Working with Adults as Learners:
Theory and Practice
• Think of a learning episode as an adult.
• Who was with you ?
• Did you learn what you needed to learn ?
• Did you need to unlearn something so you can
learn so you can learn this ?
• What helped you learn it ?
The more we understand our own
learning, the better we can be as
practicioners who design and facilitate
learning activities as adults.
The Adult Learner and Learning in
Adulthood
• Adult learning is at the heart of our
practice as adult educators.
• Our practice is enhanced by knowing
who our learners are as well as how they
learn.
How do children and adults differ
as learners ?
An adult is in a different position in the life
span as a child.
A child is dependent on others for care,
learning is a child’s major activity in life and
much of this is in preparation for assuming
the tasks and responsibilities of adulthood.
Adults, in contrast, have many other roles and
responsibilities. Learning as an adult is added
into their often full-time roles as educators,
parents, siblings, community members.
Adult learners differ from children in their life’s
experiences. This is a key characteristic of adult
learners. Experience becomes “ the adult
learner’s living experience.
Adults differ from children in that they are in
developmentally at different stages in the life
cycle.
Adults ‘ learning needs and interests vary
from children.
Adults participate in learning for a variety
of reasons all of which link back to their
position in their life cycle adults.
Adults are motivated by wanting to improve
their situation in adult life, whether that
situation is work-related, personal or
social/community related.
Adult learning and adult learners
Andragogy (the art/science of teaching adults as
adults and not as children)
Emphasis is:
• On learning rather than on teaching
• That adult learners share responsibility
with teachers for their own learning
• That adult learners are actively involved
in the learning process
• And teachers of adults adopt a very
different role from that of pedagogue
More learner centered-approach which is consistent with the child-
centered approaches, learning by discovery of progressive education
adult learners have a great deal of knowledge and experience from
previous learning and practice adults - have developed opinions and
beliefs which prepare them for dialogue, not for acceptance of passive
role
• Our goal is to meet adults where they are, as
individuals and as a group; and help each
adult reach challenging and achievable goals
that contribute to his or her ongoing
development and learning.
Knowles (1980) proposed the following assumptions:
1.As a person matures, his/her self-concept moves from
that of a dependent personality toward one of a self-
directing human being.
Adults need to be perceived as capable of taking
responsibility for themselves
When educators impose their will on adult learners
without letting them participate in making decisions
affecting them, they experience a feeling, often
subconsciously, of “resentment and resistance”
(Knowles)
Implications:
We need to work with adults in ways that
allow for increased self-direction in their
learning.
Psychological climate of mutual respect and
trust and an atmosphere of collaboration. In
the atmosphere where adults are respected as
adults, participants can participate actively in
their learning process and engage in self-
directing their own learning.
2.EXPERIENCE
An adult accumulates a growing reservoir of
experience, which is rich resource for learning.
As one ages, one has a variety of life experiences
which can be drawn on in a learning situation but
which also stimulate the need for learning.
Adult education in which learners ‘ experiences are
ignored or devalued, will be perceived by adults as
rejecting not only their experience but rejecting
themselves as persons.
Rejecting or ignoring their life experiences is
threatening to their independent self-concept.
EXPERIENCE AND LEARNING
Our lives play out in a cyclical pattern, where
learning often leads to knew experiences and
life experiences that are themselves sources of
learning.
At the heart of adult learning is engaging in,
reflecting upon, and making meaning of our
experiences, whether these experiences are
primarily physical,emotional,cognitive, social
or spiritual
John Dewey
learning is a lifelong process involving applying
and adapting previous experiences to new
situations
Process goes on as long as life and learning
continue (principle of continuity)
“Present learning is connected to past learning
and has future applications.”
Some experiences can be “miseducative”
meaning they may have “the effect of arresting
or distorting the growth of further experience.”
