Higher Order Thinking and Adult Learning

Merriam, S., Baumgartner, L. (2020). Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 9781119490487.

Chapter 5 Knowles's Andragogy and McClusky's Theory of Margin (pp. 117 -129)

Do adults learn differently than children do? What dis nguishes adult learning and adult educa on from other areas of educa on? What par cular characteris cs about the learning transac on with adults can be iden fied to maximize their learning? Prior to the 1970s, adult educators relied primarily on psychological understandings of learning in general to inform their prac ce. With the publica on of Houle's The Design of Educa on (1972), Kidd's How Adults Learn (1973), and Knowles's The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (1973) and The Modern Prac ce of Adult Educa on (1970), a en on turned to research and theory-building efforts in adult learning. A empts at codifying differences between adults and children as a set of principles, a model, or even a theory of adult learning have been, and con nue to be, pursued by adult educators. However, just as there is no single theory that explains all human learning, there is no single theory of adult learning. Instead, we have several frameworks, or models, each of which contributes something to our understanding of adults as learners. One of the best known of these efforts is andragogy, a concept Knowles introduced from Europe in a 1968 ar cle. Andragogy was the first model of learning introduced in North America to focus on the adult learner and his or her life situa on.

This chapter is thus devoted primarily to presen ng Knowles's concept of andragogy. As with any model, theory, or conceptualiza on of the learning process, andragogy has its cri cs as well as a growing research base. We also review one other model of the adult learning transac on, which, like andragogy, emerged in the 1970s and emphasizes how learning and an adult's life situa on intersect—McClusky's theory of margin.

Andragogy

Over 50 years ago Malcolm Knowles (1968, p. 351) proposed “a new label and a new technology” of adult learning to dis nguish it from preadult schooling. The European concept of andragogy, meaning “the art and science of helping adults learn,” was contrasted with pedagogy, the art and science of helping children learn (Knowles, 1980, p. 43). Knowles is clear that he did not invent the term “andragogy”; rather he learned about its usage from a Yugoslavian educator, Dusan Savicevic (Knowles, 1989). In fact “the term was used as early as 1833 by a German educator, Alexander Kapp” (Peterson & Ray, 2013, p. 82). Lindeman also used the term in 1926 in his classic book, The Meaning of Adult Educa on, wherein he advocated building curriculum “around the student's needs and interests. Every adult person finds himself in specific situa ons with respect to his work, his recrea on, his family life, his community life, etc. Adult educa on begins at this point” (p. 8). Andragogy is a common term in use today in

Central and Eastern European countries where it is loosely equivalent to the North American use of “adult educa on” indica ng a professional field of prac ce (Savicevic, 2008).

Andragogy is based on a number of assump ons about the adult learner. Knowles originally advanced the following four assump ons:

As a person matures, his or her self-concept moves from that of a dependent personality toward one of a self-direc ng human being.

An adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience, which is a rich resource for learning.

The readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his or her social role.

There is a change in me perspec ve as people mature—from future applica on of knowledge to immediacy of applica on. Thus, an adult is more problem centered than subject centered in learning. (Knowles, 1980, pp. 44–45)In later publica ons, Knowles also referred to a fi h and a sixth assump on:

The most potent mo va ons are internal rather than external (Knowles et al., 1984, p. 12)

Adults need to know why they need to learn something (Knowles, 1984). (For a review of which of Knowles's wri ngs contain which assump ons, see Holton, Swanson, & Naquin, 2001.)

Knowles clearly saw these assump ons as founda onal to designing programs for adults. From each of these assump ons, Knowles drew numerous implica ons for the design, implementa on, and evalua on of learning ac vi es with adults. For example, with regard to the first assump on that as adults mature they become more independent and self-direc ng, Knowles suggested that the classroom climate should be one of “adultness,” both physically and psychologically. The climate should cause “adults to feel accepted, respected, and supported”; further, there should exist “a spirit of mutuality between teachers and students as joint inquirers” (1980, p. 47). Being self-direc ng also means that adult students can par cipate in the diagnosis of their learning needs, the planning and implementa on of the learning experiences, and the evalua on of those experiences. A summary of the applica on of andragogy for designing learning opportuni es for adults can be seen in Table 5.1.

This theory, “model of assump ons” (Knowles, 1980, p. 43), or “system of concepts” (Knowles, 1984, p. 8), as Knowles has also called it, has given adult educators “a badge of iden ty” that dis nguishes the field from other areas of educa on, especially childhood schooling (Brookfield, 1986, p. 90). Andragogy became a rallying point for those trying to define the field of adult educa on as separate from other areas of educa on. However, it also s mulated controversy, philosophical debate, and cri cal analysis matched only, perhaps, by the discussions and debates on transforma onal learning (see Chapter 7).

