Andragogy and Dialogue Education
Aim
The aim of this week’s learning materials and activities is to introduce students to andragogy and principles of dialogue education and discuss critically how these may facilitate learning in community education setting.
Comments
We, as community educators spend a very limited amount of time with adult learners. Sometimes we may meet them only once for a 2h workshop, sometimes we see them for weeks or months. How do we work with adult learners to ensure these short learning encounters are the most beneficial to all participants?
A number of theories and approaches developed over time attempting to understand how people learn. This module focuses on Andragogy and Dialogue Education which emerged from it.
Andragogy is a theory that argues that adult learners are different to children and therefore the optimum way of teaching them has to be different. Malcolm Knowles used the term 'andragogy' as synonymous with adult education, and saw it in opposition to the traditional way of teaching: 'pedagogy'. While Knowles did not invent the term Andragogy, he popularised it. He argued that adult learners are self-directed and autonomous and that the role of an adult educator is to facilitate learning rather than to transfer information. Based on this proposition he suggested 5 assumptions about adult learners, which he argued should be used to effectively design teaching of adults:
The adult learner is self-directed- adults choose own actions and make decisions.
The adult learner has had numerous experiences- and this should be taken into account when designing learning activities to allow learners to build upon experience and share.
The adult learner is ready to learn- adult learners seek answers to solve a specific need to know and therefore they will best retain information and skills which are relevant to their lives.
The adult learner is oriented to problem-based learning. This means that adult learners need to know that new learning will have immediate applications to real life.
The adult learner is internally motivated to learn with the motivation that may stem from a desire to gain self-confidence, recognition, improved self-esteem, and a better quality of life.
Are these assumptions true in your experience? Do they apply to all learners that you have worked with? This article provides a comprehensive discussion about Knowles' theory of andragogy. While some argue that assumptions of andragogy describe a perfect, ideal learner which doesn't exist, many believe these assumptions can be used to design courses which support adults in their learning.
One of the community educators which were inspired by Andragogy is Jane Vella who developed a methodology known as Dialogue Education. Her book Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach provides numerous examples from her life experience of teaching which bring these theories to life. She believes that dialogue is central to the way adults learn.
She proposed 12 principles of Adult education which can be used to design and lead effective courses for adults. These include among others: the need assessment- learners should have a say in what they need or want to learn; engagement of learners in what they are learning which means that they need to learn actively and practice what they learn. Another important principle she mentions is safety, which in this context means not only the safe environment but also enough trust and comfort for the learner to feel they can participate. Jane Vella discusses the role of safety and how it can be achieved in this podcast: Conversations on the Back Porch podcast.
In addition, Goetzman (2012) has proposed eight design steps on dialogue education based on Vella's (2002) approach of dialogue education in adult learning. In a community education setting, we may have followed these steps for planning and executing a learning session.
Some of the principles may speak to you as an educator more than others. Perhaps you have experiences where you have managed to create a safe environment and some when you have tried and failed? Share your thoughts on principles of dialogue education in this module's forum. Below we have suggested study materials which include one short article on Andragogy, a chapter of Jane Vella's book and her podcast on safety. There are also extra materials you can access. In this module's forum, you can relate your teaching experience to andragogy and dialogue education. How do these theories fit within your experiences of teaching and learning as an adult? Build on your experiences and share on the forum as well as respond to other people's comments.
Study Material
1.Wood, D. (n.d). Andragogy: Appreciating the Characteristics of the Adult Learner A short and easy read article by Donna Wood which discusses andragogy and how dialogue education stems out of it.
2. Vella, J.K. (2002). Twelve Principles for Effective Adult Learning. In: Vella, J. K. (2002). Learning to listen, learning to teach: The power of dialogue in educating adults (Rev. ed.). San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass. A chapter in Jane Vella's book in which she outlines the principles of dialogue education and how they can all be applied in a community education setting to facilitate learning.
A short interview with Jane Vella in which she speaks of the importance of 'Safety' in adult education and how that relates to different settings. Extras 1. Andragogy: What is it and does it help thinking about adult learning? A comprehensive and critical review of origins of andragogy as a theory, its assumptions.
2. Vella, J. K. (2002). Learning to listen, learning to teach: The power of dialogue in educating adults (Rev. ed.). San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass. Jane Vella's book on dialogue education.
4. Practical Resources downloadable from Global Learning Partners
Weekly assignment Based on your experiences, please post on the forum your thoughts on the following questions:
1. How does Andragogy and the assumptions about adult learners fit within your experiences of teaching and learning as an adult? Have you had experiences where you have noticed these characteristics of adult learners? Do learners which fit these characteristics exist? 2. Looking at Vella's (2002) 12 Principles of Dialogue Education choose one principle and relate it to your teaching or learning experience. Is it a useful principle for guiding teaching design? Or maybe this is something all educators already use instinctively anyway? What do you think?
