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AUTHOR Naylor, Michele TITLE Development: Implications forAdult . Overview. ERIC Digest No. 41. INSTITUTION ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career,and Vocational Education, Columbus, SPONS AGENCY National Inst. of Education (ED),Washington, DC. PUB DATE 85 400-84-0004 NOTE 3p. PUB TYPE Information Analyses ERIC Information Analysis Products (071)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Adult Counseling; *;Adult Education; *Adult Programs; ; Andragogy; Behavior Theories; Comprative Analysis;Counseling Techniques; *Developmental Stages; Educational Research; *Educational Strategies;Educational Theories; Literature Reviews; Models;Postseco)dary Education; Program Administration; Program Development; Psychological Studies;*Research Utilization; Teaching Methods

ABSTRACT Various.researchers, including ,Charlotte Buhler, , and RobertHavighurst, have formulated sequential models of adult development.More recent investigators, such -4s Daniel Levinson, RogerGould, and Gail Sheehy haveformulated age-related sequential models ofadult development that view the various stages of adulthood in termsof different strategies toward perceiving and coping with reality. Inaddition, several theorists have postulated models of adultdevelopment with a special focus(for example, Jane Loevinger'sconcentration on stages of egodevelopment, William Perry's scheme of intellectualdevelopment, Lawrence 1Cohlberg's notion of the interconnectionbetween levels of moral and intellectual development, and JamesFowler's theory cf faith development). Many of the findings ofsuch research and examination of development haveimportant implications for adult educational programming. Many aspectsof these models, particularly Knowles' theory of andragogy, can beapplied by practitioners involved in developins andadministering adult education programs or in teaching or counseling adultstudents. (MN)

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that CT. ADULT DEVELOPMENT: Robert Havighurst, also proposing a series of tasks individuals must face at ensuing stages in life, focuseshis LC1 IMPLICATIONS FOR ADULT EDUCATION attention on various sociocultural patterns andvalues to which adults must adjust. O Changing Views on Adult Development Recent Sequential Models of Adult Development Research on adult development is a fairly recent phenomenon. Although mention of various stages of adulthood appears in In a review of the liternure on adult development,Merriam the writings of the ancient Greeks and Confucius, it was not (1984) singles out the following recent theoristsand their until the middle of the 20th century that adulthood began age-related sequential models of adult development: to gain the attention of researchers. The recentdramatic increase in life expectancy, rapid changes in technology and Daniel Levinson, basing his theory on in-depth interviews sociocultural patterns, a better understanding of the concept with 40 males between the ages of 35 and 15, proposes of development, and other factors have given adult develop- a model in which adulthoodis characterized by alternat- investigations of ment an increasingly important place in the ing periods of stability when individuals solidify their (Merriam both and educational researchers life structure and periods of transition when that struc- .yes research on adult development 1984). This overview exar ture is reexamined and modified. and discusses its implications for adult education. Roger Gould, combining observations of adults in therapy Early Sequential Models of Adult Development and the results of a survey of 500 adults not undergoing therapy, develops a model comprising 6 stages of adulthood Beginning in the early 1930s, investigators began to examine in which individuals progressively abandon onechildhood human development systematically and to formulate models myth after another, manage to r,ofront reality to a greater Because of its various stages from infancy through . degree than before, and eventually succeed in raising their these models view adult development as a series of age-related levels of consciousness. stages, they are known as age-relatedsequential models. Merriam (1984) mentions four individualsCarl Jung, Gail Sheehy, combining data from her own interviews of Charlotte Buhler, Erik Erikson, and Robert Havighurstas 115 middle-class men and women with thefindings of major figures in the early investigation of adult development others, pays particular attention to the developmentof underlying and outlines the pr:ncipal points of the theories adult females. She postulates the followingdevelopmental their models: stages experienced between the agesOf 18 and 50: pulling up roots, trying 20s, Catch30, rooting and extending, in his 1930s work. Carl Jung postulates three stages oflife deadline decade, and renewal or resignation. , , en I d old agebased on his ownclinical observations. Jung vims youth as a period of expanding Sequential Models with a Special Focus consciousness, middle age as a period of questioning long- intro- held convictions, and old age as a period of increased Several theorists have developed models whose stagesdepend spection and ^reoccupation with self-evaluation. upon developmental, rather then physical,maturation of the individual; in order to attain higher stages, an individual must Charlotte Buh,dr, basing her theory on an analysis cf 400 successfully progress through lower stages. The following biographies, proposes 4 stages in lite, According to Buhler researchers developed sequential models with a special focus: the first period, which extends from birth to age15, is a period of physical growth inwhich decisions begin to be Jane Loevinger, placing special focus on stages of ego de- of made: the second, from age 15 to age 25, is a period velopment, defines an ego as that trait that determines how from age sexual and goal setting; the third, one views and relates to the world.The terms used to 25 to age 45, is one in which goals are examined and describe these stages, in order of increasing self-awareness, attention begins to be focused inward; and the fourth, are impulsive, self-protective, conformist,conscientious- from age 45 to age 65, is a time ofphysical decline and conformist, conscientious, individualistic, and integrated. VS OPPAPIAK/IT OP IDIJCATION self-assessment. NAT0116.11 1NP-1RM OP POUCATION .0,04MA Ma, :PSOLIACISOPO .111< ,vv.vmv. .1* wow vasavaid Erik Erikson formulates a theory of humandevelopment ...c.v..,..... vo pew. v 1.1111nWell. with a model of eight stages of life. The three adult stages U..' S.gym vsrary Avao.Kno of the model are viewed es struggles devoted to the accom- *Ku plishment of a primary task: young adulthood, a struggle so ft. wore,. 