Table 5.1 Andragogy

SOURCE: Adapted from Knowles (1980).

Andragogical assump ons

Implica ons for prac ce

Self-concept of learner

Self-direc ng, autonomous, responsible for their learning

Adult-friendly learning climate (physical and psychological). Providing of planning, self- diagnos c, and self-evalua on experiences.

Prior experience of the learner

Accumulated experiences as main resource of learning

Emphasis on experien al techniques and prac cal applica on. Unfreezing and learning to learn from experience.

Readiness to learn

Life related, Developmental tasks

Providing proper ming of learning and grouping of learners.

Orienta on to learning

Problem centered, contextual

Course tle considering ma er of grammar and style in the context of the prac cal concerns of the learners.

Mo va on to learn

Intrinsic value

The instructor should recognize the adult learner’s reasons for coming to the learning event: ask what brought them to the learning event.

Learner's need to know

Need to know why they need to learn something

The instructor should provide a ra onale for the course objec ves and ac vi es.

Is Andragogy a Theory of Adult Learning?

At first the main point of conten on was whether andragogy could be considered a “theory” of adult learning (Elias, 1979). Davenport and Davenport (1985, p. 157) chronicled the debate, no ng that andragogy has been classified “as a theory of adult educa on, theory of adult learning, theory of technology of adult learning, method of adult educa on, technique of adult educa on, and a set of assump ons.” They were a bit more op mis c than other cri cs for andragogy's chances of possessing “the explanatory and predic ve func ons generally associated with a fully developed theory” (p. 158). They suggested that the issue could perhaps be resolved through empirical studies that tested the underlying assump ons.

Hartree (1984) observed that it was not clear whether Knowles had presented a theory of learning or a theory of teaching, whether adult learning was different from child learning, and whether there was a theory at all—perhaps these were just principles of good prac ce. The assump ons, she noted, “can be read as descrip ons of the adult learner… or as prescrip ve statements about what the adult learner should be like” (p. 205). Because the assump ons are “unclear and shaky” on several counts, Hartree concluded that, although the assump ons describe good prac ce by those in the field, conceptually Knowles has not presented a good case for the validity of such prac ce. … Although he appears to approach his model of teaching from the point of view of a theory of adult learning, he does not establish a unified theory of learning in a systema c way (pp. 206–207).

Brookfield (1986, p. 98), who also raised the ques on of whether andragogy is a “proven theory,” assessed to what extent a “set of well-grounded principles of good prac ce” could be derived from andragogy. He argued that three of the assump ons are problema c when drawing inferences for prac ce. The first assump on about self-direc on is more a desired outcome than a given condi on. The third and fourth assump ons rela ng learning to par cular social roles and focusing on immediate applica on can lead to a narrow, reduc onist view of learning. These two assump ons “could lead prac oners to equate the sum total of adult learning with instrumental learning; that is, learning how to perform at an improved level of competence in some predefined skill domain,” ignoring the complexity of learning (p. 99). Brookfield finds only the experience assump on to be well grounded. However, we believe that even this assump on can be ques oned. The fact that adults have lived longer than children and thus have a quan ty of experience greater than children does not necessarily translate into a good-quality experience that can become a resource for learning; indeed, certain life experiences can func on as barriers to learning (Merriam, Mo , & Lee, 1996). Further, children in certain situa ons may have a range of experiences qualita vely richer than some adults (Hanson, 1996).

As for the fi h assump on on mo va on, although adults may be more internally than externally mo vated to learn, in much of workplace learning and con nuing professional

educa on, not to men on governmental or socially mandated learning (as in the case of driving school, job prepara on, welfare programs, and prison educa on, for example), par cipa on is required. The sixth assump on, which appears in only a couple of Knowles's publica ons, that adults need to know why they need to learn something, may be true much of the me, but some studies also suggest that adults may learn for the sheer enjoyment of learning (see Chapter 3 on par cipa on and Chapter 6 on self-directed learning of this volume).

On the issue of whether andragogy can be considered a theory of adult learning, perhaps Knowles himself put the issue to rest. In his autobiographical work, The Making of an Adult Educator (1989, p. 112), he wrote that he “prefers to think of [andragogy] as a model of assump ons about learning or a conceptual framework that serves as a basis for an emergent theory.”

