This essay is to consider and discuss how I might apply the theories of Malcolm Knowles, in my own current or future training work. The essay will include a brief biography on Malcolm Knowles, and his theory on adult education / learning andragogy, to include definitions of andragogy and pedagogy, which has been the mainstay of all education theory for hundreds of years.
The main body of the essay will discuss and differentiate andragogy from pedagogy, and how I might use Knowles’s theory in future training.
Malcolm Knowles Theory.
Malcolm Sheppard Knowles (aug 24th 1913- nov 27th 1997) was an American adult educator famous for the adoption of the adult learning theory andragogy , initially a term coined by the German teacher Alexander Kapp in 1833.
Knowles is credited with being a fundamental influence in the development of the humanist learning theory. During his illustrious career, he authored over 230 articles and 18 books.
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).
For hundreds of years the traditional, most frequently implemented and trainer, centred approach to learning has been and still is pedagogy.
Knowles defines pedagogy as “the art and science of teaching c...
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Sopher, M. J. (2003). An historical biography of Malcolm S. Knowles: The remaking of an adult educator (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Continuing, Adult and Vocational Education.
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Horton was interested in education for social change, he advocated that education be grounded in the learner’s experiences and included the use of questions to stimulate self-examination as well as examination of social systems. Horton’s approach to adult education has several key features. The key features in Horton’s approach are leadership development, social analysis, experience, learning and social meaning. (Pyles, 2013) Myles Horton’s organizing framework is a transformative approach anchored in the belief that societal change necessarily entrails a change in consciousness. (Pyles, 2013) Horton and his cohorts believed that people themselves are the authorities on their experiences and thus on their own learning needs and educational agendas. (Pyles, 2013)
The second chapter, "Formative Years," is a delight for readers who, like me, enjoy hearing others' stories and how they got to be where they are today. This section gives an in-depth background on the context in which Horton and Freire grew up and the major influences on their lives. Some of the points highlighted in this chapter include Freire's concept of "reading words and reading the world" (p. 31), distinction between "having authority and being authoritarian" (p. 61), Horton's emphasis on the importance of learning from the people and from each other (p. 41), and their agreement that education is not neutral (p. 64). The stories provided by both authors to illustrate these points projects great examples for the reader, from which each reader can reflect back on our own history to identify how we came to hold the ideas we have today.
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
As an adult educator my philosophical position is between progressive and humanistic (refer Appendix 1). Over the years my position has shifted due to changing job role. Five years ago my classroom practices were to control my environment with the aim to achieving the learning outcomes. Every lesson involved a typical demonstrate of the skill followed by the students attempt the task through a process of trial and error and finally feedback and reinforcement of the desired behaviour was provided this is what a philosophy outlined in behavioural adult education provide as outlined by Elias & Merriam (1995) in Zinn (1998, p. 70).
The use of the six principles of training by a 100m sprinter would greatly improve the athlete’s performance. This is because the progressive overload, specificity, reversibility, variety, training thresholds and warm up/cool down principles all greatly affect the performance of any athlete. The principles of training can be employed in order to improve all aspects of fitness, from flexibility to strength and aerobic endurance.
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...
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
A defining condition of being human is that we have to understand the meaning of our experience. For some, any uncritically assimilated explanation by an authority figure will suffice. But in contemporary societies we must learn to make our own interpretations rather than act on the purposes, beliefs, judgments, and feelings of others. Facilitating such understandings is the cardinal goal of adult education. Transformative learning develops autonomous thinking. (Mezirow 1997, p. 5)
From the article, Does pedagogy still rule?” it was crucial for one to understand that one cannot consider any learning approaches in isolation of the context or superior to the other. Educators should be aware that a new epoch has begun as new and unorthodox methods of learning and teaching become visible. There need to be a balance between delivering knowledge, while also taking into account the interest and experiences of the adult learners. Adult learners study the process of drawing conclusions. Marisha Mc Auliffe, Doug Hargreaves, Abigail Winter and Dr. Gary Chadwick realized that by following different methods and routes, they could come to different conclusions and also acknowledge the fact that their own assumptions play a role and can be changed by the process of learning. Ultimately, adult learners and professors will acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to optimally adapt principles of pedagogy, Andragogy, and heutagogy to create teaching methods and techniques to facilitate the “process of learning irrespective of the process of content.”These blended approaches ...
Andragogy believes that mature individuals learn differently than adolescent (Bethel University, 2013). Pedagogy is a way of teaching done with adolescents (Bethel University, 2013). Both of these ways of teaching both have a positive outcome but, Pedagogy is due to wanting a good grade or the fear of failure (Bethel University, 2013). Andragogy is for self-development and self-esteem (Bethel University, 2013). Pedagogy is very teacher based and the learner is dependent on the teacher for self-growth (Bethel University, 2013). Andragogy is self-directed meaning you help push yourself to learn (Bethel University, 2013). Both of these learning methods are good but, Andragogy I believe is good for an online environment. When you push yourself to learn and you're not directly attached to a teacher you feel more responsible for your education.
Edward Lee Thorndike was born in Massachusetts on August 31, 1874. He earned his education and degrees at Wesleyan University, Harvard, and Columbia University. In his lifetime, Thorndike had multiple honors and awards bestowed upon him for his contributions to science. Remarkably, while he has majorly influenced educational methods in the United States, Thorndike’s choice to follow a career in psychology drove from the opportunities presented more than his desires.
The concepts of adult education and adult learning varies from person to person and theorist to theorist. It is important to note that there are marked similarities regarding Adult Education and Adult Learning. Thomas (1991) states that “…education cannot exist without learning…” since they both contribute to personal and societal growth of the Adult Learner. These learning experiences are therefore integrated into the curriculum of Adult Education. This gives the Adult Learner greater liberty in directing their learning and its outcomes. In some cases learning practices are even adjusted with the discovery of new research.
Andragogy, the art and science of teaching adult learners is a theory most closely associated with Malcolm Knowles. Andragogy unites the student and teacher, allowing a partnership to blossom in the classroom. The teacher has a role that is more of a tour guide and less of the authoritarian. The teacher allows adult students to experience the education as opposed to observe one. Andragogy instruction is not fully content based, but focuses on the process of education, it is not just what you learn, but also how you learn. According to Mr. Malcolm Knowles (1984), five main aspects of Andragogy are:
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.