The Confounding Dimensions of the Learner in Middle Life

1. The Confounding Dimensions of the Learner in Middle Life A Presentation to the Distance Education Technology Symposium (DETS 2008) Athabasca University Edmonton, Alberta – June 13, 2008 Norman E. Taylor, MDE

2. Good AFTERNOON … Fellow Learners “We cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning For what was great in the morning will be little at evening, and What in the morning was true … will at evening have become a lie.” Carl Gustav Jung (1933)

3. Some Questions We Will Attempt To Answer Today Who is “the learner in middle life?” What has changed about “the learner in middle life?” Who are the Four Selves that each Middle Life Learner brings into each learning experience? Why does each of these ‘selves’ represent important considerations for the educator? What is the research in Adult Education saying about these dimensions of Middle Life Learners? How is the field of Distance Education, in particular, potentially impacted? What additional research could (or should) be done on this topic? How (and why) did I get to here through an MDE Independent Study Project? What advice might I offer to other students considering their own ISP? What did I learn from my own Independent Study Project? What am I going to do about it?

4. If a picture is worth a thousand words … … how many words are contained in an experience? Let’s Begin With One of Yours

5. 1 …… 2 …… 3 ……4 …… 5 …… 6 …… 7…… 8 …… 9 …… 10 I Felt More Like This I Felt More Like This Please bring to mind a recent or particularly memorable learning project which you have undertaken as an adult learner. It could be a specific course in your degree program, a workplace training program, an online study module, or a personal growth learning project. Please plot yourself on the following four scales according to which of each paired description more accurately reflects your state of mind as youentered the specific learning project: Scale # 1 I had low confidence based on previous learning experiences in my life. It had been a long time since I was in a similar learning role. I had a high degree of fear and worry about my learning capacity. I had few if any proven learning strategies to draw upon. I had little or no preparation for the subject matter. I had much demonstrated success in the past as a learner and thus had high confidence. I possessed well-developed strategies for learning and good personal disciplines. I felt well prepared to approach the subject matter. I had previously validated measures of my learning capacity and ability.

6. 1 …… 2 …… 3 ……4 …… 5 …… 6 …… 7…… 8 …… 9 …… 10 I Felt More Like This I Felt More Like This Please bring to mind a recent or particularly memorable learning project which you have undertaken as an adult learner. It could be a specific course in your degree program, a workplace training program, an online study module, or a personal growth learning project. Please plot yourself on the following four scales according to which of each paired description more accurately reflects your state of mind as youexperiencedthe specific learning project: The learning did not resonate with other past experiences. It neither drew upon nor validated my practical or tacit knowledge. I remained uncertain of what I was learning and was dependent upon the instruction and measured feedback. I learned some things but I did not feel it affecting my points of view. The learning ignited and integrated with other prior experiences. It had the effect of validating and reconciling things I already knew informally. I was highly conscious of the new learning I was gaining and felt the cumulative effects upon my confidence. I encountered rich challenges to my perspectives on life. Scale # 2

7. 1 …… 2 …… 3 ……4 …… 5 …… 6 …… 7…… 8 …… 9 …… 10 I Felt More Like This I Felt More Like This Please bring to mind a recent or particularly memorable learning project which you have undertaken as an adult learner. It could be a specific course in your degree program, a workplace training program, an online study module, or a personal growth learning project. Please plot yourself on the following four scales according to which of each paired description more accurately reflects your state of mind as youcompletedthe specific learning project: I was not very concerned about receiving ‘credit’ for the learning. I had no specific purposes in mind for applying the learning. I did not feel accountable to anyone else to achieve or succeed at any specific level. I accepted the learning at face value and merely expected to integrate it within my general body of knowledge and skills. I was highly committed to achieving some ‘credential’ associated with the learning. I had specific applications in mind for my newly gained competencies. I felt an accountability to my employer or other sponsor(s) to succeed. I anticipated material gain and/or career advancement from the learning achievement. Scale # 3

