Introduction
Learning is a lifelong process evolving through cognitive abilities particular to developmental stages for acquiring knowledge as humans, reach adulthood. Adult development relating to personal experiences underpins the choices adults make in their professional or career and personal life choices.
The following academic learning exercise integrates the life learning essay, understanding of adult physical changes learned from course readings, theoretical stages of adult development by Erikson, assessment of the learning style inventory as completed, as well as other specific academic concepts gained during the course experience including the Adult Development and Life Assessment Adult Learning Guide.
Life Learning Essay
The framework of the life learning essay from an academic perspective applies to multiple disciplines including sociology, psychology, and physiology among some of the social sciences. Other academic areas are communication and the financial responsibilities included in the aspects of this adult personal experience and continues developing a better understanding of self and others as a result of the commitment to marriage and family context. The personal experience of becoming an instant father figure partnering with a woman who has children along with raising step children comes with no specific manual for parenting or for the challenges of this role. The personal knowledge gained from this is founded in the direct experience itself.
Much of the personal attitudes developed about a desiring and working for a positive, nurturing, cooperative, and meaningful marriage and step-parenting for all of the stakeholders derives from a better understanding of the personal experience of an emotionally absent father when growing up. Explanations of the void created in a child’s life with this kind of void in a parenting experience by Thurston (2012). Personal social issues for both male and female children arising from such situations as show, "Marital conflict is viewed as disrupting parent-child relationships (Schoppe-Sullivan, Schermerhorn, & Cummings, 2007, p. 1118).”
Personally able to avoid the negative stereotypes of the dissolution of the absent father syndrome, it is fundamental to the step-parenting focus to assure these step-children gain positive personal experiences from this relationship their mother and I have as a commitment to effective and nurturing parenting. Further to this as posited in the Schoppe-Sullivan et al (2007) study findings is how, "The emotional security framework incorporates parent-child relationship quality (i.e., attachment security) as an important component of children's emotional security; insecurity arises when marital conflict disrupts parent-child relationships (p. 1118).” Invariably, as reported in the personal essay on the step-parenting experience as explained by Eyetsemitan and Gire (2003) this aligns to “popular theories like role, age stratification, activity, disengagement, continuity, labeling, and aging as a subculture.” Consequently, theories such as this frame a better understanding of roles in marriage and parenting as typical of the various stages of adult learning and development (p. 81).
Physical Changes – Chapter 2 Course Reading
Career and personal growth and development consider the Bjorklund (2014) the physical aspects that juxtapose aging into a particular understanding of how this affects the process. The academic understanding drawn from the context of adult learning development indicates a pragmatic approach to the physical changes that prove limiting with increased age. In addition, this applies to the onset of specific health conditions that either directly affect the quality and quantity of an adult’s work related abilities or indirectly as causal conditions affecting overall life changing experiences. This may come from new focus on adhering to medical and even lifestyle changes that align to healthy living affecting quality of life and life expectancy.
Erikson’s Stages of Development
The significance of understanding the academic relationship of Erikson’s theoretical stages of (human/adult) development provides the framework for exploring other academic fields for more information. As a lifelong learner, the adult development process according to Erickson remains contextual to the cognitive understanding of self, of others, and the interrelationships that occur in the adult stages of development directly affecting career. Review of the course material and other literature Hoare (2001) has succinctly put Erikson’s personal life experience as insightful to the process he engaged for developing his theoretical views on human and specific to adult development. The author writes:
(How) Erik Erikson spent a great portion of his own adult life developing (this) essential knowledge. In the entire twentieth century, he stands alone as the one thinker who changed our minds about what it means to live as a person who has arrived at a chronologically mature position and yet continues to grow, to change, and to develop. (Hoare, 2002, p. 3)
Consequently, this provides a personal perspective that embraces Erikson’s conjecture of the ability of the aging adult continuing the lifelong learning process. This is subsequent to applying this understanding to every chronological aspect of the aging process and the new insights that form personally and collectively as a society about adult aging and given no physiological or mental incapacitating issues prevent it, that the learning process has new avenues to explore personally, socially, and professionally.
Learning Style Inventory
The clear academic significance of the results of the learning style inventory allows a broader understanding of the individuality taking place within each person. The one size fits all perspective of the past era in pedagogical process of instruction -leaving some learners on the outside- now proves limiting. With the results of the inventory the use of this as a personal tool for applying this knowledge opens the opportunity for taking ownership of the learning process.
The result of the inventory assessment further substantiating a personal understanding already internalized the direct experience is my favored means of absorbing knowledge. The areas showing similar influence provides further insight in understanding causal factors affecting learning outcomes as applied to situations, events, interpersonal relations and communication, as well as varying limitations that preferred learning styles my personally impose on these activities.
