UNDERSTANDING HOW ADULT EDUCATORS

Understanding How Adult Educators Apply Andragogy In An Adult Correctional Educational Setting



Understanding how adult educators apply andragogy in an adult correctional educational setting:

Subquestions

Which principles of andragogy do adult educators apply in their instruction with adult learners?

Knowles provides an example of applying andragogy principles to the design of personal computer training: There is a need to explain why specific things are being taught (e.g., certain commands, functions, operations, etc.) Instruction should be task-oriented instead of memorization -- learning activities should be in the context of common tasks to be performed. Instruction should take into account the wide range of different backgrounds of learners; learning materials and activities should allow for different levels/types of previous experience with computers. Since adults are self-directed, instruction should allow learners to discover things for themselves, providing guidance and help when mistakes are made. (Yorks 2000 56)

Principles:

1. Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.

2. Experience (including mistakes) provides the basis for learning activities.

3. Adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance to their job or personal life.

4. Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content-oriented.

Knowles (1990) draws an explicit parallel between McGregor's (1960) "Theory X" and "Theory Y" models of management thinking and pedagogic and andragogic approaches to education, and it is clear that his sympathies lie with Theory Y. He shares his assumptions with many other current educational thinkers, but in many cases they are disguised. Consensus about implicit values or ideology, however, does not constitute an excuse for not subjecting them to scrutiny. (Wade & Hammick 1999 163-179)

The growth and development of andragogy as an alternative model of instruction has helped to remedy this situation and improve the teaching of adults. But this change did not occur overnight. In fact, an important event took place some thirty years ago that affected the direction of adult education in North America and, to some extent, elsewhere as well. Andragogy as a system of ideas, concepts, and approaches to adult learning was introduced to adult educators in the United States by Malcolm Knowles. His contributions to this system have been many, and have influenced the thinking of countless educators of adults. Knowles' dialogue, debate, and subsequent writings related to andragogy have been a healthy stimulant to some of the growth of the adult education field during the past thirty years. (Stewart 2001 184)

How do these principles influence their instruction?

The first use of the term "andragogy" to catch the widespread attention of adult educators was in 1968, when Knowles, then a professor of adult education at Boston University, introduced the term (then spelled "androgogy") through a journal article. In a 1970 book (a second edition was published in 1980) he defined the term as the art and science of helping adults learn. His thinking had changed to the point that in the 1980 edition he suggested the following: ". . . andragogy is simply another model of assumptions about ...