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AdultLearningLinkingTheoryandPracticeChapterThree.pdf
CHAPTER THREE
ANDRAGOGY: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF HELPING ADULTS LEARN
42
Scenario 1: One of the worst adult learning experiences I had was when I signed up for a six-week community education course on “How to Figure Your Own Income Taxes.” The room was too small for the number of people who had signed up and we were forced to sit in rows in small desk chairs. After taking attendance the instruc- tor sat on the teacher’s desk and talked non-stop for three hours about the new tax codes and new regulations. She never asked us why we had signed up, what we wanted to learn, or what questions we had. I decided to give it one more try. The second week she again sat on the desk and talked about tax issues related to retire- ment (although no one appeared to be of retirement age), and how to deal with operating a business out of your home. I left and never returned. (Sharan)
Scenario 2: A memorable worst experience for me was attending a week-long training on diversity staffing sponsored by a nationally prominent human resource management society. Participants sat for the entire week being lectured at by a parade of prominent white males (for example, vice presidents of staffing and diver- sity at Fortune 500 corporations). It seems the importance of recruiting and retaining a diverse staff was lost on the program planners. Not only was the importance of diverse staffing not modeled by the presenters, but also the issue of diversity was addressed in the most cursory fashion. In addition to poor role modeling, the peda- gogy was instructor-centered. There were no opportunities to compare notes with other human resource managers about their staffing challenges. The instructors never sought feedback on whether the participants’ needs were being met. Participants
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Andragogy 43
struggled to stay awake and were visibly checking their watches, shifting in their seats, and not paying attention. (Laura)
Scenario 3: One of the best adult learning experiences was the time I was invited to accompany a South African friend to her wine-tasting class. This particular session involved some wine-tasting but also a review for an exam the following week. We were seated at long tables and each person was given four food samples (beef jerky, cheese, salty crackers and chocolate) and asked to rate which of the five wines went best with each food sample. By a show of hands she recorded our “answers” into a 4′×5′ chart on the blackboard. While the wines that were best with certain foods clustered in the appropriate boxes, there were some “votes” in every box. She made the point that while there may be a “preferred” coupling, wine preference is indi- vidual and there was nothing “wrong” with our votes. She then reviewed for the test by throwing out questions to the group from the material, and further indicated what was important to know for the test and what could be ignored. (Sharan)
Scenario 4: A favorite learning experience was spending a week learning the theo- ries behind the Learning Organization at MIT under the guidance of Peter Senge. Although there were 100 participants, there were multiple opportunities for engage- ment. All learners sat in a very comfortable leather executive chair on wheels that was adjustable for comfort. There were no tables, allowing learners to quickly move into new groups. Each day began with a silent meditation and was varied with brief lectures, simulations, embodiment exercises, games, themed meals, movies, applica- tion exercises, and opportunities for individual and group reflection. Learners had opportunities to meet and work with different learners and were challenged to “think outside the box.” The sessions were visually compelling with art displayed through- out the training room, inspirational quotes, music during breaks, and toys to play with. Not only was the experience highly engaging, but also very educational. I still refer back to my journal from that session, almost 20 years later! (Laura)
The preceding scenarios highlight differences between good and bad adult learning experiences. In the tax class and staffing training, not only was the physical setting uncomfortable, the instructors had no idea what the needs of the learners were. Sharan, for example, wanted to go through the form line by line, learning which figures go where. Laura wanted to learn what other staffing managers were doing in their practice and how to recruit and retain a diverse workforce. Further, instructors lectured nonstop, never asking questions, or giving opportunities to inter- act with other participants. In contrast, the wine-tasting event and learning organization workshop fully engaged the participants through a variety of activities, valued the participants’ contributions, and enabled participants
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44 Adult Learning
to learn from each other as well as gain personal expertise. Creating good learning experiences for adults is what andragogy is all about. In this chapter we explain where andragogy came from, its underlying assump- tions about the adult learner, some critiques, and finally, how it is being applied in practice.
Before Andragogy
Human beings have always engaged in learning—learning to survive, learning to live in a social group, learning to understand the meaning of our experiences. And interestingly, “all the great teachers of ancient times were teachers of adults, not children” (Ozuah, 2005, p. 84). Savicevic (2008) points out that “Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum were adult education institutions” (p. 366) and that these teachers as well as Chinese, Hebrew, and Christian educators used dialogue, parables, and what today we would call problem-based learning activities with adults. It was not until monasteries in the seventh century established schools for children that the term “pedagogy” came into use. Pedagogy, Knowles (1973) tells us, “spread to the secular schools of Europe and America and, unfortunately, was much later applied even to the education of adults” (p. 42). Neverthe- less, the seeds of an approach to adult learning as being different from pedagogy can be found with scholars of antiquity.
