Adult Learning Basics - Essay Example

Name Professor’s Name Course Date Adult learning The learning process is vital in human development as it facilitates the transfer of knowledge from the one generation to the other. The process is continuous at all stages of life independent of such factors as the age, gender and race. There is no specific pattern of knowledge transfer. The pattern that knowledge transfer follows depends on the information available. This study will discuss adult learning taking into consideration equality, diversity and disability in the context of the current legislation. This understanding will enable in understanding and combine theoretical and practical application of adult learning. Introduction Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge and skills (Merrian, 2013). At many times, learning is focused on children and youths in learning institutions. Adult education focus on identifying the most appropriate techniques that can enable learning among adults. Adult education has become essential in the modern society where organizations are investing heavily in educating their workforce so thus allowing the employees advance their skills and knowledge. The trend is as a result of managers being aware of the importance of a skilled workforce in helping the organization attain its goals and objectives. Evaluation criteria Learning among adults in most cases is result oriented where the technique adopted is normally dependent on the effectiveness of the learning method. Scholars have defined some rules that influence the effectiveness of learning process. The effort has therefore led to the emergence of learning theories as scholars try to explain various learning styles by looking at their strengths and weaknesses. Some of the most common adult education principles include andragogy, self-directed learning and transformational learning theory (Merrian,2013). Andragogy is the most common learning theory that was introduced by an American educator known as Malcolm Knowles (Merrian, 2013). He referred to andragogy as the art and science of adult education. In applying andragogy as an adult learning theory, Knowles made some assumptions that differentiate an adult learner from a child learner. These assumptions are widely known to be the characteristics of adult learners. The first characteristic of an adult learner is that they are self-directed (Rothwell, 2008). As a person matures, they focus on being independent unlike children who are dependent. By being self-directed, the type of learning practices the person adopt changes as they want to be more actively involved in the learning process. They therefore determine what topics they wish to cover as well as choosing projects that interest them. Self-directed learning in this way puts the learner in control of the learning process hence attainment of their learning goals. With age comes experience brought about by encountering situations that require solutions. Once a person completes formal learning, the learning technique adopted is mostly result-oriented aimed at tackling real life challenges. The experiences include awareness of the occurrence of certain situations, coming up with solutions and knowing what sort of results to expect (Rothwell, 2008). Experience gathered is used by learners to aid in their learning process. Malcolm also identified the readiness to learn as another characteristic that differentiates adult learners from child learners. Children and youths have resistance towards learning as they fail to understand the benefits associated with that learning process. The need to learn among adults transpires as they aim to tackle issues that require advanced knowledge and set of skills. The need to learn is also heavily dependent on the awareness of the goals and objectives of the learning process. Lack of awareness of the aims and objectives of the learning process may affect the learner making him/her lack the relevance of the process (Merrian, 2013). If the goals and objectives of the training also do not align with the goals of the adult undergoing training, resistance towards the process may be experienced. Motivation plays a crucial role in influencing the practice of given activities. It also applies to learning as identified by Malcolm Knowles. As adults target independence, they are motivated to learn to address the various issues that may be limiting their progress towards attaining independence and their goals. Motivation may either be internal or external. The level of motivation is dependent on the attainment of either personal or professional goals. Some motivating factors include building social relationships by meeting new people thus creating networks and personal advancement as one aims towards personal growth and development (Rothwell, 2008). Another motivating factor is the intellectual interest that comes about with learning where an adult advance their learning to experience joy associated with learning. Malcolm Knowles in explaining andragogy as an adult education theory used the example of designing personal computer training. For andragogy to be effective, it has to take some concepts into consideration. These ideas, also known as the principles of Knowles stated the factors influencing the effectiveness of adult learning (Merrian, 2013). Andragogy focuses on adult learners and involves them in the designing and development of their learning experience. This is unlike formal education where teachers come up with the curriculum while information flow follows a particular route, from the teacher to the student. In andragogy, learners are involved at all stages of learning and hand on technique is usually more efficient. Adult learners better understand knowledge by doing rather than theoretical approach. The teacher should, therefore, ensure that they obtain feedback from the students to be able to measure the effectiveness of their teaching techniques. Building experience for the learners is another important principle of andragogy. Unlike formal education that aims at improving the grades of the student at the end of the learning period, adult learning is based on building experience for the adult learners (Rothwell, 2008). The experience helps in structuring the content of adult education to include practical learning. Formal education is structured to help in the passing of exams at the end of training period thus encourages memorization of the content. This principle guides adult learning through encouraging teachers to create projects and exercises that will enable in exploring the matter under discussion thus creating more experience for the adult learners. Malcolm Knowles stated that by making errors when carrying out the assigned tasks and projects, the adults will be able to learn from their mistakes through trial and error thus helps in sharpening the learners’ skills. Adult learners also to great extent prefer to apply the broad knowledge and experience that they possess in developing their learning skills. Adult learners are only motivated to work when they know that the learning experience will help them in coping with the real life challenges they face on a daily basis (Merrian,2013). Under this principle, Knowles stated that andragogy needs to be goal oriented for learners to be willing to engage in the training practice. The objectives that the method aims at accomplishing also need to be in line with those of the learner, either personal or professional goals. The experience created while the student is engaging in the various practices also needs to apply to the learner’s life. This experience helps the student to apply the theory learned into applicable real life situation. Knowles also identified motivation as another important principle in the practice of andragogy. Adults normally do things at their will and same applies to learning. Adult learners tend to resist learning in those instances when information or ideas are imposed on them. To be able to motivate the adults in learning, external and internal motivators are used. Adults are attracted to external motivators that may include better salary but under andragogy, the most effective motivators are internal. Adults tend to be more influenced by internal motivators as there are many alternatives in existence for achieving external motivators. Internal motivators may include increased job satisfaction, attaining a better quality of life, and even personal growth and development (Rothwell, 2008). This theory, however, has been criticized for lack of consideration on some different aspect important in adult learning. One such criticism is that andragogy tends to eliminate the culture that treats the teacher as the primary source of information and directions (Merriam, 2011). The concern has led it to it being framed as a blind culture theory as the information flow is not expected to be from the teacher to the student as it has been known to be. Self-directed learning as andragogy advocates is also seen as impossibility since not all adult learners are aware of what they want to learn. Therefore, the teacher typically gives a list of alternatives that the student chooses from. By choosing from the list of possible subjects, the principle of self-concept learning is affected. The other theory used in describing the most effective adult learning practice is the transformative learning theory. Transformative type of learning is the kind of education that impacts the ways individuals think about themselves as well as the world they inhabit. To be able to do this, transformative learning puts a lot of focus on changing the consciousness of the individuals in context. Under transformative learning, different theorists have different perspectives that they use to look at transformative learning (Rothwell, 2008). The difference is brought about by the varying beliefs of what actions changes learners’ attitude thus having an impact. Mezirow describes transformative learning theory as the process of using a prior interpretation to construct a new or revised interpretation of the meaning of one’s experience so as to guide the future action. This, therefore, means that the ways learners interpret their sense experience controls the way people makes meaning thus influencing their learning. This theory builds on the basis that humans over time assimilate culture through their experiences thus ends up adopting some theories they may have heard about the world (Rothwell, 2008). Such theories may be taken either willingly or unwillingly, but they may act to influence our understanding of things thus our learning. The transformative learning theory builds a connection between human communication and the learning process (Merrian, 2013). As humans, we try to understand the meaning of the various experiences we go through during our daily activities. While attempting to understand these experiences, we find ourselves torn in between certain beliefs from that we try to make sense by justifying our understandings. For humans to be able to justify a conviction, it has to be functional. This creates a pattern where humans seek more substantive beliefs that they later practice. Transformative learning involves two types of knowledge. These types are either instrumental learning or communicative learning. Instrumental learning is a more task-oriented learning technique through focusing on causes and effects of a given problem. To be able to deal with the issue, applying instrumental learning enables one to control the contributing factors that may either be the environment or the people surrounding. This theory was used by a Brazilian theorist known as Paolo Freire, who advocated for equality among the poor Brazilians (Rothwell, 2008). During this time, the working Brazilians were facing such struggles as poor working conditions and inadequate compensation as well. By using this problem, the theorist encouraged the Brazilians to engage in learning so as they can fight for their social change. Communicative learning, on the other hand, involves learning what others mean when they engage us in communication. Communicative education requires understanding how other people express feelings, need, desire, moral issues, and other values expressed in conversation. The view is held by Mezirow, who believes that transformational learning is a rational process (Merriam, 2011). By engaging in discussion about the challenges they face, Mezirow believes that the members can take various perspectives into consideration. An essential for this to happen is for the members to engage in reflective discussion to have complete and accurate information. This type of learning is bias as it encourages the environment that the members meet to be neutral, so it enables the hearing of the views of all the participants. The rate that transformative learning is practiced is rare and wanting. Mezirow identified the cause of the infrequent transformative learning as the accumulation of beliefs that people adopts over a prolonged period (Rothwell, 2008). As adults try to make meaning out of their experiences, they are influenced by other beliefs they have acquired about the world. Such ideas include superiority of one race or tribe. Transformative learning, helps in understanding how our expectations that are greatly influenced by the society we dwell in; influence the way we derive meaning out of experiences. Understanding that learning is affected by the culture of the community, the manner of learning changes (Merriam, 2011). The criticism levelled against the Mezirow’s transformative learning theory is based on the nature of the theory where it fails to take into account the effect of individual’s race, class, and gender (Merriam, 2011). These