Malcolm Knowles Andragogy

helping millions of grown-up people all over the world to transform themselves into mature adults

~Malcolm Knowles

“Adult” Education

Arose in the early 20th century as an answer to workforce needs during the Great Depression

Job training through F.D.R.’s New Deal

Adult literacy & GED

Community College

Focuses on Skills, Understanding, Attitudes, and Values for specific occupational and social needs

What Is “Adult” Education?

Champion of andragogy, self-direction in learning and

informal adult education

Influential figure in the adult education field.

His work was a significant factor in reorienting adult

educators from ‘educating people’ to ‘helping them learn.’

Malcolm Knowles

Pedagogy / Andragogy“the art and science

of teaching children”“the art and science

of teaching adults”

Malcolm Knowles originally adapted the word “Andragogy” to distinguish learning differences between children and adults.

For Knowles, andragogy was premised on crucial assumptions about the characteristics of adult learners that are different from the traditional pedagicalassumptions about child learners.

Pedagogy / Andragogy


Assumption Pedagogy Andragogy

1.) Need to

Know:

Learners only need to know

that they must learn what

the teacher teaches if they

want to pass or get

promoted; they do not

need to know how what

they learn will apply to their

lives.

Adults need to know why

they need to learn something

before undertaking to learn

it. The first task of the

facilitator of learning is to

help the learners become

aware of the “need to

know.”



2.) Self-

concept:

The teacher’s concept of

the learner is that of a

dependent personality;

therefor the learner’s self-

concept becomes that of

a dependent personality.

Adults have a self-concept of

being responsible for their

own lives. . . with a deep

psychological need to be

seen and treated by others

as being capable of self-

direction.



3.) Role of

Experience:

The learner’s experience is of

little worth as a resource for

learning; the experience

that counts is that of the

teacher (and the curriculum

designers). Transmittal

techniques are the back-

bone of pedagogical

methodology.

Adults come into an

educational experience with

both a greater volume and

different quality of experience

from youths. Andragogy

emphasizes experiential

techniques such as group

discussion, simulation,

problem-solving activities, .etc.



4.) Readiness

to Learn:

Learners become ready to

learn what the school

requires them to learn if they

want to pass or get

promoted.

Adults become ready to learn

those things they need to

know or be able to do in order

to cope effectively with their

real-life situations. (Readiness

to learn coincides with

psychological and social

developmental stages)



5.) Orientation

to Learning:

Learners have a subject-

centered orientation to

learning; they see learning

as acquiring subject-matter

content. Therefore, learning

experiences are organized

according to units and the

logic of the subject-matter.

Adults are life centered (task

or problem centered) in their

orientation to learning.

Learning experiences are

organized around life tasks or

problems.



6.) Motivation

to Learn:

Learners are motivated to

learn by extrinsic motivators

such as grades, the

teacher’s approval or

disapproval, parental

pressures.

While adults are responsive to some

extrinsic motivators (better jobs,

promotions, salary increases), the

more potent motivators are intrinsic

(the desire for increased self-esteem,

quality of life, responsibility, job

satisfaction). Adults are motivated to

keep growing and developing, but

this motivation is frequently blocked

by negative self-concept,

inaccessibility of opportunity, and

time constraints.

Andragogy as a Philosophy

Andragogy is not restricted to adult learning styles

Andragogy supports life-long learning as a lifestyle

Andragogy develops competence rather than knowledge

Andragogy combines humanist and behavioral psychology