While we have stories of these ancient adult educators, there was no systematic investigation of learning until the late 19th and early 20th cen- turies. Behavioral and social scientists from Pavlov and Skinner to Piaget, Freud, and humanists Maslow and Rogers used the investigative tools of their day to try to understand the nature of learning. It is from them and others that we have what we call “traditional” learning theories. Behavior- ism, humanism, cognitivism, social cognitivism, and constructivism are five traditional learning theories that we reviewed in the previous chapter in this book. Adult Learning by Thorndike et al. in 1928 was the first publica- tion from this period to report on “scientific” studies with adult learners rather than animals or children.
Aside from Thorndike’s work, much of the writing on adult learning in the early decades of the 20th century was social philosophy oriented. Lindeman, in his classic The Meaning of Adult Education in the United States, first published in 1926, the same year of the founding of American Asso- ciation for Adult Education, wrote about the dual purpose of adult educa- tion, that of changing individuals and changing society. He also identified
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Andragogy 45
the learner’s experience as “the resource of highest value in adult educa- tion” and “the adult learner’s living textbook” (1926/1961, pp. 9–10). Further, Lindeman proposed that adult learning be built around “needs and interests” which are embedded in an adult’s situation—“his work, his recreation, his family life, his community life . . . Adult education begins at this point” (pp. 8–9). Interestingly, Lindeman who used the term “andr- agogy” in an article in 1926, and in The Meaning of Adult Education, pre- sented it as a method for teaching adults (Henschke, 2011). Knowles was apparently unaware of this early usage of the term.
Until the 1970s, adult educators relied on Lindeman and other social philosophers and on behavioral and cognitive research in learning, memory, and intelligence for understanding and designing instruction for adult learners. Knowles (1984) himself talks about his unease teaching adults in the 1930s and 1940s: “I tried to find a book that would tell me how to conduct a program of this sort, and I couldn’t find one. So I sought out people who were directing adult education programs . . . and formed an advisory council to give me guidance” (p. 2). Lindeman and his book “enlight- ened me about the unique characteristics of adults as learners and the need for methods and techniques for helping them learn” (Knowles, 1984, p. 3). He sums up this period between the 1930s and 1970s: “It is interest- ing to me now, in retrospect, that although there was general agreement among adult educators that adults are different from youth as learners, there was no comprehensive theory about these differences. The literature was largely philosophical and anecdotal” (Knowles, 1984, pp. 3–4).
Only gradually did resources on adult learners and adult learning begin to appear which helped move the field towards identifying how learning in adulthood was distinguishable from learning in childhood. Two were particularly important because they were based on research with adult learners. Houle’s The Inquiring Mind, published in 1961, reported on a study of 22 adult learners and their motivations for learning. He found some were goal-oriented in that they had clear-cut objectives in their learning, some were activity-oriented where the primary motivation was human interaction, and others were learning-oriented wherein the adults seek knowledge for knowledge’s sake. The other research-based study was Tough’s The Adult’s Learning Projects (1971). Building on Houle’s work in this study of the learning projects of 66 people, Tough is credited with beginning a line of inquiry still viable today—that of self-directed learning. He found that self-directed learners often spend hundreds of hours on their learning project, a project which they plan, implement, and evaluate on their own.
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46 Adult Learning
In 1967 Yugoslavian adult educator Dusan Savicevic attended one of Knowles’s workshops on adult learning and introduced him to the term “andragogy,” a term widely used in Europe “to provide a label for the growing body of knowledge and technology in regard to adult learning” (Knowles, 1984, p. 6). Knowles first wrote about andragogy in an article published in 1968, and by 1970 had published the first edition of The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy Versus Pedagogy. In a recent article, Savicevic (2008) seems ambivalent about Knowles’ popularization of andragogy. He says Knowles “reduced andragogy to a prescription, recipes for teachers’ behavior in the process of education and learning” (Savicevic, 2008, p. 374). Savicevic also writes that through his writing and lectures, Knowles enabled the term to “become rooted in the American professional literature” and that “his contribution to dissemination of andra- gogical ideas throughout the USA is huge” and “the history of andragogy will put him on a meritorious place in the development of the scientific discipline” (Savicevic, 2008, p. 375).
In any case, andragogy as promoted by Knowles is considered the first systematic formulation laying out the differences between children and adult learners. Andragogy contributed to the development of the field of adult education at a time when adult educators were struggling to establish their own identity separate from childhood education. Andrag- ogy helped “professionalize” the field of adult education by establishing a knowledge base unique to adult learners.
