I have had the opportunity to both be an adult learner and to work with adult learners. As someone who has worked with elementary, middle and high school students, I am extremely confident in stating that working with adults is a whole different world!   Libra Boyd (2015) in her review of Merriam and Bierema’s (2004) book Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice  shares that for the most part, children’s daily lives are filled with learning, whereas adults have to balance family, work, school and other social obligations. Unlike young children, adults are able to make deeper connections to their learning because they have a larger database of life experiences to draw upon.  For the focus of this post, I am going to address my own experience as an adult learner rather than as an adult teacher.

Malcolm Knowles as referenced in our Unit 6 notes discusses 6 principle assumptions about Andragogy (the art and science of helping adults learn).

https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2015/03/andragogy-visually-explained-for-teachers.html

  1. As a person matures, his or her self-concept moves from that of a dependent personality toward one of a self-directing human being. 
    • The older I get, the less dependent I am upon others for validation of my identity or my thoughts/ideas. I used to place a tremendous emphasis on how I fit into the social hierarchy of my school/work/personal life and tied my identity to that role. I now care more about acting with integrity and being true to myself and my values than I am about fitting in to a role/mold that I think others want me to be. I am focused more on discovering who I am as a person so that I can become the best me possible. If I can figure this out, then I will have more to offer to others. In the past I wouldn’t question or rock the boat, and now I do not prescribe to a group mentality and am proud of having a voice to call my own. I like to form my own opinions and don’t take what other people have to say as ‘gospel’ especially when they are talking about other students or adults in the building. This definitely has only come about in the past 5 years or so as I have matured into myself.
  2. An adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience, which is a rich resource for learning.
    • This is definitely true! I appreciate every experience that I’ve had (the good, the bad, the ugly) because they have helped shape me into who I am today. When facing difficult decisions, I know that I have a toolbox full of skills and experience to draw upon to not only help myself but to help others and benefit my learning community.  Adults are able to make deeper connections to their learning because they have a larger database of life experiences from which to draw upon. By sharing these experiences we learn from each other.
  3. The readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his/her social role. 
    • My life circumstances have forced me to take charge of my own future.  I have never been more ready to learn! I know what I want in life and I’m going to do whatever it takes to seek it out and make it a reality.
  4. There is a change in time perspective as people mature – from future application of knowledge to immediacy of application. Thus, an adult is more problem than subject centred in learning.
    • Unlike when I was in high school I now take what I learn and apply it immediately to my life, and to my career. The material being taught is no longer something that seems far off in the future, instead it is right now, in the present. My learning is relevant and job related and therefore immediately applicable.
  5. Adults are mostly driven by internal motivation, rather than external motivators.

    Adult Learning Styles – YouTube

    • While I cannot speak for others, this is definitely true for me.  I went back to school in 2008 as a mature student and got my teaching degree after being a stay at home mom for 10 years because it had always been my dream to become a teacher. I didn’t do it for the money, I didn’t do it for social status,  I did it for me. I signed up for this Master’s course because I want to continue to challenge myself by soaking up as much knowledge as I can so that I can become a better me.  I do it because I am intrinsically driven to do it. Unlike in high school or during my first Bachelor of Arts Degree (I left home and went away to University when I was 17), I am driven to do the best that I can instead of just producing the bare minimum to get by.  I know that whatever I put into my learning is what I will get out of it.  I am intrinsically driven to be an adult learner because I want to be the best me possible.
  6. Adults need to know the reason for learning something. (Merriam & Bierma, 2014, p. 47)
    • According to Donnelly-Smith (2011) in the article “What Adult Learners Can Teach Us About All Learners: A Conversation with L. Lee Knefelkamp”, they state that, “learning is meaningful to the degree that we can connect it to the concrete experiences of our student’s lives.”  As an adult learner, I need to be able to connect what I am learning to my own life. There needs to be a direct correlation in order for it to be meaningful and for me to want to be motivated to learn it.
    • According to Boyd (2015),  Merriam and Bierema (2004, p. 106) in Chapter Six of their book Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice discuss the need for “reflective practice, situated cognition and communities of practice” in adult education. By reflecting on our own practice, building and sharing our professional learning networks with others, by reading and commenting on each other’s blog posts and by expanding our cognitive knowledge through our assigned readings and essays we are slowly transforming ourselves into the leaders that we wish to be.

Adult learners take on an active role in their learning and seek out opportunities to add and develop skills to build up their toolboxes.  A team like relationship begins to develop between the learners, their educational peers as well as their professors. It is mutually beneficial for everyone involved to share their knowledge, and mistakes so that all of us can learn from them. Our notes from Unit 6, sums this up “we must willingly seek input and collaboration with stakeholders” as  “our personal growth and transformation impact others”.  I have learned so much already from reading the blog posts of my peers in this course. I have gained insight and perspective that I might not otherwise have been exposed to. I am grateful for this experience.  Our Unit 6 notes also mention about the presence of  “wisdom often being in the room” with us and I have definitely found this to be so. As a mature student, I want to continue on my journey of  choosing to learn and choosing to participate because I want to, and not because I have to.

 

References: 

Boyd, L. N. (2015). Adult learning: Linking Theory and Practice, by Sharan B. Merriam and Laura L. Bierema. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2014. 320 pages, $50.00 (hardcover). New Horizons In Adult Education & Human Resource Development, 27(4), 66. don:10.1002/nha3.20125

Dewey, J. (1944). Democracy and Education. New York: The Free Press.

Donnelly-Smith, L. (2011). What Adult Learners Can Teach Us About All Learners: A Conversation with L. Lee Knefelkamp. Peer Review, 13(1), 8-9.

Hui, C.,Snider L., & Couture, M. (2016). Self-reguluation workshop and occupational performance coaching with teachers: A pilot study. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 83(2), 115-125. don:10.1177/0008417415627665

Katz J., & Sugden, R. (2013). The Three-Block Meodel of Universal Design for Learning Implementation in a High School. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 141, 1-28.

Klinger, D.A., Voluante, L., & DeLuca, C. (2012). Building teacher capacity within the evolving assessment culture in Canadian education. Policy Futures in Education, 10(4), 447-460. don:10.2304/pfie.2012.10.4.447

Merriam, S.B., & Bierema, L.L. (2014). Adult Learning: Linking theory and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Merriam, S.B., & Grace,  A.P. (2011). Contemporary Issues in Adult Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Sokal, L., & Sharma, U. (2014). Canadian in-service teachers’ concerns, efficacy, and attitudes about inclusive teaching. Exceptionality Education International, 23(1), 59-71.