TAL Questions Ch. 7 (Pgs. 139-164)

Becca Dawson CAE 213 - Penland February 14, 2012 PO Box 585 TAL Questions Ch. 7 (pgs. 139-164)

1. Discuss the ideas of adult learning and adult education and the implication of the differences.

To think that adult education and adult learning are the same is to have a narrow view of andragogy. The whole point of andragogy is to produce adult learning, and adult education is only one application for adult learning. Other applications could include but are not limited to human resources development and higher education. In other words, ‘adult education’ is a term for one type of situation in which andragogical principles are used to bring about adult learning. It is important to make this distinction because each subfield or application of adult learning has a different set of philosophies and foundations with regards to education’s role in society and the desired outcomes of various educational activities.

2. Do you see andragogy’s focus on the learning transaction versus the goals and content of adult learning as a strength or a weakness? Discuss your position.

I think andragogy’s focus on the learning transaction can only be viewed as a strength. In its best sense, it will transcend goals and content as the learner becomes intrinsically motivated to learn the content they feel is important to learn and reach the goals they are motivated to reach. The text says it quite well: “andragogy can then transcend all arenas of application”. As an adult educator my role is not to set goals for my learners or to teach specific content. My role is to guide the learners through a journey that they direct to a destination that they decide upon.

3. Discuss the utility of the andragogy in practice figure from a practitioner perspective.

The andragogy in practice model can be very helpful because it conceptually integrates the additional influences of societal growth, situational differences, and institutional growth, subject matter differences, individual growth, and individual learner differences with the main six principles of andragogy. It recognizes the lack of homogeneity in andragogy and accepts that learning is a multifaceted activity. It is also consistent with most program development literature in adult education. Thus it can be a very helpful tool to practitioners of andragogy. 4. Discuss the case examples by simply changing two of the specific influences (two of the cells) that could radically impact the learning approach to be taken.

Case Example 1: I’ll be honest that I’m not entirely sure what I’ve been asked to do. That said, a radically different approach could be taken in Case 1 if the learners had had previous success in traditional learning environments and if there was not a need to make basic subjects highly relevant in life. If perhaps their past experiences were more positive and their orientation to learning was not so life-centered (their lives being at the moment heavily invested into learning relevant skills) then a GED approach would be perfectly appropriate.

Case Example 2: Because adult learning is so life-centered, if there was a way to make the material less complex and more inviting, then there would be less of a chance of learners feeling threatened by this complex new information. Also, it was mentioned that there is no immediately apparent need for the program – better results might yield if there were, as adults tend to become ready to learn when they experience the need to cope with a life situation or learn a new task – if the impetus is not there, the urge to action is not there.