Is Andragogy Adult Specific?

A second point of cri cism was Knowles's original inference that andragogy, with all its technological implica ons for instruc on, characterized adult learning, whereas pedagogy, with another set of implica ons, characterized childhood learning. Close scru ny of the assump ons and their implica ons for prac ce by educators in and out of adult educa on led Knowles to back off his original stance that andragogy characterized only adult learning. The clearest indica on of this rethinking was the change in the sub tles of the 1970 and 1980 edi ons of The Modern Prac ce of Adult Educa on. The 1970 sub tle is Andragogy Versus Pedagogy, whereas the 1980 sub tle is From Pedagogy to Andragogy. Knowles's later posi on, as reflected in the 1980 sub tle, is that pedagogy-andragogy represents a con nuum ranging from teacher- directed to student-directed learning and that both approaches are appropriate with children and adults, depending on the situa on. For example, an adult who knows li le or nothing about a topic will be more dependent on the teacher for direc on; at the other extreme, children who are naturally curious and who are “very self-direc ng in their learning outside of school … could also be more self-directed in school” (Knowles, 1984, p. 13).

Most recently Ross-Gordon, Rose, and Kasworm (2017) examined each of the six assump ons of andragogy asking to what extent each assump on specifically characterizes adult learners. They find that each assump on holds true in some situa ons but can be challenged in other situa ons. For example, the first assump on that an adult is mature and desires to be self- directed in learning is a very Western perspec ve and that “there are specific situa ons in which adults, with highly developed adult self-concepts, desire a teacher-directed or group- directed process of learning rather than being an independent learner” (p. 220). They go on to point out that “adult development theories, as well as specific sociocultural contexts, suggest adults are exceedingly complex in their perspec ves regarding desired learning involvements

and may value teacher- or peer-directed learning experiences, as well as self-directed learning op ons” (p. 220).

However, although andragogy appears to be situa on specific and not necessarily unique to adults, andragogy does seem to capture characteris cs of many, if not most adult learners. These characteris cs provide a basis for designing instruc on that ac vely engages adults in their own learning.

Issues Related to Andragogy and the Social Context

Following discussions as to whether andragogy was a theory of adult learning, new cri ques of andragogy pointed out that in its slavish focus on the individual learner, the sociohistorical context in which learning takes place is virtually ignored (Grace, 1996; Pearson & Podeschi, 1997; Pra , 1993). Knowles's reliance on humanis c psychology results in a picture of the individual learner as one who is autonomous, free, and growth oriented. There is li le or no awareness that the person is socially situated, and to some extent, the product of the sociohistorical and cultural context of the mes; nor is there any awareness that social ins tu ons and structures may be defining the learning transac on irrespec ve of the individual par cipant.

Grace (1996) points out how Knowles himself and his theory of andragogy were logical products of the 1960s, a period of rapid change; ac on-oriented curricula that valued individual experience were advocated. The individual had to keep up and self-improvement was in vogue. The andragogical model in the face of pedagogy was welcomed by many adult educators as revolu onary. (p. 383)

But although its influence on adult learning has been substan al ever since it was originally proposed, “Knowles never proceeded to an in-depth considera on of the organiza onal and social impediments to adult learning; he never painted the ‘big picture.’ He chose the mechanis c over the meaningful” (Grace, 1996, p. 386).

Lack of a en on to the context in which learning takes place is a cri que emana ng from a sociological perspec ve (Jarvis, 1987) and from cri cal perspec ves. Sandlin (2005) applied cri cal, feminist, and Africentric theore cal orienta ons to andragogy and iden fied five issues that cut across the three different perspec ves. First, andragogy is cri cized for assuming educa on is value neutral and apoli cal. Second, andragogy assumes adult learners all look and learn the same—and this universal image is of a White middle-class individual learner. Third, other ways of learning are ignored, thereby silencing other voices. Fourth, the rela onship between self and society is ignored, and—“consequently, andragogy does not take into account structural systems of privilege and oppression, based on race, gender, and class, that influence learning and does not consider how culture impacts a person's development and ways of

learning” (Sandlin, 2005, p. 28). The fi h issue to cut across cri cal, feminist, and Africentric perspec ves is that andragogy thus reproduces society's inequali es and supports the status quo.