4ensim eta& N4 between intimacy and isolation; middle age, astruggle ERIC is sponsored by the NationalInstitute between genera ti vity and stagnation; and ola age, a strug- of Education. gle to achieve a sense of ego integrity. 2 BEST COPYAVAILABLE William Perry, focusing on intellectual development, pro- Instruction. Based on two of the assumptions underlying the and poses nine stagesof development, with transitions between theory of andragogythose concerning self-concept each. According to Perry's theory, Individuals beginwith a experienceMerriam (1984) proposes that adult educators sense of absolute knowledge, come to believe that all consider the following as among the most effective instruc- knowledge and beliefs are relative, and eventuallydevelop tional techniques for use with adult learners' contract learn- ing, experiential learning, portfolios, and self-pacing. In addi- a set of values andindividual sense of reality. tion to these learning formats, Merriam suggests that teachers , asserting the connectionbetween strive to make learning experiences as meaningful as possible moral and intellectual development and basinghis work for individual learners and that they attempt to refrain from upon Plagees four stagesof cognitive development, sets the stereotypical role of authority figure and transmitterof forth six stages of intellectual development thatinvolve knowledge, functioning instead as a role model or resource three levels of : preconventional,conyttional, person. and autonomous or principled. Counseling. Because it is often more appropriate for adult James Fowler, formulating a theory of faith development, educators to serve as resource persons rather than transmitters postulates a six -sta5e model of the growth offaith from of knowledge, practitioners in adult educationno matter childhood to a final period that may begin in midlife or what their titlesperform a variety of counselingfunctions. beyond. Merriam (1984) asserts that, whether making referrals or simply trying to be supportive of their students, adult edu- Adult Development and Adult Education cators need a thorough understanding of the stagesand trans- itions of adult life, the stages of career development, the An important relationship exists betweenadult development interrelationship of adult development and career develop- and adult education. According to Merriam(1984), one of the ment, and counseling techniques for use withindividuals in best-developed theoretical links between adultdevelopment transition. and learning lies in the theory of andragogy.Proposed by Knowles (1980) as "the art and science of helpingadults REFERENCES learn" (p. 43), andragogy is based on the assumptionthat, by publication: and large, adults are self-directed beings who are theproducts This ERIC Digest is based on the following and of an accumulation of unique and personal experiences Adult whose desires to learn grow out of I need to face the tasks Merriam, S. B. Adult Development: Implications for Education. Information Series no. 282, $4.75.Columbus: they encounter during the course their development. ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, andVocational Implications of Adult Development Education,1 The National Center for Research in Voca- Research for Educational Practice. tional Education, The Ohio State University, 1984.(ERIC Document Reproduction Service, No. ED 246 309). Despite the fact that adult developmentresearch is a relatively new phenomenon, adult educationpractitioners at all levels Additional references. can apply many of thefindings of such research to program planning and implementation. In the final sectionof her syn- Cross, K. P. Adults as Learners. San Francisco:Jossey-Bass, thesis of adult development research,Merriam (1984) discusses 1981. the following areas in which adultdevelopment theory can Rev. enhance educational programming. Knowles, M. The Modern Practice of Adult Education. ed. Chicago: Association Press/Follett, 1980. Program development and administration. Programdesigners, working in school and nonschool settingsalike, can use a Kummerow, J.;Sillers, B.D.; and Hummel, T. J. Program- knowledge of adult development and adultlearning theory to ming for Adult Development.Minneapolis: Education address the following program planning concerns:program Career Development Office, University of Minnesota, 1978. objectives, target audience, delivery system, programcontent, (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.ED 159 517). and support services. The Frameworkfor Adult Development Programming proposed by Kummerow, Sillers,and Hummel This ERIC Digest was developed by MicheleNaylor, ER IC (1978) focuses on the five items on this list.In order to reflect Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and VocationalEducation, the self-directedness and experiential basethat characterizes with funding from the National Institute ofEducation, adult learning behavior, adult educationalprogramming is U.S. Department of Education, underContract No, NIE- best accomplished using either thetutorial, group, or inde- C-400-84- 0004. The opinions expressed in this report do pendent study mode of instruction.Kumrnerow and his not necessarily reflect the position orpolicies of NIE or the associates suggest that the followingtopical areas are the Department of Education. Orders forNational Center most relevant to the developmentaltasks faced by adults: publications should be sent to the PublicationsOffice, Box E. self-assessment, decision making a'id problemsolving, relation- Or call 614-486-3655/800-848-4815. ships, biological changes, career behaviorneeds, spirituality, and use of leisure time. Cross's (1981)discussion of the dif- ferent situational, institutional, and dispositionalbarriers to learning that exist in various stagesof adult life provides insis it into some of the support servicesneeded by adult THE NATIONAL CENTER learners of various age groups (includingchild care, transpor- FOR RESEARCH IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION tation, flexible scheduling, and counseling to overcomefears THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY 1960 KENNY ROAD COLUMBUS. OHIO 43210 associated with learning).