Adult education involves all efforts by mature persons to undertake the systematic and sustainable learning activities to improve their skills and knowledge. Adult education can be defined in various ways: as a process, as a set of organized activities carried on by a wide variety of institutions for the accomplishment of various educational objectives, and as an idea of a field of social practice involving individuals and institutions. People aim to work towards achieving common targets of improving the methods and materials of adult learning, extending the opportunities for adults to learn, and advancing the general level of their culture. The adult education can be either formal or informal; formal adult education may be conducted in learning institutions such as schools or specialized programs offering technical and professional training (Boshier, 2006). Informal education involves unplanned activities, experience-based, and usually incidental learning that occurs in peoples’ daily lives. The learner-centered education is called andragogy while the teacher based is known as pedagogy.
Andragogy concept assumes that the learners have a certain level of knowledge, and can make significant choices from the learning experience offered by their facilitators. The pedagogy concept of education relies on the teachers for information, as the learners cannot make a choice on what to learn. Teachers use the pedagogical approach to educate children by feeding them with information. This scenario requires the teacher to have all the necessary knowledge, and make decisions regarding the teaching and learning process including all the learning needs, and how knowledge is passed to the students. This approach has a major limitation as there may be little input from the students; learners fail to work together to share ideas and information to promote creative and independent thinking (Merriam, & Brockett 2011). The pedagogical approach allows the needs of students to become secondary; student achievement depends on teacher-centered curriculum, but facilitators are driven to meet various accountability requirements, and sacrifice the needs of the students to ensure the standards set by curriculum are met. The pedagogical approach exhibits the “teacher talks, students listen”, concept in learning, which is not fruitful.
The term ‘andra’ comes from the Greek word ‘aner’, which means human. People expose themselves to different situations in their lifetime and draw lessons from various experiences. The andragogical approach allows people to select what to learn from daily experiences. It encourages teamwork among adults, who learn by sharing various ideas that improve their creativity and innovation skills. The facilitators provide guidance to students without necessarily dictating the learning needs. The andragogical method allows learners to be independent in making vital decisions as individuals choose what to learn from different situations.
A main theory in adult education andragogy, originated in Europe in 1950’s, and was popularized in the late 1970’s by Malcolm Knowles. He argued that andragogy is an art and science that helps adults learn (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2005). Malcom claims that the approach moves an individual from the dependency level to an increased self-directedness through the learning process. An individual becomes willing to learn from different social roles and draws lessons from the accumulated reservoir of life experiences. People are problem-centered, and are willing to seek solutions to the daily challenges; individuals are motivated to learn through internal factors rather than external factors.
The theory, however, has various criticisms, for instance some researchers called the theory ‘culture blind’ (Wlodkowski, & Kasworm, 2003). It is argued that the concept of self-learning distorts the relationship between the facilitators and the students involved. Learners may lack respect for their teachers, as they do not draw instructions from them. The theory neglects the cultural values that expose teachers as the sole source of knowledge and direction. Learners may acquire undesired concepts when studying without the facilitators’ guidance. The theory is not applicable to low literacy level learners, who lack independence, internal motivation, and confidence. The theory claims that not many individuals to learn on their own as they engage in formal educational programs, which are usually directed by curriculums. The interesting thing is how the theory improves a person’s understanding through exposure to various life challenges; an individual gains the facilitator’s skills in the process of learning.
The art of teaching adults requires effective analysis of the education theories to identify the essential details that should be included in the curriculum (Sheared, & Sissel, 2001). The andragogical theory is evident in the current lifestyle of adults’ education programs. The adult education can be either formal or informal; formal adult education may be conducted in learning institutions such as schools or specialized programs offering technical and professional training. Andragogy concept assumes that the learners have a significant level of knowledge, and can make essential decisions from the learning experience offered by their facilitators. The pedagogy concept of education requires the learners to depend on the teachers for information, as the learners do not select what to learn. Learners view education as a process of improving their competence to attain full potential in life. Individuals desire to be able to apply knowledge and skills gained today to enable them to live more effectively tomorrow. Learning experiences should be planned around competency-development concepts. People tend to be performance-centered in their orientation to learning various concepts in their daily lives.
References
Boshier, P. (2006). Perspectives of quality in adult learning. London: Continuum.
Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2005). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Merriam, S. B., & Brockett, R. G. (2011). The Profession and Practice of Adult Education: An Introduction. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Sheared, V., & Sissel, P. A. (2001). Making space: Merging theory and practice in adult education. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
Wlodkowski, R. J., & Kasworm, C. E. (January 01, 2003). Accelerated learning for adults: The promise and practice of intensive educational formats. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 97.
