Knowles, M., Holton, E., & Swanson, R. (2011). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development (7th ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, Elsevier.

I recommend The adult learner and will re-read and blog more to cover other adult learning issues. This post is the beginning. A big thanks to the digital library services at Monash university for making e-books so accessible.

Historically  teachers (such as Confucius, Aristotle, Socrates and Plato), guided adults’ learning (using interactive inquiry processes, such as case methods  and Socratic dialogue); however, adult learning was neglected and was finally established as a field of study in the 1920s. Knowledge about learning usually focuses on and is mostly derived from the study of animals’ and children’s learning.

Learning is defined as processes that change behavior, knowledge, skills and attitudes (Boyd, Apps, et al 1980), which can be retained and are not the result of growth (Gagné, 1965), which often run counter to or replace what was previously known (Bruner, 1961). Intellectual growth is the increasing capacity to describe what was and will be done (Maslow, 1972), and autonomous learning is self-regulating continuous learning (Jourard 1972). Learning theories are basically split into behaviorist/connectionist theories and cognitive/gestalt theories, and elemental models (pieces of a machine) and holistic models (interactive and developing organisms).

Andragogical models of learning centralize learners’ experiences, focus on content that is meaningful for real word problems and contexts, support learners’ need for autonomy, rely on intrinsic motivation, and adjust curricula to learners’ needs. Children and  youth can also benefit from andragogical models of learning; however, schools and teachers frequently conform to pedagogical models, which expect teachers to direct learning content and processes, rely on extrinsic motivation, and expect learners to adjust to curricula. Adult learners should be active participants rather than passive recipients. Adult learners need humble teachers, active co-learners, that share authority and guide learning to discover meaning and examine preconceptions. Adult learning contexts should be informal, comfortable, flexible, and nonthreatening (Knowles, 1050). Time restraints, inaccessible learning resources and opportunities, ridge curricula and education systems that violate adult learning principles, and adults’ negative self-concepts all can hinder adult learning and create high drop-out rates. The core of adult learning challenges ideas about fixed intelligence and the restriction of education to certain classes.

This reading has left me pondering the educations systems I have learned or taught in and how well they were aligned to the principles of adult learning.