THARAKA UNIVERSITY

P.O BOX 193-60215, Telephone :|+(254)-0202008549,

MARIMANTI, KENYA +(254)-02020076920
Email:[email protected]
Website: https://www.tharaka.ac.ke

COLLEGE
(A Constituent College of Chuka University)
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

EDFO 321: ADULT EDUCATION

STREAMS: BED (ARTS/SCIENCE) Y3S1

LECTURER: JOYLINE NJERU

[email protected]

0705470735

COPYRIGHT © THARAKA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

2020

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………. 3
2. PHILOSOPHIES OF ADULT EDUCATION …………………………………… 5
3. POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION OF ADULT EDUCATION …….……….. 8
4. PRINCIPLES OF PROMOTING EFFECTIVE ADULT LEARNING ……… 12
5. METHODS AND TECHNICS OF TEACHING ADULTS …………………… 16
6. EVALUATION OF ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMS …………………….
7. TRENDS IN DEVELOPMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION …………………..

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Adult Education
 It is any organized learning or educational activity outside the structure of the education
system that is consciously aimed at meeting the specific learning needs of the society.
 Adult education is a broad field where people whose major social roles are characteristic
of adult status undertake systematic and sustained learning activities for the purposes of
bringing about changes in knowledge, attitudes, values or skills.
 It is lifelong learning involving all learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the
aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences within a personal, civic (public),
social and employment-related perspective.
 It is a systematic learning undertaken by adults who return to learning having concluded
the initial education or training.
 It encompasses activities that are intentionally designed for the purpose of bringing
about learning among those people whose age, social roles, or self-perception define
them as adults.
 In a broad sense it entails any form of learning where adults engage in activities beyond
traditional schooling.
 Adult education is about literacy, it is about adults learning to read the most basic
materials.
 It involves everything from basic literacy to personal fulfillment as a lifelong learner and
even the attainment of advanced degree.
 All the activities with an educational purpose that are carried on by people engaged in the
ordinary business of life can be termed as adult education.
Objectives of adult education...
There are four main objectives noted for adult education:
1. Realization of social integration (acculturation)
2. Bring about social change (transformation
3. Acquisition of technical competence (skills)
4. Building up social responsibility (citizenship)
Adult education is concerned not only with preparing people for life, but rather with helping
people to live more successfully. Thus the main function of the adult education enterprise it is to
assist adults to increase competence, or negotiate transitions, in their social roles (worker, parent,
retiree etc.), to help them gain greater fulfillment in their personal lives, and to assist them in
solving personal and community problems.

In the contest of these objectives, adult education is considered as a means through which adult
populations are incorporated into the socio-economic and political systems of the state. This is a
double-edged process because while the state uses it to socialize the adult populations, the adult
learners can use it to achieve their own ends on the other hand.
Rationale/justification/importance of adult education.
 It empowers one with skills and knowledge to adapt to economic challenges.
 Enables self-actualization.
 Provides knowledge for good parenting.
 It helps parents to be a role model to children and make them develop a love of learning
and take full advantage of education.
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  It assists individuals to actively participate in community development and civil society.
 It promotes respect and protection of the environment for future generations.
 It enables one to nurture creativity and imagination thus leading a healthy and fulfilled
life.
 It enables one to advance in career through promotion due to improved expertise or skills.

Rationale of adult education in developing countries

 A skilled workforce through adult education is critical for businesses in our community
especially in healthcare, aviation technology, industrial systems and distribution of
resources as a poverty eradication/reduction strategy.

 To improve social economic status. Research evidence shows two of the most important
factors that affect children's educational attainment are the education level of the mother
and the income level of the family e.g. children's performance in reading and general
knowledge increases with the level of their mother's education.
 Promotes good governance and a civilized society.
 To enable realization of MDGs. E.g Access to free and compulsory primary education,
learning needs of children and adults, Achieving 50% in levels of adult literacy,
eliminating gender disparities in education and improving aspects of quality education.
 Adult education is a strategy to reduce resistance to change and culture of embracing
development. This helps to overcome negative socio-cultural beliefs and practices that
are resistant to change, prosperity, civilization and modernity
 To eradicate illiteracy by providing basic skills of reading, writing and numeracy so as:
 To sustain literacy through continuing education
 To provide relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes for work
 To create self-confidence, positive attitudes and behavior towards life and society
 To promote nationalism, patriotism and awareness of the role of the individual in national
development.