Self-directed Learning – taking control of your
own learning, what you wish to learn and how
you go about it, involves life experience
Transformative Learning
embedded in life experience
Process beings with an experience that causes
us to question our assumptions about how
something works or how life is or should be
Keeton : Experiential learning is defined as learning in which
the learner is in direct touch (or has been in direct touch) with
the realities being studied
Experience can be defined in two ways in the
context of experiential learning:
• Natural - experience gained from life which
precedes the reality to be studies
• Constructed – structured experiences which
maybe an integral part of the study
Ex. Student of child development : own
child-rearing experiences
In-depth study of one child in a class or
day care center during training period
Both contribute to the learning process
Coleman’s comparison of traditional and experiential
learning
The steps in experiential learning are
almost the reverse of the steps in
traditional learning:
• Action and effects of action
• Understanding these in the
particular instance
• Application through action in new
circumstances within the range of
the generalization
Don Schon’s Reflective Practice or
Practice-based learning
Learning that is acquired through reflection on
or in practice (experience) .
Schon’s basic premise is that it is in practice
itself that useful learning really occurs.
Two key concepts:
Reflection-on-action – experiential learning
it is reflecting upon or thinking about an
experience after it happened
Reflection-in-action – takes place as one is
engaged in experience – it is simultaneous
with practice. It characterizes the practioners
who “think on their feet,” who experiment
change direction and immediately respond
to a changing context in practice
The nature of life experience has also its
downside:
Some adults can be close-minded about
learning something new because their prior
knowledge and experience has worked for
them in the past and they see no need to learn
something else.
A traumatic life experience might also
function as a barrier to learning (Merria,,Mott
& Lee, 1996)
IMPLICATIONS:
Life experiences must be seen as a starting
place in instruction with adults and then assist
the learner to connect those experiences with
new concepts, theories and experiences.
Discussion, role play, simulations, field
experiences, problem-based learning, case
studies and projects of all sorts enable learners
to draw on their life experiences as resources
for learning.
3. READINESS TO LEARN
The readiness of an adult to learn is closely
related to the developmental tasks of his or her
social role.
4. There is a change in perspective as people
mature- from future application to immediacy of
application. Thus, an adult is more problem-
centered than subject-centered in learning.
Problem-centered learning is preferred by
adults because it is more engaging and lends
itself to immediate application, which in turn
solidifies learning.
5.Adults are mostly driven by internal
motivation, rather than external motivators.
(Knowles and Associates, 1984).
6.Adults need to know the reason for learning
something. (Knowles, 1984).
IMPLICATIONS:
An important task of an educator/facilitator of
adult learning is to help the learners become
aware of the “need to know”.
Use real or simulated experiences where the
learners discover for themselves the gaps
between where they are now and where they
want to be.
In summary , these six assumptions make up
the andragogical model of adult learning.
An individual is internally motivated, self-
directed, and engages in learning for self-
fulfillment, problem-solving and greater
competency in life roles.
The instructor’s role is to facilitate rather
than dominate the learning.
The affective dimension in experiential learning
Traditional learning theories ignore the feelings of learners.
Jung, Rogers, Perls and Maslow from the field of psychoanalysis &
psychotherapy brought to the theory the concept that :
Learners learn best when they are attuned the learning not just
cognitively but emotionally.
Learners learn best when they believe they are capable of
learning.
Learners learn best when the content is relevant and meaningful
to them
Learners learn best when they are not scared and intimidated.
Learners learn best when they feel emotionally safe.
Principles which must guide our work with children,
families and communities. These principles include:
• The empowerment of people
• Building on the strengths of individuals & communities
• The development of confidence & greater control over their
own lives especially of people living in disadvantaged and
difficult circumstances
It is clear that training in
the active/experiential and
participatory mode will
best work with teachers.
Experiential learning has as a central part of
our agenda, that learners should:
• Have greater control over their learning
• Build on their own experience
• Develop their own confidence and thus
empower themselves
“practice makes perfect” acknowledges the learning that comes from
experience ; guided practice + real-life applications
challenge to trainers and educators: must give up some power & control of
content to students, modify old methods and be more open to criticism
Community of
Learners and Trainers
In a caring community of learners and trainers,
everyone feels…..
• I belong here.
• I am safe.
• I matter, and everyone else in the group matters
too.
• When we have problems we can work them out.
• Together we can do great things.
