect to take responsibility for decisions (Blondy, 2007, pp. 116-130). The adult learner needs to know why they need to learn a specific subject and they will learn it if the topic has an immediate value. Andragogy differs from pedagogy because in pedagogy learners bring no experience to the school and as Knowles stated, the motivation to learn is external, coming from parents and teachers (Blondy, 2007, pp. 116-130). Another approach to adult learning is multiple intelligences, theory developed by Dr. Howard Gardner in 1983. This theory argue that “ reason, intelligence, logic are not synonymous…” (Gardner, 1983) and stated that every person h...
Adults have had a lifetime of experiences. These make adult learners more heterogenous than younger learners and also provide an additional base of knowledge that can be used in the classroom or technology-based learning experience. Adults want to use what they know and want to be acknowledged for having that knowledge. Adults are independent and have the ability to self direct their own learning. The adults keen to learn if it is directly linked to needs related to fulfilling their roles and coping to life changes (Merriam&Mohamad, 2000).
The knowledge of adult education is limited. Further investigation is required to fully understand how adults acquire knowledge and learn most effectively. Based on my knowledge as program planner and educator I have developed some beliefs on adult learning. These beliefs are based on my observations in the classroom and through introspection as an adult learner as to how adults learn. I believe that adult learning behaviors are characteristically different from children. By understanding how adults learn we can better formulate learning programs. There should be a focus on how information is being shared and in what kind of environment.