Islamic Banking - Essay Example

As an adult student, I know I am at the threshold of choosing a career path I will find fulfillment.  The world suddenly seems too big for me and I am faced with endless possibilities.  I know that even if I finish my education, I will continue to be a learner.  My hunger for knowledge and new skills is unquenchable.  I see that as a positive trait. 

I know, as an adult, I have developed a learning style that may be different from when I was a child.  Malcolm Knowles (1980; 2007), known as the Father of Andragogy or adult education has formulated his own Andragogical Theory of Adult Learning as the art and science of helping adults learn.  It is organized around the notion that adults learn best in informal, comfortable, flexible, and non-threatening settings.  Finally, someone understands that learning is not effective when the learner is constrained in a chair endlessly listening to someone dispense knowledge verbally, with just a blackboard and chalk as tools!

I put so much value in learning from experience.  Even if I am not outwardly daring in trying risky and outrageous activities, I do not hesitate to learn something new from a fresh experience.  Ellias & Merriam (1980) claim that “Nearly all adult education is voluntary.  Educational activities must meet the needs of adult learners in order to survive”( p.135). That is why as a kinaesthetic learner, I prefer active learning over passive listening.

Now I am aware that the things I am passionate to learn about come from an inner need for fulfillment. Carl Rogers (1969), a humanistic psychologist details the process of humanistic learning.  He claims that the learner is personally involved in a holistic way.  His or her feelings and cognitive aspects are deep in the learning experience.  Even when the learning stimulus comes from an external source, the sense of discovery, of reaching out, of grasping and comprehending comes from within.  Rogers also emphasizes that learning makes a difference in the behavior, attitudes, and even the personality of the learner.