Abstract
Adults are human being with the natural drive to expand their learning experiences, to broaden their accomplishments and to improve their ability towards self competence and learning autonomy. The process of learning is a natural occurrence to an adult learner. Part of the desire towards learning are the influences of self-esteem, the need for satisfying individual wants and needs and the need for self development. Self directed learning complements the psychological aspect of an adult learner by increasing the momentum of the learning experiences of an adult learner and to nurture and deepen the learning experiences acquired on the process. This paper will provide some insights about self directed learning and how it complements, support and nurture the psychological aspect of an adult learner.
Self directed learning is founded from an inividual’s ability to improve and develop his own knowledge, skills, accomplishments and personal development using his own means and methods under any circumstances. An individual organizes his own learning needs, organizes his own sources of learning, devise his own methods and strategies of acquiring new knowledge and skills with the ability to appraise his own learning outcomes (Ellinger, 2004). At the same time, the individual likewise focuses his goals of assuming the responsibility to learn. During the process of self directed learning, the individual learns to be independent in his learning process, applying intelligence and cognitive process to persevere in learning with the ability to regulate his own behavior (Merriam, 2001). Self directed learning fosters transformation learning in consideration of the various aspects of one’s needs, wants and interest which equates to the process of self knowledge that affects his learning process. On another aspect, self directed learning is an inherent part of a lifelong learning process of every individual (Tennant, 2006). It is perhaps easier to understand the concept of self directed learning as one taking the initiatives in pursuing different learning experiences with the accountability to complete the learning process and to improve one’s learning outcomes.
Adults learn differently from the younger generations as their learning process consists of various components such as upholding their self image through their learning process, connect old knowledge to new ones, learning is more directed on addressing a specific problem, aim to learn from practical experiences, and they are more intrinsically motivated to expand their knowledge, intelligence and experiences. An adult learner gears towards learning by choice which is directed towards the goal of self improvement and broadening one’s knowledge and perspectives (Clark and Caffarella, 1999). The self directed learning is related to the psychological development of an adult learner with respect to the drive of an invidual to expand their learning horizons. An adult learner has the drive for autoformation which is driven by one’s need of pursuing their personal learning and educational development or improvement using his power to act (Mitlacher, 2008). The psychological aspect of an adult learner supports the principles that adults prefer autonomy in learning with self direction as the driving force to learn from their own experiences and adults are competency based learners where they aim to learn and apply the newly acquired knowledge as practical solutions to immediate circumstances. This makes self directed learning an important process in an adult learner as the former serves as a driving force that addresses the psychodevelopmental needs of the latter. As an adult learner satisfies their learning needs with autonomy, they are driven by an autonomous process whereby they learn from their environment, personal experiences, social interaction with others and from other learning sources that allows them to take the initiative to learn using their own methods, means and action.
In view of these concepts, the take away message that this author realizes is the fact that adults have the psychological drive to expand their learning horizons and personal knowledge development and is driven by an inherent force towards learning with autonomy using a self directed method. The self directed learning process nurtures the need of an adult learner to learn, expand their knowledge and become self competent as they mature. The autoformation process described by Mitlacher links self directed learning to the psychological development of an adult learner where adults have the natural needs and drive towards self improvement/development with the initiative for autotransformation that makes them grow mature in their lifetime.
References
Clark, M.C. and Caffarella, R.S. (1999). An update on adult development theory: New ways of thinking about the life course. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
Ellinger, A.D. (2004). The concept of self-directed learning and its implications for human resource development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 6(2), 158.
Merriam, S.B. (2001). Andrology and self directed learning: Pillars of learning adult theory. New Direction for Adult and Continuing Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Mitlacher, L. (2008). The importance of self-directed learning for human resource development: An introduction. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management. 8(4), 289.
Tennant, M. (2006). Psychology and Adult Learning. New York: Routledge.