While Sandlin summarized the cri cal perspec ves on andragogy, Lee (2003) and Alfred (2000) examined andragogy from specific cultural lenses. Lee considers andragogy's applica on to foreign-born learners. In ci ng several studies with different immigrant groups ranging from Hmong refugees to Caribbean immigrant women, Lee concludes:

These studies … illustrated that andragogical assump ons do not characterize the experiences of some adult immigrants. Moreover, … by overgeneralizing the characteris cs of a par cular group of learners as those of all adult learners, Knowles effec vely silenced and marginalized various social groups, including the adult immigrant learners whose values, experiences, and reali es do not likely resemble the discourse of the dominant popula on (p. 15).

Using four tenets from an Africentric feminist perspec ve, Alfred (2000) assessed how applicable andragogy is to African American learners. First, personal experience is necessary to establish meaning and credibility. Although andragogy certainly acknowledges personal experience, it does not acknowledge “the facilitator's experience as a valuable part of the pedagogical process” (p. 20). Further, “African American experience is centered in a culture of race, class, and gender oppression, which is o en managed through wisdom or intui ve knowledge,” whereas andragogy values objec ve ways of knowing (p. 20). Second, from an Africentric perspec ve, “for knowledge to be validated, it must be made public, and that is done in rela onships with individuals or within a community,” whereas andragogy stresses individual learning (p. 21). Third, an ethic of care characterizes this perspec ve; whereas care and a trus ng environment are emphasized in andragogy, the poli cal dimensions of this environment are not considered. Finally, the Africentric tradi on evaluates “not only the knowledge that is ar culated, but also the person who is making the claim” (p. 21). Andragogy does not consider the credibility of the learner and his or her claims of knowledge.

In reference to the workplace in par cular, Kessels and Poell (2004) argued that andragogy in conjunc on with social capital theory can transform the workplace into a conducive learning environment. Social capital theory stresses social networks, mutual trust, communi es of prac ce, and rela onal forms of capital. Andragogy and social capital theory together offer human resource development (HRD) “assump ons on the facilita on of learning in the workplace, the strong mo va onal aspects of self-directedness and autonomy in competence development, and the network of meaningful rela onships that helps learning integrate in the social contexts of the day-to-day work environment” (p. 154). Finally, St. Clair (2002, p. 4) stated that adult educa on and HRD are moving closer together:

Although adult educa on programs have become more instrumental and employment focused, training and development in the business world have increasingly emphasized the holis c development of workers…. This convergence is further underlined by the way HRD prac oners have worked to address the shortcomings of the andragogical model by remodeling it to recognize contextual factors more fully. (Holton & Swanson, 1999).

Research on Andragogy

Considering that andragogy has been the primary model of adult learning for over 50 years, research to test the validity of its assump ons or its usefulness in predic ng adult learning behavior has not been as robust as one would expect. A few early studies focused on the rela onship between andragogical assump ons and instruc on. Beder and Darkenwald (1982) asked teachers who taught both adults and preadults if their teaching behavior differed according to the age of the students. Teachers reported viewing adult students differently and using more andragogical techniques. Gorham (1985), however, actually observed teachers who taught both adults and preadults. She found no differences in how a par cular teacher instructed adults or preadults, although teachers claimed that they did treat the two age groups differently.

With regard to involving learners in planning their own learning, Rosenblum and Darkenwald (1983) compared achievement and sa sfac on measures between groups who had planned their course and those who had it planned for them. No differences were found in either achievement or sa sfac on. Courtenay, Arnold, and Kim (1994) reviewed all previous literature and research and conducted their own quasi-experimental study of learner involvement in planning. They found previous research results to be inconclusive (indeed, “capricious”); from their own study, which a empted to address some of the shortcomings of previous studies, they discovered that

par cipa on in planning does not appear to affect learning gain or sa sfac on, even when the amount of par cipant input in planning is increased; the rela onship between classroom environment and achievement or sa sfac on is inconsequen al; and classroom environment … may simply be a func on of the sa sfac on of the learner (p. 297).

They recommended that more thought be given to both the independent variable (that is, just what cons tutes learner par cipa on in planning) and the dependent variables (for example, perhaps unintended learning is as important as achievement).

Rachal (2002) reviewed 18 studies on andragogy conducted between 1984 and 2001, all of which a empted to assess the efficacy of an andragogical versus pedagogical instruc onal design. Based on measures of achievement, a endance, and/or sa sfac on, studies revealed mixed results due to the varied “customiza ons” of the studies. For example, some studies did not segment adult undergraduates from tradi onal-age students, several studies had predetermined objec ves, some used paper-pencil tests of content acquisi on, two studies involved mandated par cipa on, and so on. To bring more rigor and comparability to empirical studies of andragogy, Rachal proposed seven standards or criteria for designing future studies. Briefly, these seven are that par cipa on should be voluntary, par cipants should be clearly adults (and not students of tradi onal college age), objec ves should be collabora vely determined, assessment should be performance-based, or where achievement is not the primary objec ve, sa sfac on with the learning experience should be measured, an adult learning environment should be in place, and research methodological issues should be a ended to (like random assignment to treatment groups where possible).