As provided in the inventory explanation, it is through the concrete experience (CE) learning experience that reveals how the subjective perspective focuses on the dynamics of the immediacy of dealing with human situations personally. The fact emotional investment takes place more than thought allows having this understanding as a gauge for keeping the emotions in control.
The inventory results led to investigating similar literature revealing adult educator Malcolm Knowles (1977) showing his development of the paradigm of Andragogy that aligns to the learning preference inventory process. Holyoke and Larson (2009) explain, “The practice of Andragogy, unlike pedagogy, puts the focus on the learner - the adult - and not on the teacher. Andragogy tends to emphasize the process of teaching over the content that is being taught (p. 12).”
Adult Development and
Life Assessment Learner Guide
Particular to the personal understanding that direct experience in every aspect of learning but in this case to work and career experiences the “Adult Development and Life Assessment Learner Guide” proves especially useful. The Kolb and Fry (1975) contribution of the Model of Experiential Learning is an obvious beneficial tool. The initial experience evolving with other applications of learning processes as shown in the model.
The clear and easily read/followed writing in the “Learner Guide” is an example of well-written instruction in an academic context for learners. Developing the personal essay and using the Kolb model according to the instructions not only provided a quality and effective means of learning the process for completing this type of academic assignment but it proved enjoyable along with the challenging aspects.
Murphy and Carson-Werner (2012) provide the best definition of what a well-written learning manual means to the student according to the precepts of Knowles (1977c) that apply to the course instructional manual in this learning experience.
The manual fits adult learner characteristics because it is self-directing, it provides what and why the learner needs to know, provides learning tasks the draw on, “Life’s reservoir of experience is a primary learning resource; the life experiences of others add enrichment to the learning process.” Further, this course manual provides an immediacy for application of the information, and the material fits an adult learner’s internal motivation to gain knowledge (Murphy & Carson-Werner, 2012, p. 8).
As a result, this course manual emerges as an effective training tool for students. It fits the required principles as stated above about the way adults learn through the pertinent content of the subject matter. The effectiveness of the manual in part, reveals its influence in the ability to prepare this entire document. The training provided in the course manual for interactive involvement presents optimum opportunity for retaining, recalling, and remembering the information implemented in the learning exercises such as this document exemplifies (Murphy & Carson-Werner, 2012).
More effective than the pedagogical process of lectures, this type of training for adults underpins the need for drawing on individual experiences in learning tasks that involve each student in the process. Further, the probability of the information learned from the activities provided in this manual transferring outside of the course into real life situations is arguably assured. From a personal perspective review of the manual in correlation with this learning exercise brings a better appreciation of it as an instructional tool for effective opportunities for student learning (Murphy & Carson-Werner, 2012).
Conclusion
As stated in the thesis in the introduction above, learning is a lifelong process evolving through cognitive abilities particular to developmental stages for acquiring knowledge as humans, reach adulthood. The above research, review, assessment, and dialogue successfully provided sections that addressed the different aspects applied to the thesis as aligned to the course learning task preparing an essay and as applied to the course text, specific human development theorist, and the course learning manual as they apply to the social science aspects of the adult learner process. The completion of the above adequately fulfills the intentions of meeting the assigned learning task.
References
Bjorklund, B. (2014). Journey of Adulthood (8th Edition). Pearson Education Lmt.
Eyetsemitan, F. E., & Gire, J. T. (2003). Aging and Adult Development in the Developing World: Applying Western Theories and Concepts. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Hoare, C. H. (Ed.). (2002). Erikson on Development in Adulthood: New Insights from the Unpublished Papers. New York: Oxford University Press.
Holyoke, L., & Larson, E. (2009). Engaging the Adult Learner Generational Mix. Journal of Adult Education, 38(1), 12.
Kaufmann, C., & Allen, R. (2012). Adult Development and Life Assessment – Manual. Central Christian College.
Knowles, M. S. (1977). The adult education movement in the United States. Malabar, FL: Krieger.
Kolb, D. A., & Fry, R. (1975). "Toward an Applied Theory of Experiential
Learning. Cooper, C. (ed) Theories of Group Process. New York: John Wiley, 1975.
Murphy, J., & Carson-Warner, C. O. (2012). Train-the-Trainer Manual: Mentoring Adult Learners. Chicago State University, Chicago, IL. Retrieved from
http://www.csu.edu/TLMP/documents/TLMPTraining-the-TrainerManual2.pdf
Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Schermerhorn, A. C., & Cummings, E. M. (2007). Marital Conflict and Children's Adjustment: Evaluation of the Parenting Process Model. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(5), 1118.
Thurston, J. (2012). Bridging the Void – Part 1- PDF. Retrieved from
https://thefathercode.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Bridging-The-Void-_Part-1.pdf