8. 1 …… 2 …… 3 ……4 …… 5 …… 6 …… 7…… 8 …… 9 …… 10 I Felt More Like This I Felt More Like This Please bring to mind a recent or particularly memorable learning project which you have undertaken as an adult learner. It could be a specific course in your degree program, a workplace training program, an online study module, or a personal growth learning project. Please plot yourself on the following four scales according to which of each paired description more accurately reflects your state of mind as youreflected uponyour completion of the learning: Other than its practical applications, the learning did not change me. It did not alter my sense of purpose or destiny. I was not moved to see the world differently. I did not feel compelled to use the learning as a springboard to other actions. I did not discover any untapped or latent talents or passions. I was the same person but with new knowledge and/or skills. The learning opened new windows into my sense of myself. I felt inspired to take on new courses of action. I questioned my view of the world and my place within it. I was moved spiritually as well as intellectually. I re-activated or discovered latent abilities and interests and came to re-examine my sense of purpose for my current and future stages of life. Scale # 4

9. 1 …… 2 …… 3 ……4 …… 5 …… 6 …… 7…… 8 …… 9 …… 10 I Felt More Like This I Felt More Like This Or, if you prefer the big picture reflection … Please plot yourself on the following four scales according to which of each paired description more accurately reflects your state of mindthroughout the specific learning project: Scale # 1 - Entry Low confidence as a learner. High confidence as a learner. Scale # 2 - Experience Low experiential resonance. High experiential resonance. Scale # 3 - Completion Low material significance. High material significance. Scale # 4 - Reflection Low impact on critical self. High impact on critical self.

10. Five Sample Profiles of the Middle Life Learner Which of these individuals would you describe as a motivated learner? Which would you describe as an unmotivated learner? What concerns might you have as a teacher if you faced this particular grouping of profiles in your classroom or your online course? Why? What concerns might you have as a learner if you were accurately reflected in any one of these profiles? Which profile(s) would concern you most? Why?

11. Who is “the learner in middle life?” What has changed about “the learner in middle life?” • Some early goals: • New language to capture phenomenology of intrinsic and extrinsic learner motivation • Respect for the complexity of our middle-life subjects • Need for an operational definition of the Middle Life Learner (Dr. Fahy & Dr. Kenny) • What I discovered: • Mid-life to “Middle Life” – from narrow field to “30 to 60 … +/- 10 years” (Lachman, 2004) • From Jung and Erikson to MIDMAC et al • Infuenced by personal studies in Lifelong Learning, Experiential Learning and Interpretive and Critical Social Science • Welton, Peruniak: Habermas, Mezirow, Fenwick, Freire, Collins • Blodgett: Neuman, Creswell

12. Concepts of Education Postmodern Psycho-Social Realities Classical • Patterns of Aging and Family • Career Transitions • Global Mobility • Social Diversity • Widening Income & Wealth Gap • Sustainable Development Challenges Basic Early Vocational • Prolonged & Multi-faceted Generativity • Ongoing Disturbance Basic Vocational Classical Classical Life Long Learning Basic Vocational Multi-Mode Options Experiential Changes in Adult Education Changes in Psychological and Sociological Factors Resulting Impacts on Learning and Development:Lines of Control – Lines of Transition

13. Who are the Four Selves that each Middle Life Learner brings into the learning experience?

14. The Natural Self asks … The Experiential Self asks … What Native Abilities and Self-Conceptions Do I Bring Into Adult Learning? How Are Life Experiences andNew Points of View Interacting With My Learning? Adult Education Strategies Designed Learning Interactions For which of these learners are your academic systems designed? To which of these learners are you teaching? To What Adult Purposes Will I Choose to Direct My Learning? What Apparent Needs Drive Me To Succeed? The Critical Self asks … The Practical Self asks … As an Adult Learner in the “Afternoon of Life” …. I am in part all that has gone before: How I have learned, what I have learned, and how do I feel about my readiness for the process of learning? I am whatever happens to me in the learning process: Am I a truly welcome participant? Am I permitted to see how I am being affected? I am in part my practical reasons for learning: How will my learning be measured? How will it be applied? How will my efforts be rewarded? I am also all that might come next: How I have been affected and how will this affect my life? Who have I become? Where do I go from here?

15. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Learners Perspective: Compatibility with Purposes Educators’ Perspective: Adapting for Success Factors Why does each of these ‘selves’ represent important considerations for the educator? What is the research-to-date in Adult Education saying about these dimensions of Middle Life Learners?