Assumptions About Adult Learners
“A new label and a new technology” of adult learning is how Knowles introduced andragogy to American educators in 1968 (p. 351). Pedagogy comes from the “Greek word ‘paid,’ meaning child (plus ‘agogus’ meaning leader of ). So, literally, pedagogy means the art and science of teaching children,” (Knowles, 1973, p. 42–43) while andragogy comes from the Greek word aner, meaning man, so andragogy refers to helping adults learn (Knowles, 1973). Of course having a term to differentiate adult learning from pedagogy was not enough to establish a robust theory of adult learning. It is at this point that Knowles drew heavily from Linde- man’s ideas regarding adult learning being situation-motivated, and experience-centered. Knowles (1973) was perhaps less concerned with a definition of andragogy than with “differentiating between the assumptions about learners that have traditionally been made by those who practice
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Andragogy 47
pedagogy in contrast to the assumptions made in andragogy” (p. 43, italics in original). In introducing andragogy, Knowles (1980) proposed the fol- lowing four assumptions:
1. As a person matures, his or her self-concept moves from that of a dependent personality toward one of a self-directing human being.
2. An adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience, which is a rich resource for learning.
3. The readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmen- tal tasks of his or her social role.
4. There is a change in time perspective as people mature—from future application of knowledge to immediacy of application. Thus, an adult is more problem centered than subject centered in learning (pp. 44–45).
A fifth and sixth assumption appeared in later publications:
5. Adults are mostly driven by internal motivation, rather than external motivators (Knowles & Associates, 1984).
6. Adults need to know the reason for learning something (Knowles, 1984).
Each of these assumptions has implications for program design and instruction. While a pedagogical model emphasizes content—content determined, organized, delivered, and evaluated by the teacher—an andra- gogical model emphasizes process. In this model, the facilitator sets a climate for learning that physically and psychologically respects adult learners and then involves the learners in the planning, delivery and evalu- ation of their own learning (Knowles, 1984). Following is a more detailed discussion of each of the assumptions underlying andragogy and their application to practice.
The Learner’s Self-Concept
This first assumption posits that as people mature they become more independent and self-directing. An infant, for example, is totally dependent on others for survival. Children slowly learn to do things for themselves, but are still rather dependent on adults for most aspects of their lives. The teen years bring more independence and by young adult- hood people are expected be responsible for their own lives.
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48 Adult Learning
This difference in self-concept between a child and an adult is reflected in how we often encounter a child or an adult. We ask children how old they are or what grade they are in at school because it is assumed that their primary role in life is that of full-time student. With an adult we are much more likely to ask about their family, work, or community engagement—reflecting the adult roles of being independent, contribut- ing members of society. Because adults see themselves as independent and self-directing, there develops “a deep psychological need to be perceived by others, and treated by others, as capable of taking responsibility for ourselves” and if “others are imposing their wills on us without our par- ticipating in making decisions affecting us, we experience a feeling, often subconsciously, of resentment and resistance” (Knowles, 1984, p. 9).
This “resentment and resistance” is what happens when an instructor uses pedagogical strategies with adult learners. Adults who make decisions on a daily basis with regard to family, work, and community life suddenly find they have no voice in what and how they learn something. Knowles points out that this is a “special problem” for adult educators because even though most adults are self-directing in major areas of their lives, “the minute they walk into a situation labeled ‘education,’ ‘training,’ or any of their synonyms, they hark back to their conditioning in school, assume a role of dependency, and demand to be taught. However, if they really are treated like children, this conditioned expectation conflicts with their much deeper psychological need to be self-directing” (Knowles, 1984, p. 9). This dependency in a learning situation needs to be addressed gradu- ally, working with adults in ways that allow for increased self-direction in their learning.
The fact that adult learners can be presumed to have a more inde- pendent self-concept than a child and therefore be more self-directed in their learning does not imply that all adults are always self-directing and can plan their own learning, or that all children are always dependent learners. Even Knowles (1984) eventually conceded that there are situa- tions where an adult encountering a new area of learning will of necessity be more dependent on a teacher and, similarly, children who are naturally curious and “very self-directing in their learning outside of school . . . could also be more self-directed in school” (p. 13, italics in original).
What does this assumption that adult learners have independent self- concepts and can be self-directed in their learning imply for educational programs for adults? There are several important implications. First, with regard to what Knowles called “climate setting” in his process model of instruction, it is important that the physical environment be comfortable
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Andragogy 49
and adult-oriented. Second, there should be a psychological climate of mutual respect and trust and an atmosphere of collaboration. In this kind of atmosphere where adults are respected as adults, participants can con- tribute to planning the content of the course and in so doing, engage in self-directing their own learning. If we go back to the “worst” learning experiences described at the beginning of this chapter, none of these factors were present—the physical and psychological climate of the room was far from adult-oriented and the needs of the learners were never considered in the planning of the course.
