The Compilation of 12 Adult Learning Presentations Part 1

“Western managers need to get out of the old mode of thinking that knowledge can be acquired, taught, and trained through manuals, books, or lectures.  Instead, they need to pay more attention to the less formal and systemic side of knowledge and start focusing on highly subjective insights, intuitions, and hunches that are gained through the use of metaphors, pictures or experiences.”  I. Nonaka and H. Takeuchi, The Knowledge-Creating Company (excerpt from Life at the Edge of Chaos by Mark Youngblood)

After sitting in class for three hours through 12 presentations on the same topic, I think I have a much better understanding of adult learning. There are two distinct learning theories: andragogy and pedagogy. Pedagogy is the oldest theory of learning. It stems from the process of teaching children. Andragogy was introduced in the early 20th century and is focused on how adults learn. The difference between the two theories is that adults have experience to draw from and prefer to use this experience to link to new knowledge. Children don’t have as much experience and therefore don’t have insights to share with a teacher.

Malcolm Knowles is credited with introducing adult learning theory. He introduced 5 principles of adult learning which are shown in the figure below.

Adults have experience to draw from, they are internally motivated, ready to learn, self-directed in their learning, and problem-oriented. All of these prinicples should be taken into account when designing training for adults.

Question: How can an organization benefit from the knowledge of the difference between andragogy and pedagogy?