LEARNING FOR LIFE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ADULT LEARNING

WHAT IS ANDRAGOGY? Malcolm Knowles an American educator defined andragogy as: ‘… the art and science of helping adults learn.’

PRINCIPLES OF ADULT LEARNING 1.The need to know 2.Learner’s self-concept 3.Role of the learner’s experience 4.Readiness to learn 5.Orientation to learning 6.Motivation

1. NEED TO KNOW Adults want their learning to: meet their needs be relevant help them achieve their goals.

2. LEARNER’S SELF-CONCEPT Adult learners:  are self-motivated and self-directed  are independent  like to find their own way  can make their own decisions  want to manage their own learning.

3. ROLE OF THE LEARNER’S EXPERIENCE Adult learners: have diverse experience and knowledge may have ingrained ideas about things apply their life experience and knowledge to new learning use their problem-solving, reflecting and reasoning skills.

4. READINESS TO LEARN Adult learners: are goal focused want timely and meaningful learning experiences need clear learning goals.

5. ORIENTATION TO LEARNING Adult learners:  are practical – their learning should apply to their lives, job, etc.  want to be involved in planning their learning  focus on the aspects that are most useful to them.

6. MOTIVATION For adult learners, the best motivators are: internal; for example:  increased job satisfaction  heightened self-esteem  better quality of life personal growth and development.

HOW TO HELP ADULTS LEARN Encourage active participation Offer meaningful, relevant and holistic learning Ensure multi-sensory learning (using the 5 senses) Give learners time to practice and reflect on learning Give regular and useful feedback Motivate further learning with recognition and rewards