The studies reviewed by Rachael (2002) were mostly disserta ons and all were experimental or quasi-experimental in design. Although certainly this is one approach to assessing the validity of andragogy, it reinforces the psychologically driven, individually focused aspect of andragogy. Social context was not considered, for example, nor were any qualita ve designs included.

Perhaps the nature of andragogy, with its assump ons for adult learner–focused prac ce, makes it par cularly difficult to validate directly. As Rachal (2002, p. 224) himself comments, “It may well be that researchers examining the effec veness of andragogy will perpetually be stymied by its fluidity, even its amoeba-like formlessness. In that view, its art will forever be paramount, and its science forever elusive.” Taylor and Laros (2014) found that andragogy and transforma ve learning were similar in that in terms of research, each was hampered by “the lack of a consistent opera onal defini on” (p. 138), uncertainty as to what exactly “cons tutes the goal and prac ce” of both andragogy and transforma ve learning (p. 138), how learner- centered control is opera onalized especially in higher-educa on se ngs, and lack of robust research designs. They conclude that research in either area (andragogy or transforma ve learning) needs to move “beyond navel gazing, to an ever-evolving prac ce of teaching adults” (p. 144).

Although assessing the validity of andragogy directly may prove difficult to do, one could consider the extent to which a broader range of research in adult learning may or may not support the assump ons underlying andragogy. For example, the research on self-directed learning that finds upwards of 90% of adults are engaged in self-directed learning projects and that 70% of projects are planned by the learner (see Chapter 6) would tend to support the assump on that adults are self-directed and can plan their own learning. Further, studies on

par cipa on (see Chapter 3) indicate that par cipa on is clearly linked to adult roles of worker, family member, and so on, lending support to the assump on that the readiness of an adult to learn is closely linked to the developmental tasks of his or her social roles. That the developmental issues of adulthood lead to learning was also underscored in Aslanian and Brickell's (1980) findings that 83% of adult learners were engaged in learning ac vi es because of some transi on in their lives. Nevertheless, the growing prevalence of mandated con nuing educa on and training could be cited to argue against the assump on that adults are internally mo vated.

Although research tes ng the validity of andragogy and its underlying assump ons has been inconclusive, there appears to be con nued and widespread applica on of andragogy in designing instruc on in many fields of prac ce. With regard to the prac ce of designing instruc on for adult learners, Wuestewald (2016) makes the case that instruc onal design has moved from a behaviorist to a cogni ve to a humanist orienta on wherein andragogy and “various adult learning strategies” (p. 70) are widely adopted, including in execu ve development programs. Blackley and Sheffield (2015) bring together college students and andragogy and argue for “digital andragogy” wherein educators need to “equip and encourage adult learners to choose and use the affordances of accessible digital technologies to personalize their learning and facilitate their interac ons with peers and tutors” (p. 408).

A sampling of addi onal publica ons seems to support the no on that andragogy is a useful framework for designing instruc on in areas ranging from teaching leadership (McCauley, Hammer, & Hinojosa, 2017), becoming an “andragogical librarian” (Cooke, 2010), adults learning math (McDonald, 2013), con nuing professional educa on (Wi nebel, 2012), syllabus construc on in higher educa on (Fornaciari & Lund Dean, 2014), e-learning behaviors (Codreanu & Vasilescu, 2013), health literacy (Brown, 2017), a MSW (master in social work) prac ce class (Carpenter-Aeby & Aeby, 2013), mentoring (Klinge, 2015), teacher educa on (Storey & Wang, 2017), promo on of sustainable lifelong learning socie es (Charungkai kul & Henschke, 2017), criminal jus ce (Gilbert, Schiff, & Cunliffe, 2013), and adult learning in a virtual world (Mancuso, Chulp, & McWhorter, 2010). Finally, Henschke (2014) presents an extended discussion of how to integrate andragogical principles in designing curriculum for adult learners.