are the factors in the current society that tend to influence individuals perspective of the world. The community has been set up in such a way that some people tend to think they are superior just because of their colour, their class in the society or even gender treating those failing in the alternative groups as inferior. Self-directed learning involves individuals taking their initiative in ensuring they create a learning experience. Such learning mean the adults are involved on their own in the planning, taking actions and even assessing the experience they have created. Many people are known to engage in self-directed learning with at least 90% of learning adults carrying out one self-directed project in a year (Merriam, 2011). For learning to qualify as self-directed, several aspects are taken into considerations. Such issues include the fact that the determination of the content to be learned is made by the adult learner to ensure self-direction (Rothwell, 2008). The adults determine the methods used in learning as well as the resources to be used to facilitate the learning process. After the learning process, an evaluation to assess knowledge gained is necessary. Adult learners also determine the process of self-assessment. To be able to take all the certain aspects into consideration, it is the responsibility of the student to set the goals and the objectives that he/she intends to attain at the end of the learning period. Aims and Targets should match with the needs that the learner is trying to satisfy (Rothwell, 2008). It is also essential to identify the resources required to facilitate the learning process as well as implementing a plan to meet the goals and later evaluate the achieved outcomes to see whether they are in line with the set goals. An advantage of self-directed learning among adult learners is that it serves to fulfil their wants according to their schedule (Merriam, 2011). The various aspects of the study are integrated into the daily activities that the adult learner practices. The learner can, therefore, choose the most appropriate time to engage in learning whereas ensuring that the learning techniques chosen are the most appropriate. Although Self-directed can involve isolated learning activities, it is not limited to such. The learner can engage in consultation with experts and fellow students to boost understanding. When engaging in self-directed learning, it is important for the student to pay attention to time for practicing the study and the methods to be adopted to participate in the study. A challenge in carrying out self-directed learning is that it is not favourable to learners with low-level intellectual skills. Such students are associated with some characters unfavourable to self-directed learning such as lack of independence, low confidence levels and low motivation in learning (Rothwell, 2008). Some learners who engage in self-directed learning also tend to engage in formal learning hence affecting the meaning of being self-directed. Issues of equality, diversity and disability Equality, diversity and disability as provided in the current legislation to training provision. In providing training programmes, issues regarding equality, diversity and disability may arise. These concerns do not only occur in formal learning but also in adult education. As the United Kingdom seeks to deal with issues relating to inequality, it has set certain laws and bodies to ensure such differences are eliminated. Some laws that relate to disability, diversity and equality are the Disability Equality Duty and the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 for England, Scotland and Wales, and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Order of 2005 for Northern Ireland (Petricevic, 2015). These laws are applied by various learning institutions such as higher educational institutes to ensure more inclusive approach in dealing with issues of diversity and disability. Discrimination against disabled persons can occur in several ways. Direct victimization involves treating a student less favourably by their disability when compared with the way other learners without the disabilities are treated. The current legislation has provided for the establishment of the Equality Bill in December 2008 that guard against discriminating a disabled person (Lawson, 2008). The Equality and Humans Rights Commission was established in 2007 to deal with the issues of discrimination beyond the employment field. Another way that discrimination can occur is through incapability to access some services (Petricevic, 2015). Training institutions are legally bound to make all the necessary adjustments in those cases where a disabled person is disadvantaged in comparison to a non-disabled person. The type of change made should take into context the effect on other range of impairments. Victimisation is also another area that concern equality, where a person who has assisted a disabled person in bringing a case forward is treated less favourably. The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 provides for people that offer support for persons with disabilities when making claims to be protected (Lawson, 2008). An amendment to the Disability Discrimination Act made in December 2006 has seen the introduction of Disability Equality Duty (Petricevic, 2015). This duty provides for all public bodies to eliminate discrimination in their organizations through promoting equality of opportunities for the disabled persons and the disabled. It also requires the institutions to produce Disability Equality Schemes after a period of three years. In the production of these schemes, local disabled persons are supposed to be involved. In North Ireland, the Equality Commission for North Ireland is charged with the responsibility of the Disability Equality Duty. Conclusion Having compared the formal and adult learning, there are a lot of positives that can be derived from adult learning. The components that differentiate adult learning from formal learning makes adult learning a more attractive form of knowledge transfer. In ensuring effective learning, it is important to ensure that issues regarding inequality, diversity and disability are addressed. Understanding learners preferred choice among the education models is also critical to ensure success in adult learning. Works cited Lawson, A. (2008). Disability and equality law in Britain: The role of reasonable adjustment. Oxford: Hart Pub. Merriam, S. B. (2011). Third Update on Adult Learning Theory: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, Number 119. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L. (2013). Adult learning: Linking theory and practice. Petricevic, V. (2015). Compliance patterns with EU anti-discrimination legislation. Rothwell, W. J. (2008). Adult learning basics. Alexandria, Va: ASTD Press. Read More