Adult
learners have always been viewed to be different from child learners. One of
the theories that attempt to explain this difference is Knowles theory of
andragogy. The term Andragogy by translation means "art and science of
helping adults learn" and Kearsley assets that this to an instructor means
that
Instructions
for adults need to focus more on the process and less on the content being
taught. Strategies such as case studies, role playing, simulations, and
self-evaluations are most useful. Instructors adopt a role of facilitator or
resource rather than lecturer or grader (Lieb, 1998, p. 6).
While most education
scholars deride andragogy as being less a theory and more a set of assumptions
about the nature of adult students, there is general concession that andragogy
offers a manner through which strategic differentiation of educational
practices between children and adults can be made. As a science, adult learning
is defined as "the process of adults gaining knowledge and expertise"
(Knowles, Holton and Swanson, 2005, p.174). Key to the concept of adult
learning is the idea that the adult learner wants to have control over his/her
individual learning process and also aims at some particular result.
While
adult learning did not attract significant attention for the better part of the
20th century, the last decades of the century saw a rise in interest in adult
education. The development of new information technologies, globalization and
rising unemployment to name but a few are some of the changes that had the
cumulative effect of transforming the social demand for learning. Adult
learning therefore became more prevalent as it proposes to meet the challenge
of lifelong learning that have been brought about by the rapid informational
changes currently experienced in the world (Rose, Kasworm & Ross-Gordon, 2010).
Thorpe,
Edwards and Hanson (1993) reveal that a good deal of adult education is
actually in compensation of previous school shortcomings rather than a
continuation of the previous regime. With this in mind, the authors go on to
articulate that some of the reasons for previous failure may include ability,
motivation and learning styles. According to Rose, Kasworm and Ross-Gordon
(2010) some of the adult participants in formal learning opportunities do so as
to improve the way they feel about themselves. The desire for greater
self-esteem and feelings of self-worth is therefore a huge factor in the case
where adult learners are concerned. In any case, learning style plays a
significant role in determining the success or lack of it in the adult
education process.
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