This first assumption underlying Knowles’ promotion of andragogy converged with Houle’s typology (1961) of adult learners and Tough’s research (1971) on adult learning projects. In particular, Tough’s finding that upwards of 90% of adults engaged in self-directed learning launched an entirely new program of research and theory-building in self-directed learning. Knowles contributed to this line of research with a book pub- lished on self-directed learning in 1975. (See Chapter 4 in this volume).
Experience
The second assumption of andragogy is that an adult’s accumulated life experiences are a “rich resource” for learning. Clearly, as one ages one has a variety of life experiences which can be drawn on in a learning situ- ation, but which also stimulate the need for learning. Lindeman (1926/1961) recognized this when he wrote that an adult’s life situations “with respect to his work, his recreation, his family life, his community life” are what initiate learning. Rather than beginning with an established curriculum, “subject matter is brought into the situation, is put to work, when needed” (p. 8).
The important role of experience in learning is well documented in the literature on learning. Cognitive psychologists such as Piaget, Bruner, and Ausubel strongly acknowledge the role of experience in a person’s ability to process information (see Chapter 2). Developmental psychologists and educators also see development as the processing of life experiences. Erik Erikson’s famous eight-stage theory of psycho-social development (1963) is a good example. At each stage of life from infancy to old age, one deals with a central issue important to development. The adult issues are all connected to adult life experiences such as dealing with intimacy in young adulthood or generativity (caring for others) in middle age.
The link between learning and development is perhaps most clearly obvious in the work of psychologist and educator, Robert Havighurst. In
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50 Adult Learning
1952 he published Developmental Tasks and Education where he laid out developmental tasks to be accomplished at each life stage, such as finding a mate and getting started in an occupation in young adulthood. These “life situations” as Lindeman might have called them, presented what Havighurst termed the teachable moment (Havighurst, 1952/1972). For example, the “teachable moment” to learn about parenting is when one has young children, or to learn about retirement when one is bringing fulltime work life to a close. Knowles (1980) acknowledged that these developmental tasks created “‘a readiness to learn’ which at its peak presents a ‘teachable moment’” (p. 51).
An adult accumulates life experience just by engaging in the roles of adult life. This life experience is what makes each individual unique, for no two life trajectories are exactly the same. Experience thus is integral to an adult’s identity, or self-concept. Knowles, Holton, and Swanson (2011) explain: “Young children derive their self-identity largely from external definers—who their parents, brothers, sisters, and extended fami- lies are; where they live; and what churches and schools they attend. As they mature, they increasingly define themselves in terms of the experi- ences they have had. To children, experience is something that happens to them; to adults, their experience is who they are. The implication of this fact for adult education is that in any situation in which the partici- pants’ experiences are ignored or devalued, adults will perceive this as rejecting not only their experience, but rejecting themselves as persons” (p. 65). Because adults are who they are largely due to their accumulated life experiences, rejecting or ignoring their experiences is threatening to their independent self-concept, the first assumption of andragogy. The self-concept and life experience assumptions further intersect when one considers the number and variety of life experiences of the typical adult. The implication is that a group of adult learners is likely to be quite dif- ferent from a group of children. Because of this variety, not only is it imperative to make use of these experiences in learning, it is also impor- tant for adults to take control of their learning and become independent, self-directed learners. This is yet another point wherein the first and second assumptions intersect.
The nature of life experience in adult learning also has its downside. Adults can become dogmatic and closed-minded about learning some- thing new because their prior knowledge and experience has worked for them in the past and they see no need to learn something else. Or, a traumatic life experience might function as a barrier to learning (Merriam,
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Andragogy 51
Mott, & Lee, 1996), nor does the amount of experience necessarily equate with the quality of experience. At the same time, some children may have had a range and depth of experience more intense and powerful than that of some adults.
Life experience as a resource for learning has been applied to adult education practice in a number of ways. It is often seen as a starting place in instruction with adults, that is, a facilitator can begin with an adult student’s experiences and then assist the learner to connect those experi- ences with new concepts, theories and experiences. For example, in the vignette of the wine-tasting event presented in the opening of this chapter, the facilitator asked everyone to experience the taste of each wine with several foods and evaluate which wine went best with which food. This collective experience formed the basis for instruction about the properties of each wine. Discussion, role play, simulations, field experiences, problem- based learning, case studies, and projects of all sorts enable learners to draw on their life experiences as resources for learning.
