The Context of Adult Learning INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

Education and Learning Look around us Where does education take place? Where does learning take place? Ponder on the following statement: In all education there is learning but not necessarily in all learning there is education

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS What is Learning? “Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (Kolb, 1984). training, development and education are essentially concerned with learning. INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS What is Learning? Learning is change; knowledge and also behavior. The changes are directed more towards reinforcement than to alteration of patterns of knowledge and behavior. “He burned his fingers. He learned not to do that again”. “I had some trouble with that machine but I learned how to manage it”. INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS What is Learning? Kurt Lewin has suggested that learning changes occur in skills, in cognitive patterns (knowledge and understanding), in motivation and interest, and in ideology (fundamental belief). INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS What is Learning? Example of ‘domains’ of learning: Motor skills – which require practice Verbal information – facts, principles and generalizations, which, when organized into larger bodies of information, become knowledge. Intellectual skills – the skills of using knowledge; those ‘discriminations, concepts and rules’ that characterize both elementary and more advanced cognitive learning and rely on prior learning INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS What is Learning? Cognitive strategies – the way knowledge is used; the way the individual learns, remembers and thinks; the self-managed skills needed to define and solve problems. They require practice and are constantly being refined. Attitudes. INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

Adult Learning Concept Experiential learning & problem-based learning (PBL) Independent & self-directed learning (SDL) Andragogy Communities of practice (CoP) INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

Adult Learning Concept Experiential learning refers to the knowledge and skills acquired through life and work experience and study which are not formally attested through any educational or professional certification Involves the learner in sorting things out for himself, by restructuring his perceptions of what is happening INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

Adult Learning Concept PBL refers to an educational approach that makes deliberate use of learning strategies suggested by theories of experiential learning Use “realistic problems” – of the kind the learner is likely to encounter in their current or future workplace – as the basis for learning, practical experience and a deeper understanding of the relation between practice & theory can be developed in the individual. E.g. medical education INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

Adult Learning Concept Example: Using stimulus material to help students discuss an important problem, question or issue Presenting the problem as a simulation of professional practice or a ‘real life’ situation Appropriately guiding students’ critical thinking and providing limited resources to help them learn from defining and attempting to resolve the given problem Having students work cooperatively as a group, exploring information in and out of class, with access to a tutor who knows the problem well and can facilitate the group’s learning process INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

Adult Learning Concept Example: Getting students to identify their own learning needs and appropriate use of available resources Reapplying this new knowledge to the original problem and evaluating their learning processes INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

Adult Learning Concept Independent & SDL is associated with the work (grounded in andragogy) focuses on the process by which adults take control of their own learning, in particular how they set their own learning goals, locate appropriate resources, decide on which learning methods to use and evaluate their progress INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

Adult Learning Concept Andragogy In the mid-1960s Malcolm Knowles first used the term "andragogy" to describe adult learning. Whilst pedagogy is generally used to describe "the science of teaching children“, andragogy relates to “the art and science of helping adults learn". (Knowles 1970). Andragogy is based on five crucial assumptions about the characteristics of adult learners that are different from the assumptions about child learners. INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

Five crucial assumptions The need to know — adult learners need to know why they need to learn something before undertaking to learn it. Learner self-concept —adults need to be responsible for their own decisions and to be treated as capable of self-direction Role of learners' experience —adult learners have a variety of experiences of life which represent the richest resource for learning. These experiences are however imbued with bias and presupposition. Readiness to learn —adults are ready to learn those things they need to know in order to cope effectively with life situations. Orientation to learning —adults are motivated to learn to the extent that they perceive that it will help them perform tasks they confront in their life situations.

Andragogy vs Pedagogy (classroom distinctions) Regarding Pedagogy Andragogy Concept of learner Dependent learner Full responsibility on instructor; what, how, when, and if material has been learned Self-directed learner Instructors encourage and nurture Role of learner’s experience What they bring as little worth Use of text, audiovisuals to gain experience of teacher Primary techniques include: AV presentation, lecture, assigned reading Learner’s experience is valuable Learn from experience Primary techniques: lab experiments, discussion, field experiences, simulation, problem solving cases Orientation to learning Process of acquiring subject matter Content to be used at a much later time Process of developing increased competence to achieve their full potential in life – ability to apply knowledge and skills more effectively tomorrow Readiness to learn Society determines Standard curriculum Internally experience a need to learn Organized around life application categories

From Andragogy to Heutagogy It may be argued that the rapid rate of change in society, and the so-called information explosion, suggest that we should now be looking at an educational approach where it is the learner himself who determines what and how learning should take place. Heutagogy, the study of self-determined learning, may be viewed as a natural progression from earlier educational methodologies - in particular from capability development - and may well provide the optimal approach to learning in the twenty-first century.

From Andragogy to Heutagogy Passive Teacher Heutagogy Active Student 100% Synergogy T E A C H R 50% Andragogy 0% Pedagogy Active Teacher’ Passive Student STUDENT

Adult Learning Concept CoP refer to the basic building blocks of a social learning system because they are the social ‘containers’ of the competences that make up such a system. By participating in these communities, we define with each other what constitutes competence in a given context: being a reliable doctor, a gifted photographer, a popular student,… Informal group INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

Adult Learning Concept members are bound together by their collectively developed understanding of what their community is about and they hold each other accountable to this sense of joint enterprise. you must understand the enterprise well enough to be able to contribute to it Interact mutually in the community INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

Learning in Formal Settings Independent AE organizations e.g. proprietary schools & community-based agencies Quasi-educational organizations E.g. community organizations Categories of Learning Provider Educational institutions E.g. universities, colleges Non-educational organizations e.g. business & industry. INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS