Adult Learning Theory/Model

1. Adult Learning Theory/Model INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

2. Learning & Learning Theories • Although learning has been defined in a variety ways, most definitions include the concepts of behavioral change and experience. And has been of interest to philosophers, psychologists, educators, and politicians for centuries. • The notion of change still underlies most definitions of learning, although it has been modified to include the potential for change. • Likewise, the idea that having an experience of some sort, rather than learning as a function of maturation, is important. Thus learning can be defined as: “ a process by which behavior changes as a result of experience”

3. Learning & Learning Theories • Learning as a PROCESS (rather than an end product) focuses on what happens when the learning takes place. • Explanations of what happens are called learning theories, and it is these theories that are subject of this Adult Learning topic. • Since there are dozens of learning theories and volumes written describing them, this course chooses 4 orientations to learning that represent learning theories in adulthood.

4. Learning & Learning Theories 4 learning orientations: • Behaviorist • Cognitivist • Humanist • Social learning

5. Learning & Learning Theories The 4 orientations are based on different assumptions about nature of learning, the strategies one might use to enhance learning will depend on one’s orientation.

6. Learning & Learning Theories

7. Learning & Learning Theories

8. Learning & Learning Theories In brief… Behaviorists define learning as a change in behavior. The focus of their research is overt behavior, which is a measurable response to stimuli in the environment. The role of teacher is to arrange the contingencies of reinforcement in the learning environment so that the desired behavior will occur. Findings from behavioral learning theories can be seen in training and vocational adult education

9. Learning & Learning Theories In brief… Researchers working from a cognitivist perspective focus not on external behavior but on internal mental processes. Cognitivists are interested in how the mind makes sense out of stimuli in the environment – how information is processed, stored, and retrieved. This orientation is especially evident in the study of adult learning from a developmental perspective. The major concerns are how aging affects an adult’s ability to process and retrieve information and how it affects and adult’s internal mental structures.

10. Learning & Learning Theories In brief… Humanistic emphasizes on human nature, human potential, human emotions and affect. Theorists in this tradition believe that learning involves more than cognitive processes and overt behavior. It is a function of motivation and involves choice and responsibility. Much of adult learning theory, especially the concepts of andragogy and SDL, are grounded in humanistic assumptions.

11. Learning & Learning Theories In brief… The perspective of social learning differs from the other three in its focus on the social setting in which learning occurs. From this perspective learning occurs through the observation of people in one’s immediate environment. Furthermore, learning is a function of the interaction of the person, the environment, and the behavior. Variations in behavior under the same circumstances can be explained by idiosyncratic personality traits and their unique interaction with environmental stimuli. Social learning theories contribute to adult learning by highlighting the importance of social context and explicating the processes of modeling and mentoring.

12. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Introduction • There is a dilemma of no single theory of adult learning that includes all types of learning. • A phenomenon as complex as adult learning will probably never be adequately explained by a single theory. • But many theories useful in improving our understanding of adults as learners.

13. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Introduction • This section reviews seven different theory-building efforts in adult learning. • Knowles’s andragogy • Cross’s CAL (Characteristic’s of adults as learners) model • McClusky’s theory of margin • Knox’s proficiency theory • Jarvis’s model of the learning process • Mezirow’s perspective transformation • Freire’s conscientization

14. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Introduction • How well the 7 theories explain adult learning? • Is the theory comprehensive, includes all types of learning? • How practical the theory is? • How universal its application might be?

15. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Introduction Adult learning theory can be divided into three categories: • those anchored in adult learners’ characteristics • those based on an adult’s life situation • those that focus on changes in consciousness

16. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Theories based on adult characteristics • Andragogy (refer topic 2: andragogy ‘s critical assumptions) – all of which are characteristics of adult learners, has given them “a badge of identity” • CAL model – offers a tentative framework to accommodate current knowledge about what we know about adult as learners.

17. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Theories based on adult characteristics CAL • Consists of 2 classes of variables: personal characteristics and situational characteristics. Personal characteristics include physical, psychological, and sociocultural dimensions (reflect growth and development from childhood into adult life). Situational characteristics focus on variables unique to adult participants – e.g. part-time vs full-time learning and voluntary vs compulsory participation.

18. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Theories based on adult characteristics CAL • Cross believes that her model incorporates completed research on aging, stage and phase developmental studies, participation, learning projects, motivation, and so on. • The model can also be used to stimulate research by thinking across and between categories. It might be asked, e.g. whether there is a “relationship between stage of ego development and voluntary participation in learning”. • Rather than suggesting implications for practice, as Knowles’s andragogy does, CAL offers a framework for thinking about what and how adults learn.

19. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Theories based on an adult’s life situation • McClusky’s theory of margin, Knox’s proficiency theory, and Jarvis’s model of the learning process. • McClusky’s - balance between the amount of energy needed and the amount available. E.g. ratio between the “load” of life and the “power” of life. We can control both by modifying either power or load. • May seem to apply more readily to formal learning situations; informal learning can occur under conditions of stress or, in McClusky’s terms, when load is greater than power.

20. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Theories based on an adult’s life situation Knox’s proficiency theory • Proficiency is defined as the capability to perform satisfactorily if given the opportunity, and this performance involves some combination of attitude, knowledge, and skill. • Explain “adult motivation and achievement in both learning activities and life roles”.

21. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Theories based on an adult’s life situation Jarvis • “all learning begins with experience”. • Some experiences, however, are repeated with such frequency that they are taken for granted and do not lead to learning, e.g. driving a car, household routines. • Throughout life, people are moving from social situation to social situation; sometimes in conscious awareness but on other occasions in a taken-for-granted manner.

22. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Theories based on changes in consciousness Have a stronger cognitive focus in that they deal with the mental construction of experience and inner meanings • Mezirow’s perspective of transformation – is the process of becoming critically aware of how and why our presuppositions have come to constrain the way we perceive, understand, and feel about our world; of reformulating these assumptions to permit a more inclusive, discriminating, permeable, and integrative perspective; and making decisions or otherwise acting upon these new understandings. • E.g. critically reflecting upon our lives, becoming aware of why we attach the meanings we do to reality, especially to our roles and relationships (not just adding to what we already know).

23. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Theories based on changes in consciousness • Freire’s theory – is more precisely a theory of education (of which learning is an important component) in contrast to Mezirow’s focus on learning process itself. • Increasing awareness of one’s situation involves moving from the lowest level of consciousness, where there is no comprehension of how forces shape one’s life, to the highest level of critical consciousness. • E.g. Analysis of problems, Self awareness, and self reflection

24. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Synthesis 1 Four of the theories (those of Knowles, Cross, Knox, and McClusky) reveal more about the learner’s characteristics, his or her life situation, and the desired outcomes of learning than they do about learning).

25. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Synthesis 2 Three focus on the process of learning itself – Jarvis’s, Mezirow’s and Freire’s – but only one, Mezirow’s perspective transformation, claims to explain learning that is unique to adults.

26. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Synthesis 3 While most of these theories address implications for practice, only Knowles’ andragogy has been widely applied in practice.

27. Toward Comprehensive Theories of Adult Learning Synthesis 4 From the 7 theories, 4 components of adult learning can be extracted: • self-direction or autonomy as a characteristic or goal of adult learning • Breadth and depth of life experiences as content or triggers to learning • Reflection or self-conscious monitoring of changes taking place • Action or some other expression of the learning that has occurred