Finally, this connection between life experience and learning is at the heart of a number of theoretical frameworks explaining learning and in particular, adult learning. From Dewey’s classic, Experience and Education (1938), to Kolb’s experiential learning cycle (1984), to Schön’s notion of reflective practice (1983), to communities of practice where partici- pants’ experiences form the basis for learning (Fenwick, 2003), the learn- er’s experiences are front and center. (For more on experiential learning, see Chapter 6.)
Readiness to Learn
This assumption that an adult’s learning agenda is closely related to devel- opmental tasks and social roles of adult life is closely connected to the previous assumption on life experiences being a resource for learning. The main emphasis in this assumption is that the social roles of adulthood create a need for learning. As mentioned earlier, the child’s main social role in life is that of “student.” Much of the learning of children is subject- centered and in preparation for future learning—learning the alphabet so they can read, learning basic math so they can move on to algebra, and so on. Adults, on the other hand, are engaged in multiple social roles of worker, spouse, parent, community member. The demands of each of these roles also change as we age. A young adult may be preparing for work or experimenting with various career options, whereas a middle-aged
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52 Adult Learning
adult may be managing or supervising other workers or looking to change careers; and the older adult may be trying to figure out how to stay up to date to keep a job, or to plan for retirement.
Readiness to learn can be seen as intersecting with the “teachable moment” mentioned above. Adult social roles create the teachable moment and entire adult education programs can be planned around these needs. Forrest and Peterson (2006) give an example from management educa- tion: “A newly promoted manager may have had little interest in learning about giving performance feedback when holding a nonmanagement position. However, such an individual can be eager to learn such informa- tion because the knowledge has relevance once the individual is promoted to a management position” (p. 119).
Although all social roles and changes in these roles throughout the life span present myriad opportunities for learning, the social role of “worker” has been shown to be the predominate reason adults engage in formal learning activities. When adults in national surveys are asked for their reasons for participation in formal adult education activities, 85–90% of those surveyed cite career- or job-related reasons for participation (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007). However, these studies focus on formal programs sponsored by educational institutions, businesses and industry. Even more prevalent than learning in formal settings is the learn- ing which is embedded in everyday life—called informal or nonformal learning. While considered to be more prevalent, this kind of learning is more difficult to capture. However, studies of informal learning and self-directed learning (see Chapter 4) indicate that personal develop- ment related to social roles other than the role of worker is a strong motivating factor.
Though it seems obvious that readiness to learn is related to an adult’s development and social roles, much of this learning, especially that in formal settings, rather than responding to an immediate need, emphasizes preparation for future roles. The “trick” for adult educators is to create the readiness for learning through instructional techniques that are expe- riential in nature. For example, using a natural disaster much in the news can be a real-life stimulus for learning about community organization, or disaster relief management. Industry downsizing can lead to learn- ing activities focusing on updating employee skills or career development activities. Knowles (1973) discussed how this could be done with profes- sional preparation: “It is my observation that a good deal of professional education is totally out of phase with the students’ readiness to learn. For example, . . . the new social work student needs to have some direct expe-
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Andragogy 53
rience with clients with problems before he is ready to learn about public welfare legislation and policy, case work principles and techniques, theory and practice of administration, concepts of community organization, group work, and research methods. He’ll be ready to inquire into these areas of content as he confronts problems to which they are relevant” (p. 47).
Problem-Centered Orientation
Let us imagine that you, the reader, have just been diagnosed with a serious health problem such as cancer. You want to find out about this form of cancer, what the treatment options are, where to get the best care, what you can do in terms of diet and exercise to maximize your chances of survival. You consult with health care professionals, family, friends, and go on the Internet to learn all you can. You might even attend a cancer self-help group. Your learning is problem-centered; your cancer diagnosis is the problem. It is not subject-centered, that is, you are not interested in learning about cancer in general, and you would not have investigated this topic at all if it had not become a problem for you. Further, you are interested in immediate application—what you can learn to apply to your situation now, not later. This is the essence of the fourth assumption—that adults are problem-centered, not subject-centered, and desire immediate, not postponed application of the knowledge learned.
The fourth assumption of andragogy is of course logically related to the previous three. Basically, most adults are motivated to learn in order to deal with an issue or problem of immediate concern. Often these issues are related to their social roles which are intertwined with their life experi- ences. Again, as with the other three assumptions above, there are a couple of caveats to consider here. First, some adults learn for the sheer joy of learning, for the sense of accomplishment in learning something outside one’s comfort zone, and not to deal with an immediate problem. At the other end of the continuum, not all learning in childhood needs to be subject-centered with postponed application. Service learning which engages students in real issues in their community is very problem-centered.