Despite some writers' grim predic ons of andragogy's demise, prac oners who work with adult learners con nue to find Knowles's andragogy, with its characteris cs of adult learners, to be a helpful rubric for be er understanding adults as learners. As St. Clair (2002, p. 2) suggests, “[A]s a guide to teaching adults, andragogy has a great deal more to offer when it is approached, as Knowles originally suggested, as a set of assump ons.” Further, the implica ons for prac ce that Knowles draws for each of the assump ons are also considered to be good instruc onal prac ce for all ages, especially adults. Thus, we see andragogy as an enduring

model for understanding certain aspects of adult learning, and as maintaining “its role as a necessary component of the field's shared knowledge” (St. Clair, 2002, p. 2). Henschke (2011), who maintains a database on andragogy, concurs, no ng that there are hundreds of published documents on andragogy and that future discussions “should go beyond Knowles' version and include the world-wide perspec ves of others who have wri en and published on andragogy.” Henschke believes that “con nued research will help to establish andragogy as a scien fic discipline” (p. 36). Andragogy does not give us the total picture, nor is it a panacea for fixing all adult learning prac ces. Rather, it cons tutes a major component of the rich mosaic of adult learning.

McClusky's Theory of Margin

Although andragogy remains the best-known model for understanding and designing instruc on for adult learners in a wide range of instruc onal se ngs, there are a number of other models that offer us some insights into adult learning. One enduring model has been selected for review here. We have chosen to present McClusky's theory of margin (which actually predates andragogy) because it con nues to cap vate learners who find they can readily relate their life situa on and their learning to this model. Like andragogy, McClusky's theory focuses on an adult's characteris cs and life situa on as a means of understanding par cipa on in learning ac vi es.

Theory of Margin

McClusky first presented his theory of margin in a 1963 publica on, followed by discussions of applica on in 1970 and 1971a. His theory is grounded in the no on that adulthood is a me of growth, change, and integra on in which one constantly seeks balance between the amount of energy needed to engage in learning and the amount available. Further, McClusky recognized that adults needed to con nue learning “in a rapidly changing society” in order “to survive and develop” (1971, p. 415). However, this need to learn intersected in an adult's life with the stage he or she is in and “the suitability of the learning situa on to the learning poten ali es and learning handicaps” one has at that stage. Reflec ng the assump ons underlying andragogy

(above), he goes on to say that the strategies for learning…in the adult years require considera on for the individuality of adults, for their life commitments which may aid or obstruct learning, for their adult me perspec ve, for their transi on through cri cal periods of life, for their acquired sets and roles which may aid or obstruct learning, and for their adult requirement that the learning be relevant to their problems (p. 415).

McClusky characterized the “balance” between energy needed to learn and the amount of energy available as a ra o between the “load” (L) of life that dissipates energy, and the “power” (P) of life that allows one to deal with the load. “Margin in life” is the ra o of load to power. More power means a greater margin to par cipate in learning.

Both load and power consist of external and internal factors. Hiemstra (1993, p. 42) explains:

The external load consists of tasks involved in normal life requirements (such as family, work, and community responsibili es). Internal load consists of life expectancies developed by people (such as aspira ons, desires, and future expecta ons). Power consists of a combina on of such external resources … as family support, social abili es, and economic abili es. It also includes various internally acquired or accumulated skills and experiences contribu ng to effec ve performance, such as resilience, coping skills, and personality.

Taking both power and load into considera on, McClusky (1970, p. 83) (Figure 5.1) explains how the theory works:

Margin may be increased by reducing Load or increasing Power, or it may be decreased by increasing Load and/or reducing Power. We can control both by modifying either Power or Load. When Load con nually matches or exceeds Power and if both are fixed and/or out of control, or irreversible, the situa on becomes highly vulnerable and suscep ble to breakdown. If, however, Load and Power can be controlled, and, be er yet, if a person is able to lay hold of a reserve (Margin) of Power, he [sic] is be er equipped to meet unforeseen emergencies, is be er posi oned to take risks, can engage in exploratory, crea ve ac vi es, is more likely to learn, etc.

wants to upgrade her skills. She enrolls in the local community college, where she can learn to be a physician's assistant, a job she would like and that pays more than her current job on the housekeeping staff of a local hospital. On top of juggling her shi work at the hospital and her class schedule, Caroline has to find childcare for her youngest and transport her older child back and forth to school. If one of the children or Caroline herself gets sick, she will have to miss class or work or both. Caroline has very li le margin to deal with her present situa on, let alone respond to any other demands on her me and energy. In contrast, Michele is a high-salaried vice president of a marke ng company. She is married and has a nanny who comes to her home to care for her two children while she is at work. Michele has always wanted to be a master gardener and considers taking a course at the local botanical garden. Michele's skills, educa on, income, and support network are sources of power that she can adjust to deal with her load, affording her a comfortable margin wherein she can take the class.

