Unit 6 Learning Activity 1 – “Andragogy”

I am an adult learner, and I have worked with several adult learners. Malcolm Knowle’s six assumptions about andragogy are still relevant today when it comes to my work as an Officer/Pastor. This post is taking the six assumptions and talking about my experiences in regards to them.

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.

My experience with this specific principle is my seeing the difference between an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree. For an undergraduate degree, it’s very much instructor-led, in regards to readings, learning, etc. Whereas a graduate level degree is a more self-directing degree where the instructor assumes you will read more than what is required and look at situations and problems more from your own experience.

2. An adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience, which is a rich resource for learning.

I see this all the time in The Salvation Army; both from those who are Officers/Pastors and from those who have been attending The Salvation Army for a long time. Sometimes, however, the learning that comes from experience may be what not to do.

3. The readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his or her social role.

I’m a pastor, and this means that I prepare a sermon for each Sunday of the year. One of the constant thoughts that go through my head as I develop it is, “will these words affect anyone this week?” There are some Sundays where it does and others where it doesn’t. My point is that usually when they affect someone, it has to do with their mindset, not mine. Are they open to hearing the words, what stage of life are they in, are they going through someone?

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 centered in learning.

I wonder if this is why “old people” are seen as complainers instead of problem solvers. My leading style is this: If you see a problem and you can do something about it then do something about it. I feel that this idea that we have a part to play gets lost as we get older. We see problems but we don’t want to do anything about it, or we think that someone else will do something. It happens in the church all the time.

5. Adults are mostly driven by internal motivation, rather than external motivators.

While I agree with this principle, I also see value in external motivators. From my experience, people want to have recognition for the work that they do. Yes, it might have been an internal motivation that drove them to finish something; however, we still need to have external motivators in place. Especially for a completed task.

6. Adults need to know the reason for learning something. (Merriam & Bierma, 2014, p. 47)

I agree 110%. I have had experience with this as well. If adults do not see the value in learning something, then they won’t learn it. Or, if they get pressured to learn something that they don’t see as important then the argument comes up, “I’m 70, I don’t need to know that and why is someone so young trying to teach me something, I should be teaching him!” I’ve heard this quite a bit given my role as an Officer/Pastor, being young, in aging congregations.

References:

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