Nevertheless, adult learning more often than not is problem-centered with a desire for immediate application. Most continuing education pro- grams and community-based nonformal offerings are of this nature. An interesting example are Taylor’s studies (2005; 2012) of learning activities offered by home-improvement stores. These stores offer short sessions on topics related to problems that arise for home owners such as fixing a leaky faucet or laying floor tile.
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54 Adult Learning
Problem-centered learning is preferred by adults because it is more engaging and lends itself to immediate application, which in turn solidifies the learning. Indeed, this is the rationale behind some forms of profes- sional preparation such as problem-based learning in medical training and just-in-time teaching in management education. Here students tackle a real-world business problem with an organization as their “client” (Watson & Temkin, 2000). Finally, professional graduate education has become open to students engaging in action research where they and their organization define a real problem to study, design and implement a solution, and evaluate the solution.
Internal Motivation
In light of the above four assumptions, it is no surprise that the most potent motivators for adults to learn are internal rather than external. In other words, increased job satisfaction with one’s work, enhanced self- esteem, improved quality of life and personal fulfillment lead adults to learn beyond what might be required by some agency or institution. An adult is free to choose to learn, which is quite a bit different from pre-adult learning where others determine what the student needs to know.
Andragogy is firmly rooted in humanistic psychology as this assump- tion about internal motivation demonstrates. As we explored in the previ- ous chapter on traditional learning theories, humanistic psychology and, in particular, the work of Maslow and Rogers underpin much of andrag- ogy, especially being intrinsically motivated to learn. From this perspective, human nature is intrinsically good, and human beings are free to choose how they behave and what they want to learn. There is also present the potential for growth and development and in Maslow’s term, self- actualization (1970). Adults are internally motivated and self-actualization is the goal of learning. Rogers (1969) also felt learning needed to be self- initiated and that the goal was to develop a “fully-functioning person.” Indeed, internal motivation along with the other assumptions of andrag- ogy place this theory squarely in a humanistic framework where the indi- vidual is at the center of the learning transaction, where self-direction and independence are valued, and where learning leads to personal growth and fulfillment.
Of course not all adult learning is internally motivated. There are times when our employer requires us to participate in particular work- place training programs, when a degree or certificate is required to engage in certain activities or professional work, or when an educational program
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Andragogy 55
is mandated by a governmental or social agency (for example, to retain our driver’s license or access unemployment benefits). Even in these situ- ations, efforts by the facilitator to link the content to the needs and inter- ests of the learners might result in participants becoming more internally motivated.
The Need to Know
Adults want to know why they need to learn something and how what they learn will apply to their immediate situation. This assumption goes hand in hand with the above assumption on intrinsic motivation. If adults can see why it is important to learn something before they begin a learning activity, their motivation is that much stronger. Of course, much of one’s “need to know” arises from encountering life situations and developmen- tal changes in social roles. For example, a childless adult has no “need to know” about raising children. However, this certainly could become a need should this adult decide to raise a child. A person caught up in a company merger may find herself out of a job; now she has a need to know how to prepare a résumé and compete in the job market. One who becomes a caretaker for a family member with a newly diagnosed disease has a great need to know about the disease and how best to care for the affected person. It is clear in these examples that these adults need to know this information and that the knowledge will have immediate application.
As with the other assumptions, there are situations where learning is mandated or where the learning is in preparation for some future applica- tion. These situations present a challenge to the adult educator who cannot rely on the learners’ internal motivation and need to know to become fully engaged. Knowles et al. (2011) address this situation in a business environment:
The first task of the facilitator of learning is to help the learners become aware of the “need to know.” At the very least, facilitators can make an intellectual case for the value of the learning in improving the effectiveness of the learners’ performance or the quality of their lives. Even more potent tools for raising the level of awareness of the need to know are real or simulated experiences in which the learners discover for themselves the gaps between where they are now and where they want to be. Personnel appraisal systems, job rotation, exposure to role models, and diagnostic performance assessments are examples of such tools. (p. 63)
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56 Adult Learning
In summary, these six assumptions make up the andragogical model of adult learning. It is based in a mostly humanist philosophy wherein the individual is central, internally motivated and self-directed, and engages in learning for self-fulfillment, problem solving, and greater compe- tency in life roles. The instructor’s role is to facilitate rather than dominate the learning. We can see the contrast between pedagogy and andragogy by returning to the scenarios at the opening of this chapter. The income tax class and the week-long seminar on diverse staffing were 100% teacher- directed with no recognition of, let alone accounting for, the adult students’ needs and interests. By contrast, the wine-tasting course and the learning organization workshop placed the participants’ interests and needs front and center and the facilitators used strategies to engage the participants in their own learning.
