Malcolm
Knowles
Andragogy
Andragogy is Distinct from Pedagogy
Education of adults has long been perceived as different from education of children in both theory and practice. In this section general views of the purposes and characteristics will be given. In the next section, applications of critical theory and reflective thinking in adult education will be explored.
Adult education in North America began to be organized in the 1920's, when educators of adults found problems with the pedagogical assumption that the purpose of schooling was to transmit knowledge and skills. They also noted different characteristics for adult learners than for children. Adult learners desired more than just knowledge, and resisted pedagogical teaching strategies such as drills, rote memorization, and examinations. The andragogical model focuses more on the educator as a facilitator who makes resources and procedures available to the adult learner. Mutual planning based on needs assessment, formulating instructional objectives that respect the needs identified, creating learning experiences with techniques and materials, and evaluating outcomes to determine the next level of needs are more characteristic of adult instruction. The voluntary nature of adult learning is a cornerstone assumption of andragogy (Holmes & Abington-Cooper, 2000).
Knowles (1980) came from a humanistic orientation and believed that self-actualization was the prime objective of adult learning, and the mission of educators was to assist adult learners to develop and achieve their full potential as emotional, psychological, and intellectual beings. Knowles made four assumptions about adults as learners: (1) Adults tend to be more self-directed as a result of their maturity, (2) Adults possess personal histories which defines their identities and serve as a resource of experiential learning upon which new learnings can be applied, (3) Motivation in adults is directed to more socially relevant learning, and (4) Adult learners have interest in immediate application for problem-solving.
According to Boggs (1981) adult educational experiences should enhance personal growth make it easier for adults to adapt to internal and external changes until the end of life. Boggs considers adult education as life enhancing when it meets the following criteria:
1. Promotes skill-development and positive self-concept,
2. Helps alleviate fears, prejudice, illusions, and promotes critical thinking about stereotypes, cultural myths, and biased thinking,
3. Promotes creativity,
4. Helps the individual move toward personal goals,
5. Helps the individual become more tolerant, generous, sensitive, discerning and understanding,
6. Provides access to greater opportunity,
7. Moves the person closer to his/her full potential,
8. Contributes toward revitalization of positive cultural ideals and traditions.
According to Boggs, adult education is not life-enhancing when
1. The adult learner is given specific views toward controversial issues,
2. The learner is led to premature closure on open-ended issues,
3. The learner is provided with answers rather than arriving at them independently,
4. The learner is not challenged to exceed previous personal performance standards
5. The learner accumulates information without contextual relevance and interpretive or reflective skill building.
Knowles' theory has aroused much controversy and debate. One of the points of controversy is his inference that andragogy with all its implications for adult instruction, is fundamentally different than pedagogy, which has implications for education of children. Knowles has subsequently clarified his position and now claims that andragogy-pedagogy represents a continuum rather than a dichotomy. Use of techniques from both are appropriate at at different times and in different contexts regardless of age. (Merriam & Caffarella, 1991)
Another point of debate is whether andragogy is actually a theory of learning, or a theory of instruction. Some of Knowles basic assumptions have been challenged, for example self-direction is more of a goal than a pre-existing condition in the adult learner. Also problem-centered learning can be construed as reductionistic rather than holistic. (Merriam & Caffarella, 1991)
Critical Andragogy
The tradition of critical theory dates back to early part of the twentieth century with the work of Europeans Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse, and Benjamin. These first generation critical theorists emerged from the Marxist tradition and believed that society needed to be transformed. In the years between World War I and World War II, they believed that the industrial working class was the group that would initiate the necessary changes to create a more just society. They abandoned this view by the end of World War II, realizing that the leadership would not come from the working class. In the early days critical theory was inherently pessimistic (Welton, 1993).
The second generation believed that critical theory had merit, but needed to be updated and modified to be meaningful in post-war Europe and North America. Jurgen Habermas was the strongest thinker of this generation. Habermas rejected the pessimism of his mentors, and saw positive qualities in society which he believed could form the core of a better society. He clearly recognized problems and inequities in society, but his optimism colored critical theory with a much more widely acceptable version. He believed that knowledge and learning were the primary factors which would shape the human condition over time. Adult education, to Habermas, was the vehicle by which transformation of society would emerge (Welton, 1993).
While Habermas cherished the critical process, he was aware of the conflict and personal struggle for individuals who adopt critical thinking. He extended the application of critical thinking to include personal belief systems learned in the family and the conventional thinking of professional groups and the unexamined values and beliefs of other social structures. He believed adult education should transcend simply taking in pre-packaged information, and should incorporate critical evaluation of that information and knowledge. In this sense he believed knowledge was multidimensional, including its transformative and emancipatory potentials (Welton, 1993).
In the late 1970's, critical theory took new turns with regard to adult education. In Brazil, Freire ( Clark, 1993) applied critical thinking to literacy training for adults. Working with extremely poor people, Freire employed critical theory to challenge illiterate adults to become aware of and analyze the oppressive social structures in their culture and how they affected their lives. His method was to pose problems to groups of adult learners in a collaborative setting, and to encourage them to discover their power to change their thinking, their lives, and their society. He called the process conscientization and stressed the importance of both reflection and action.
A new educational field called transformational learning began to evolve in the late 1970's with the work of Jack Mezirow (1991). Mezirow's work has been controversial and has stimulated an abundance of research into the transformative process that arises out of learning in adults. Influenced strongly by critical theory, Mezirow believed a key aspect of adult learning to be the process of becoming critically aware of how and why our assumptions constrain the way we perceive, understand, feel about the world. Through critical dialog, Mezirow the limits of one's model of the world are redefined; he called this internal shift “perspective transformation”.
In the 1980's Habermas formulated a framework for entering the process of critical reflection. The framework incorporates four criteria for evaluation, and can be used in the analysis of spoken or written language and its implications. These four criteria are (1) what is said accurately portrays the intended meaning of the speaker/writer, (2) any factual assertions are indeed true, (3) the speaker/writer is justified and qualified to speak or write on the subject, and (4) the speaker/writer is sincere and there is no intention to deceive the listener/reader (Welton, 1993).
Over the decades, the definition of critical reflection has taken on a variety of meanings. Mezirow (1981) believed the goal of transformative learning through critical reflection was to develop in adult learners "a crucial sense of agency over ourselves and our lives" (p.20). He was interested in the construction of knowledge by individuals to serve a wide variety of purposes in their individual lives.
Brookfield (1995) distinguishes ordinary reflection from critical reflection by four distinctive characteristics. First, critical reflection reveals power structures. Second critical reflection illuminates the covert and overt repressive dimensions of practices and ideologies. Third, critical thinking exposes inconsistencies between practices which are supposed to benefit people, but which, in fact, actually work against their benefit. Fourth, reflective thinking studies the reflective process itself. A critically reflective thinker realizes that this process itself, constitutes an ideology that has roots in a particular time, place, and group of people. Thus the critical thinker must be aware of the potential for misuse and abuse of critical reflection for its own ends.
Learning Theory Bibliography
Boggs, D. L. (1981). .
Brookfield, S. (1995).
Clark, M. C. (1993).
Holmes, G. and Abington-Cooper, M. (2000).
Knowles, M.S. (1980).
Knowles, M.S. (1984)
Merriam and Cafferella, (1991)
Mezirow, J. D. (1981).
Mezirow, J. (1991)
Welton, M. (1993).
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