16. My Study of Middle Life Learners tapped into over 160 Literature Sources from: • Education • Psychology • Sociology • Social Anthropology • Linguistics • Economics • Business • International Development • Instructional Systems Design

17. Implications for Learning and Instruction from the Natural Self

18. Implications for Learning and Instruction from the Experiential Self

19. Implications for Learning and Instruction from the Practical Self

20. Implications for Learning and Instruction from the Critical Self

21. How is the field of Distance Education, in particular, potentially impacted by these dimensions of Middle Life Learners? What additional research could (or should) be done on this topic?

22. The Natural Self The Experiential Self Intellectual, Affective & Personality Factors Acquired Frames of Reference Social and Acculturating Factors Transforming Perspectives Epistemology What Native Abilities and Self-Conceptions Do I Bring Into Adult Learning? What Points of View and Meaning Schemes Are Interacting With My Learning Processes? • Cognitive Strategies • Self-Efficacy • Intrinsic Motivation • Generational Norms • Academic Disposition • Disorientation • Practical-Tacit Intelligence • Metacognition Content & Resources Educational Strategies Designed Learning Interactions Reconciliation Relevance Peers Teachers • Personal Destiny • Self vs. Other Direction • Legacy Roles • Renaissance • Credentials & Career • Competency Models • Pragmatism • Extrinsic Motivation To What Adult Purposes Do I Want My Learning To Be Directed? Generativity - Actualization What Apparent Reasons Drive My Success? Are My Achievements Recognized? To What Are They Applied? Ontology Lifeworld, Citizenship & Spiritual Factors Conscientization Socio-economic Factors Vocational & Purposeful Ambitions The Critical Self The Practical Self

23. During 1st 8 MDE Courses: Encountered a growing body of non-integrated material about learner motivation During Systems Theory in AE & Lifelong Learning: Gained new perspectives on learners & opened new pathways During recent 10 yrs in practice: Noticed differences in learners and their circumstances over my previous 20 yrs. experience During 4 yrs, in dual roles as Professor and Consultant: Contrasts became evident between college students & AE participants Conceived the original ISP Study Topic as Mid-Life Dispositions to the Learning Experience Commenced the preliminary literature scan with about 60 authors and produced the first draft of the concept model. Highlighted the need to develop an operating definition of mid-life and to trace the post-modern influences upon the adult learner Examined concepts of middle life linked to generational differences and globalization & new economic trends Extended literature search to 100 additional sources Revised the language of the conceptual model Parallel studies in Experiential Learning and Instructional Systems Design provided important new clues Final Paper presents a multi-dimensional profile of the learner in middle life Comments on the relative impact of 4 dimensions upon the learning process and their interaction with learning designs Profiling Learners for Educational Strategy & Transformative Nature of Adult Experience How (and why) did I get to here in an Independent Study Project?

24. What advice might I offer to other students considering their own Independent Study Project? • Be prepared to practice “Fitzgerald’s Intelligence” • Be prepared to follow Neuman’s and Creswell’s advice – your focus will change as you go, and induction rules. • Be prepared to tap into the wealth of human capital around you: • Your Program Advisors • Your Family • Your Practical Experience • Your Faculty and Peers in Other Courses • Prepare to be thrilled by discovering how much you already know. • Prepare to be humbled by how much you have yet to learn.

25. Speak About It … Write About It … Research It … Live It Please visit www.Net-L3.com and join me in my weblog on Lifelong Learning What did I learn from my own Independent Study Project? “The nearer we approach the middle of life, and the better we have succeeded in entrenching ourselves in our personal standpoints and social positions, the more it appears as if we had discovered the right course and the right ideals and principles of behaviour. For this reason we suppose them to be eternally valid and make a virtue of unchangeably clinging to them. We wholly overlook the essential fact that the achievements which society rewards are won at the cost of diminution of personality.” Modern Man in Search of a Soul (Jung, 1933) I believe that as Adult Educators, and especially as Distance Educators … We must harness theNatural Self, reconcile theExperiential Self, serve thePractical Self, and awaken theCritical Selfwithin our Middle Life Learners. What am I going to do about it? Thank you

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