Andragogy Today
Andragogy came into use first in Europe then in North America in the mid-twentieth century as the profession of adult education took shape. Andragogy enabled adult educators to claim a knowledge base by identify- ing what was unique about adult learners. Today the term andragogy is used in a number of ways in Central and Eastern European countries. There are some academic departments of andragogy, and some places where andragogy and pedagogy are subdivisions under education (Savicevic, 1991, 2008). In other countries andragogy is equivalent to the North American term adult education, signifying a professional field of practice. In North America, andragogy is primarily presented as a way of differen- tiating adult learners from children.
In a few years it will be half a century since Knowles first introduced andragogy to North America. The fact that andragogy is studied in all academic programs preparing people to work in adult education and human resource development, that research continues to be conducted, and that practitioners continue to find ways to apply it to their fields of practice speaks to its durability and utility in planning and implementing programs with adult learners. The appeal of andragogy is that educators who encoun- ter it can readily relate the assumptions to their own learning and in so doing, transition to planning meaningful instruction for adults. But as Henschke (2011) points out, there is no consensus as to whether andrag- ogy is a theory, a philosophy, a teaching description, a scientific discipline, a mechanical tool or technique, or a strategy to help adults learn.
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Andragogy 57
Despite its intuitive appeal to practitioners working with adults in all settings from literacy programs to leisure activities to continuing profes- sional education, to higher education, to business and industry, scholars of andragogy have critiqued it from a number of positions. An early ques- tion was whether andragogy was a theory of adult learning; Knowles (1989) ceased calling it a theory and instead called it “a model of assumptions about learning or a conceptual framework that serves as a basis for an emergent theory” (p. 112). While most can accept that andragogy is a model of assumptions about adult learners that can guide practice, a second question is whether the assumptions are true for adults only and not children. When Knowles first presented it in his 1970 book Modern Practice of Adult Education, the subtitle was Andragogy Versus Pedagogy. After educators pointed out that the assumptions did not necessarily apply to all adults and that some children could be self-directed in their learning, Knowles revised the subtitle in the 1980 edition of the book to From Peda- gogy to Andragogy. He proposed thinking of andragogy as one end of a continuum; that is, there was a range between being totally teacher- directed as in pedagogy, to being totally student-directed as in andragogy. It depended on the situation; that is, sometimes adults know so little about the subject that the teacher by necessity takes the lead; conversely, some young people are capable of being self-directed depending on their expe- rience with and knowledge of the content area.
While most are content to acknowledge that andragogy describes what adult learners are like most of the time, the actual research in support of these assumptions is mixed at best. Each assumption seems to be somewhat situation-dependent as we pointed out in the discussion above. For example, there are times when adults are externally pres- sured to learn something and not at all intrinsically motivated, or adults sometimes learn something for the sheer joy of learning and not because they “need” to learn it or have a problem to solve. Some studies find support for some assumptions, others are inconclusive. Rachal’s review (2002) of eighteen experimental or quasi-experimental theses and dis- sertations of andragogy reported a mix of results in support of andragogy. He attributes the ambiguous findings to a number of factors that need to be addressed in order for future research to establish the validity of andra- gogy for adult learners. For example, participation in the learning activity should be voluntary, objectives and instruction should be collaboratively determined, and learners should be adults and not traditional college-age participants. Rachal also points out that assessing the effectiveness of andragogy is hindered by the fact that tests and grades are anathema to
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58 Adult Learning
andragogy which assumes adults are capable of self-evaluating their own learning.
Some researchers feel that the way to assess the validity of andragogy is through the development and use of a valid and reliable instrument. Taylor and Kroth (2009) suggest using a panel of experts to develop a Likert-style questionnaire based on the six assumptions. They feel that an instrument that can evaluate how these assumptions are being incorpo- rated into instruction would help “overcome the major criticism that has plagued [andragogy] for the last 30 years: Finding empirical data” (Taylor & Kroth, 2009, p. 10). Holton, Wilson, and Bates (2009) have addressed this challenge by developing a survey instrument to assess the effects of andragogical principles and design elements on learner satisfaction and outcomes. They report that their initial testing of the instrument with a convenience sample of graduate students “holds promise for advancing research on andragogy” (p. 169).
