Andragogy

Overview

Andragogy learning theory recognizes and focuses on the needs and characteristics of adult learners. This is a shift from pedagogical theory, in that unlike children or young learners, adult learners are not considered a “blank slate” in an environment where learning is controlled by the teacher and driven by external motivation. Adults bring a lifetime of experience and knowledge with them and are considered self-directed and intrinsically driven. Even in a formal learning environment, the instructor must become more of a facilitator and give up some degree of control in the environment to allow for the adult learner's experiences and background.

Dates, Key Researchers, and Connections to Learning

1799 - 1869 Alexander Kapp, Educator and Editor

Kapp introduced the term andragogy, but the concept was not well-received. His coined this term to refer to learning strategies aimed at adults to engage them in the learning process.

1913 - 1997 Michael Knowles, Adult Educator

Knowles recognized adult learners have needs that cannot be adequately addressed using pedagogical approaches used for young learners and children. Popularizing Kapp’s basic theory of andragogy, Knowles developed five assumptions and four principles, which later became known as the Six Principles of Andragogy, that better account for adult motivations, experiences, and characteristics. Knowles later amended his views, stating that we need to look at which assumptions apply when. This means we must consider each learner in context to where they are and what they are learning – this also means this approach can be applied at any age, and that principles of andragogy can be good teaching practices.

Five Assumptions of Adult Learner

Six Principles of Adult Learning

Implications for Instructional Design

Adult learners need an active role in the learning process and an opportunity to organize and work on things independently.
Diversity of learner experience, ways of learning, and different backgrounds must be considered.
Learning experiences must connect new content to the adult learner’s existing perception that they bring with them.
Courses or activities must be flexible and consider feedback from the adult learner.
Content must be relevant and applicable to current real-life situations.
Steps are needed to create a respectful and supportive learning environment that also provides ways for collaboration among peers and learner autonomy.
Strategies for application include goal setting, self-paced activities, content relevant to the real-world, case studies, simulations, social interaction, peer learning and providing choice and flexibility in learning options.
Blending of formal and informal learning can provide structured content and guidance with freedom to explore and apply knowledge immediately.
Blending of formal and informal learning promotes autonomy and helps learners connect life experiences to new information.

Strengths and Limitations

Strengths

Considers needs and common characteristics of adults in the learning process to make leaning relevant. For adults, this emphasizes, flexibility, peer-collaboration, goal setting and information useful for solving real-life problems.
Emphasizes that adult learning is not the same for everyone.

Limitations

Assumptions do not apply equally to all adult learners since they are diverse with a wide range of experiences.
Assumptions do not apply equally to the individual all the time. For example, intrinsic motivation is not guaranteed and not all learners have clear self-direction.

Learning Experience

Description of Formal Learning Experience

The learning experience that I chose was a 3-day continuing education course for renewing my massage therapy license. Massage therapists can choose from a variety of nationally approved subjects. The course I selected was in cranial sacral therapy. This is a modality that interested me, was directly applicable to my private practice and appealing to me for the self-care aspects.

The course had a didactic and hands-on component. The didactic portion covered the cranial nerves and types of dysfunctions. The hands-on focused on assessment and technique, with the assessment providing some reinforcement to the didactic. The didactic portion was typically an hour, with a 30-minute demonstration. This was followed by a two-hour hands-on experience that allowed each practitioner to receive and practice techniques that were taught in the demonstration.

Overall, this learning experience was successful. I was able to select the course, so it had relevance to my personal and professional goals. Leaning was based on formal objectives but was largely experiential and allowed for peer interaction and discussion.

Aspects that made the experience memorable

Relevance and Intrinsic Motivation

The learning experience was aligned with my personal goals and professional practice.

Successful application of adult learning theory

Readiness
Content and technique were directly related to practice. Many aspects could be generalized.

Peer Coaching

Participants could always ask for assistance, however we tended to provide peer coaching if someone understood a concept or was proficient with a technique.

Blended Learning

Even though the learning was formally designed, the didactic design and hands-on aspect fostered an informal approach.

Unsuccessful application of adult learning theory

Unexperienced Facilitator

The course had a teaching assistant that had more content knowledge than actual real-life experience with the modality. She was able to provide rote information on anatomical or modality specific questions but was not able to act as a facilitator to help us make connections, offer support for approaches or in assimilating the experiences when we had no context.

Principles of Andragogy on Designing Future Learning Experience

Readiness is one principle of Andragogy that will influence my views on designing future learning experiences. By focusing on the connection to real-life tasks and problem solving, I think this best supports the learner in the educational pursuit and in balancing any areas lacking in the learner when the assumptions of adult learning do not apply. If the learner can see that the information can be generalized and applied to new situations, this may increase feelings of confidence and satisfaction - which may lead to autonomy, self-direction and intrinsic motivation.

References

Blondy, L. (2007). Evaluation and application of andragogical assumptions to the adult online learning environment. Journal of Online Learning, 6(2), 116-130.

https://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/6.2.3.pdf

Finlay, J. (2020) Andragogy (Adult Learning) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLoPiHUZbEw

Merriam, S.B., (2010). Andragogy. Science Direct. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/andragogy.

Pappas, C., (2013). The adult learning theory – andragogy-of malcolm knowles. eLearning Industry. Retrieved from: https://elearningindustry.com/the-adult-learning-theory-andragogy-of-malcolm-knowles.