How do adults learn?
Tailoring professional development
The terms andragogy and pedagogy both have Greek origins, with the verb ago meaning “guide.” Pedagogy comes from “paidi” (child) and “ago” (guide), while andragogy combines “andras” (man) and “ago” (guide). Understanding this distinction is crucial when designing professional development for educators.
This section of the website introduces adult learning theory, contrasts it with student learning, and offers guidance on structuring professional development programmes tailored to your staff’s unique needs.
Andragogy emphasizes the process of learning, encouraging discovery-based and collaborative approaches. It supports discovery-based learning, encouraging learners to construct their own understanding through problem-solving and collaboration with peers. Instructional Design Australia encapsulates this beautifully: “We craft (meaningful and impactful) learning – more than learning designers; we’re capability shifters.”
This site provides techniques, tools, and methods specifically designed for adult learners, applicable to governors, senior leadership teams, or entire staff groups. These strategies support collaborative and constructivist approaches, ensuring professional development is meaningful, impactful, and aligned with the needs of adult learners.
Andragogy was popularized by Malcolm Knowles’ (1913-1977) in his Four Principles Of Andragogy (1984). These have been developed into the following principles. They are:
- Adults need to know the reason for learning something (Need to Know)
- Experience (including error) provides the basis for learning activities. Therefore consider using real life experiences and case studies as the basis of investigation. They bring their own personal experience of teaching and school environments with them and therefore these should be used in a positive way as a starting point for new learning.
- Adults need to be responsible for their decisions on education; involvement in the planning and evaluation of their instruction (self-concept). Ensure that your staff feel in control of their learning.
- Adults are most interested in learning subjects which have immediate relevance to their work and/or personal lives (Readiness). Provide adults with opportunities to apply their learning quickly.Sessions, which are mostly lecture with little opportunity to apply the concepts, can be frustrating – not to mention boring.
- Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content-oriented (Orientation).
- Adults respond better to internal versus external motivators (Motivation).
- Adults need to feel secure in order to participate fully and effectively.
- Adults are not always used to collaborative working - sharing ideas and strategies. This may be something that needs to be nurtured continually.
On Knowles' adult learning theory: A helpful overview of Knowles' principles of adult learning - together with a critique - can be accessed here.
On adult learning theories:
Great site: Instructional Design Australia
Great blog by WGU: Adult Learning Theories and Principles (wgu.edu)
Activity 1: How do adults learn?
Watch the following video on adult learning.
- Note the six principles of adult learning.
- How does andragogy differ from pedagogy?
- What are the implications for how you structure professional learning for your staff?
- What challenges do you face as you plan learning for your staff?
Activity 2: The Learning Pyramid
The origins, as well as name, of the the Learning Pyramid are contested[1], although the research has been claimed by the National Training Laboratories in Betel, Maine, USA. The actual percentages can also be contested as being too neatly rounded off. However, this diagram is often quoted because its basic assumptions harmonize with peoples' experiences.
What implications does this research have for:
- how people learn
- how learning is retained
- how you design learning sessions with staff
- how you can maximize their learning and the learning opportunities?
Activity 3: Are andragogy and pedagogy so different?
Reflect on how adults and children learn by completing the following worksheet.
For more information on andragogy and how adults learn:
- Visit the Adult Learner Model (Digital Promise. (n.d.). Adult learner. Learner Variability Project. Retrieved July 19, 2024, from https://lvp.digitalpromiseglobal.org/content-area/adult-learner).
- Read ‘The Science of Adult Learning: Understanding the Whole Learner’ (Digital Promise. (2020). The adult learner: A white paper. Digital Promise. https://digitalpromise.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Adult-Learner-White-Paper-1.pdf).This white paper from Digital Promise examines the factors affecting adult learner variability and introduces the Adult Learner Model, which applies learning science research to help adults develop essential skills.
- Watch the webinar Learner Variability Among Adult Learners: Strategies for Programs and Practices (edWeb. (2021, January 25). Personalized learning: Meeting the needs of all students [Webinar]. edWeb. https://home.edweb.net/webinar/personalizedlearning20210125/) This webinar explores the Adult Learner Model from Digital Promise’s Learner Variability Project, focusing on strategies to address the diverse needs of adult learners and improve their learning experiences.
- Read the paper Building better PL: How to strengthen teacher learning, and visit their website.
Helpful links on adult learning:
- Adult learning theories and principles (WGU)
- Facilitating adult learning: how to teach so people learn, Lola Vandenberg
- Engaging adult learners: philosophy, principles and practices, 2013, J.D.Bryson
- Thinkpiece on Adult Learning
- 8 Important Characteristics Of Adult Learners
- 17 Tips to Motivate Adult Learners
- Designing experiential learning in adult organizations
- Infed website on the life and work of Malcolm Knowles
- Adult Education Definitions from Instructional Design Central, provides a good overview of Knowles.
Link: THIS page ( Adult Learning Resources) contains a list of adult learning resources.
Footnotes:
1. De Bruyckere, Kirschner and Hulshof in Urban Myths about Learning and Education, Academic Press, 2015 (Myth 2) traces the cone of experience model to Edgar Dale (1946) who wrote one of the first books on the use of media in education.