Maintaining some margin of power in order to engage in learning is a concept adults readily relate to. As Hiemstra (1993, p. 42) observes, adult students' first encounter with McClusky's theory is o en “an epiphany in terms of their own life circumstances.”

McClusky (1970) also saw his theory as helpful in explaining the developmental changes characteris c of adult life (see Chapter 12). Changes adults undergo as they age could be translated into adjustments of load and power. These adjustments are made “as a person accumulates and later relinquishes adult responsibili es and modifies the varying roles which the successive stages of the life cycle require” (p. 84). Because learning in adulthood is o en a func on of changing roles and responsibili es and physical and mental development, McClusky's theory can be used in understanding this link between changing social roles and learning.

Several studies have in fact inves gated this link. Baum (1980) used the theory as a framework for exploring the power and load of 100 randomly selected widows. Self-iden fied problems encountered in widowhood were viewed as load factors, and services and resources available to widows were categorized as power factors. She found that nega ve a tudes toward widowhood predicted more problems (load), but that it also led to finding more resources (power). As load increased, power increased, resul ng in a fairly stable margin in life.

Using an instrument she developed to measure margin in life, Stevenson (1980) compared the load, power, and margin pa erns of independent older adults, nursing home residents, and young and middle-aged adults. She found that the two groups of older adults perceived themselves as having slightly more power (and less load) than the young and middle-aged adults. Stevenson's scale or an adapta on of the scale has been used to assess learners' margin for learning such as par cipa on of adult women undergraduates (Mikolaj & Boggs, 1991), student affairs par cipa on in professional development (Lagana, 2007), employees' readiness for change (Madsen, John, & Miller, 2006), and a ri on among emergency medicine residents (Kalynyeh, 2010). Stevenson's scale was also used to compare physical func on, work, spirituality, family, community, and self-concept between 39 hospitalized elders and 44 elders living in the community (Roberts & Fitzpatrick, 1994). Interes ngly,

except for the outside interest dimension of the margin in life scale, no significant…differences were found between hospitalized elderly and those living in the community. The findings suggest that hospitaliza on did not adversely alter the balance between demands and resources in the remaining dimensions of life. (p. 579)

A number of studies have used McClusky's theory of margin as the theore cal framework to study adult student needs, performance, and par cipa on in con nuing and higher educa on (Demko, 1982; Garrison, 1986; Grenier & Burke, 2008; Hansen, 1988; James, 1986; Mikolaj, 1983; Root, 2000; Schawo, 1997; Stoddart, Johnson, & Change, 2013; Walker, 1996; Weiman, 1987). Findings across these studies are mixed, so no clear-cut generaliza ons can be drawn

about the validity of McClusky's theory for predic ng aspects of par cipa on in con nuing and higher educa on. However, McClusky's theory has been applied to explaining the success of first-genera on college students (Quinn, Cornelius-White, & MacGregor, 2019), clarifying the interac on pa erns of African American learners online (Kang & Yang, 2016), and iden fying the stressors of family, finances, and health issues and their impact on stress levels of female graduate students in an online program (Arric, Young, Harris, & Farrow, 2011). And in a study of nontradi onal adult students in a GED to College Transi on program researchers found that adult learners had to con nually nego ate the margins of educa on to “decrease or increase…power and load” to create “the right balance of margin needed” (Stoddart et al., 2013, p. 293).

McClusky's theory has also been useful in understanding learning in organiza onal se ngs. “As experience has demonstrated, the high rate of a ri on from many programmes, par cularly longer ones… is o en less likely due to a lack of intellectual capacity and more likely due to a clash of family or other work responsibili es” (Kirwan, 2013, p. 15). His theory has also been used in a study of employees' readiness to change in the workplace (Hanpachern, Morgan, & Griego, 1998). Based on 131 employees of a manufacturing company, “overall MIL [Margin in Life] and five work subscales had significant posi ve rela onships with readiness for change” (p. 339). Londoner (1993) developed a load-power matrix exercise for assessing work and personal loads and the powers available to address the load. He suggests that this matrix can be used as a tool by HRD counselors and others in helping professions. The matrix is a device “to help adults manage stress and crises more effec vely by developing and implemen ng specific change strategies that create favorable margin in their lives” (p. 126).