For many, the most problematic issue with andragogy is its unquestion- ing focus on the individual adult learner who is insulated from the world, fully in control of his or her own learning. As Pratt (1993) points out, the learner operates “as if he or she has risen above the web of social struc- tures.” Andragogy “does not acknowledge the vast influence of these structures on the formation of the person’s identity and ways of interpret- ing the world” (p. 18). Our identity, what roles we engage in as adults, what we desire to learn and how we prefer to learn are all shaped by the culture and society in which we live. In reviewing a number of studies with foreign-born learners, for example, Lee (2003) noted that “the adults from whom [Knowles] drew andragogical assumptions . . . were over- represented by privileged individuals, who were primarily White, male, educated, and from middle-class backgrounds—a population that was not unlike himself.” In so doing, “Knowles overgeneralized the characteristics of this population . . . and silenced those [who] were less privileged, whose values and experiences were often ignored in educational settings” (Lee, 2003, p. 15). An even more pointed critique of andragogy’s context-free orientation is from Sandlin (2005), who states that an educational context is never value-free or apolitical, that all learners do not look and learn the same, that race, gender, class, and culture all influence learning.
Chapter Summary
Despite the lack of research documenting the assumptions of andragogy, and despite the criticism that it ignores the sociocultural context of learn-
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Andragogy 59
ing, andragogy continues to be a major theory/model/approach to under- standing and planning instruction for adult learners. For those new to adult education, the assumptions about adult learners make intuitive sense and the instructional practices that go along with them acknowledge the experience and needs of many adult learners. Knowles (1984) compiled 36 case examples of andragogy being applied in practice in the fields of business and government, postsecondary education, profes- sional education, health education, religious education, K–12, and reme- dial education. From these 36 cases, he draws several lessons about applying andragogy to practice: it is flexible and the whole or parts can be applied, climate setting is the most common and easiest starting point, both teach- ers and learners need to be oriented to an andragogical approach, and that many practitioners “have found imaginative ways to adapt to tradi- tional systems without sacrificing the essence of the andragogical model” (Knowles, 1984, p. 419). Finally, recent publications attest to the continued wide applicability of andragogy to numerous settings including agriculture (Gharibpanah & Zamani, 2011), nursing (Riggs, 2010), e-learning (Muir- head, 2007), engineering (Winter, McAuliffe, Hargreaves, & Chadwick, 2009), criminal justice (Birzer, 2004), management (Forrest & Peterson, 2006), and human resource development (Holton, Wilson, & Bates, 2009; Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2011).
Linking Theory and Practice: Activities and Resources
1. A good starting point for engaging with andragogy is for you, the reader, to examine your own learning as an adult. You can do this by recalling a good and bad learning experience as we did with the vignettes at the beginning of this chapter. Write out a short narrative description of each, then stand back and compare the two incidents. What was different? What assumptions of andragogy were present in the good experience and absent in the bad experience? What could have been done to turn the bad experience into a good one? We have found this to be a good student activity also.
2. A second activity would be to inventory your own or your students’ orientation to learning, whether it is more pedagogical or andragogical. There are several instruments available (see a review of these by Holton, Wilson, and Bates, 2009), but the one that we have had experience with is Conti’s Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS). This 44-item instrument assesses the extent to which your teaching style is more learner-centered than teacher-centered, and thus more andragogical
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60 Adult Learning
(1991). The PALS assesses your knowledge of learner-centered instruc- tional activities, climate-setting, relating learning to real life problems and experience, and the extent to which students are encouraged to participate in planning and evaluation. The PALS is available in Conti, 2004.
3. An entertaining activity to engage students in understanding andrag- ogy would be to view the movie, Renaissance Man. Danny DeVito plays an unemployed marketing executive hired to teach army boot camp recruits English comprehension skills. In the process, DeVito discovers how to engage the recruits in their own learning through the enact- ment of a Shakespeare play. He stumbles upon andragogical principles which viewers of the movie will be able to readily identify.
4. Take a topic that you are thinking about teaching that has traditionally been taught in a teacher-centered, lecture format mode. How can you redesign the course to employ some if not all of the six assumptions of andragogy?
5. Finally, for those of you interested in more resources on andragogy, John Henschke of Lindenwood University has made many of his and other authors’ writing on andragogy available at www.lindenwood.edu/ education/andragogy. Likewise, German professor Jost Reischmann maintains a website on andragogy at www.andragogy.net.
Chapter Highlights
• Andragogy, promoted by Malcolm Knowles, is the first model of learn- ing to identify characteristics of adult learners.
• Adult learners are characterized by an independent self-concept, a reservoir of experience, the developmental tasks of adult social roles, desire for immediate application, internal motivation, and the need to know.
• Because of its validity in identifying adult learner characteristics, andra- gogy is popular with educators and trainers of adults in all types of instructional settings.
• Due to these very same characteristics, definitive research on andragogy is difficult to do and inconclusive in results.
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