McClusky's theory has appeal in that it speaks to the everyday events and life transi ons that all adults encounter. It is perhaps a be er counseling tool than it is an explana on of adult learning, however. For example, program admission counselors might ask prospec ve learners to assess their resources versus their “load” for engaging in a learning ac vity at this par cular

me in their lives. Likewise, Barre and Mighty (2013) suggest family support, mode of entry, and financial resources are important factors in understanding adult par cipa on in classroom learning. Munn and Rocco (2008) found McClusky's theory helpful in crea ng a prac cal model of work-life balance for single mothers and fathers as did Salyer-Funk (2012) in her study of women with tenure in higher educa on. Similarly, Baumann (2012) suggests that McClusky's theory can be helpful in understanding interna onal student nurses who might be burdened or distracted in their studies due to thinking of natural disasters in their home country. Gleiman and Swearengen (2012) use personal narra ves and McClusky's theory to understand the spouses of military personnel as adult learners. As noted previously, McClusky's theory can be usefully applied in organiza ons. The recogni on that a ri on in organiza onally sponsored learning programs is likely due to “load” factors such as family or other responsibili es suggests

“the need for careful selec on of candidates for these programmes (par cularly where organiza ons are sponsoring par cipa on) and/or to provide an appropriate level of support” (Kirwan, 2013, p.15). There is also a striking similarity between McClusky's power, load, and margin concepts and the components of Schlossberg's model for counseling adults in transi on. In her model, one determines the ability to work through a transi on by assessing the rela ve strength of four factors: the situa on, the self (internal strengths), external supports, and strategies one has developed to handle stress (Schlossberg, 1984, 1987).

Although life events and transi ons certainly precipitate many (and some would say the most potent) learning experiences, McClusky's model does not directly address learning itself but rather when it is most likely to occur. One might also ques on whether a reserve of energy or margin of power is necessary for learning to arise. Learning can happen under condi ons of stress, or in McClusky's terms, when load is greater than power. Wolfin's (1999) study, for example, found that “overloaded” adults were as likely to learn as those with a surplus of power:

A surplus of power over load is not a ‘necessary condi on’ or ‘crucial element’ for adults to be more likely to learn. … Overloaded Adults will do all they can, regardless of their inhibi ng ac vi es if those Overloaded Adults perceive the subject ma er as essen al, meaningful, or worthwhile and perceive the learning method as convenient. (p. 281)

In addi on, the fact that learning itself has the poten al to increase one's power is not addressed by McClusky.

In summary, McClusky's theory of margin is a tool for understanding why or why not adults might par cipate in learning ac vi es at a par cular me in their lives. The theory intersects with andragogy in that both highlight adult learner characteris cs, needs, and mo va ons and both can be informa ve to educators who organize programs for adults.

Summary

Although there was sporadic a en on given to adult learning in the early decades of the twen eth century, it was not un l the 1970s that adult educators themselves began to focus systema cally on some of the dis nguishing characteris cs of adult learning as separate from

the body of informa on from psychologists' and educa onal psychologists' inves ga ons of learning in general. This shi in focus was part of the field's efforts to differen ate itself from other areas of educa on. It also led to the search for a single theory of adult learning, one that would differen ate adults from children, include all types of learning, and was at once elegant and simple. But just as there is no single theory that explains human learning in general, no single theory of adult learning has emerged to unify the field. Rather, there are a number of theories, models, and frameworks, each of which a empts to capture some aspect of adult learning.

The best-known theory of adult learning is Knowles's andragogy. Nevertheless, it is less a theory and more a set of assump ons about adult learners that learners and educators alike can use to strengthen the learning transac on. The assump ons regarding an adult's self-concept, experience, readiness to learn, problem-centered focus, and internal mo va on all have some intui ve validity, making andragogy popular with prac oners in many fields. These assump ons were cri qued in this chapter, as was Knowles's isola on of the individual learner from the learning context.

The chapter then turned to reviewing a lesser known, but enduring model of adult learning. Like andragogy, McClusky's theory of margin is more about the personal life situa on of adults than learning per se. McClusky's theory of margin emphasizes both personal characteris cs (internal load and power factors) and situa onal characteris cs (external load and power factors). His model has more to say about adult development and the ming of learning, though, than about the actual learning transac on.

Both Knowles's andragogy and McClusky's theory of margin discussed in this chapter contribute, each in its own way, to advancing our understanding of adult learners. Certainly more research is needed to assess the power of the models to explain or predict adult learning behavior. The process of model and theory building does, however, s mulate inquiry and reflec on, all of which may eventually provide some of the answers to our ques ons about adult learning.

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