The philosophy of adult education

Education is life not a mere preparation for an unknown kind of future living. The whole of life
is learning therefore, education can have no ending. Editing what needs to be improved and
relearning new lifestyle is called adult education not because it is confined to adults but because
adulthood defines its limits.
The Role of Philosophy in Education-for-Work
 Accordingly, philosophy and workplace education implies that philosophy ought to
provide the framework for establishing good practices in work and career guidance.
 Education-for-work practitioners should develop world views from which practice can be
analyzed. Utilization of philosophical views gives education a new perspective from
which to view the purpose of education.
 Education-for-work needs to adopt or develop well-defined philosophical principles that
will guide, support, or create practice in changing workplaces. In order to meet the needs
of the workplace of today and the future, education-for-work practitioners must build on
the philosophies that promote technical, vocational and personal development.

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  Education-for-work must identify philosophic foundations for practice and use them to
prepare a workforce that will meet the needs of the workplace of the future.
 The philosophy that informs adult education is derived from a variety of philosophies
which include:
 To develop intellectual powers of the mind; to make a person literate in the broadest
sense--intellectually, morally, and spiritually.
 To bring about behavior that will ensure survival of human species, societies, and
individuals; to promote behavioral change.
 To transmit culture and societal structure to promote social change; to give learner
practical knowledge and problem-solving skills, to reform society.
 To develop people open to change and continued learning; to enhance personal growth
and development; to facilitate self-actualization, to reform society.
 To bring about fundamental, social, political, economic changes in society through
education; to change culture and its structure.

CHAPTER 2: PHILOSOPHIES OF ADULT EDUCATION

Basically, there are six philosophies of adult education

 Behaviourist... Behaviour modification.
 Liberal... Organized knowledge for intellectual development
 Analytic...Logical and scientific positivism
 Progressive...Social reform
 Humanistic... Personal growth
 Radical... Essential social change.

Generally education is heavily influenced by progressive, humanistic, and radical philosophies.

In adult education, the purposes and contexts of specific fields of practice will often determine
the philosophical influences.
Philosophical foundations in adult education are influencing many practitioners in education-for-
work, especially those whose practice is associated with critical thinking and communication
skills. Adult education philosophy has much to offer education-for-work practitioners in terms of
teaching adults and adult learning theories.
Many education-for-work practitioners in Human Resource Development and vocational
education are finding the progressive and humanistic philosophies of adult education useful in
terms of designing and implementing practice for certain learning situations, like diversity
education and training in business and industry and the institutional classroom.

Philosophical goals and roles of adult teachers and adult learners...

Philosophy Purpose Role of the teacher Role of the learner

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Liberal To develop intellectual The "expert"; "Renaissance person";
powers of the mind; to transmitter of cultured, always a
make a person literate in knowledge; learner; seeks knowledge
the broadest sense-- authoritative; clearly rather than just
intellectually, morally, directs learning information; conceptual;
and spiritually. process. theoretical understanding.
Behaviourist To bring about behaviour Manager, controller; Learner takes an active
that will ensure survival predicts and directs role in learning,
of human species, learning outcomes, practicing new behaviour,
societies, and individuals;designs learning and receiving feedback;
to promote behavioural environment that strong environmental
change. elicits desired influence.
behaviour.
Progressive To transmit culture and Organizer; guides Learner needs, interests,
societal structure to learning through and experiences are key
promote social change; to experiences that are elements in learning;
give learner practical educative; stimulates, people have unlimited
knowledge and problem- instigates, evaluates potential to be developed
solving skills, to reform learning process. through education.
society
Humanistic To develop people open Facilitator; helper; Learner is highly
to change and continued partner; promotes, but motivated and self-
learning; to enhance does not direct directed; assumes
personal growth and learning, sets mood for responsibility for learning
development; to facilitate learning, acts as a and self-development.
self-actualization, to flexible resource for
reform society. learners.
Radical To bring about Provocateur; suggests Equality with teacher in
fundamental, social, but does not determine learning process; personal
political, economic direction for learning; autonomy; people create
changes in society equality between history and culture by
through education; to teacher and learner. combining reflection with
change culture and its action
structure.

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Philosophical Sources of authority, key concepts and methods in adult education
Philosophy Source of Key concepts Methods
authority
Liberal The Western canon Liberal learning, learning for Dialectic; lecture; study
its own sake; rational, groups; contemplation;
intellectual education, general critical reading and
education; traditional discussion.
knowledge; classical-/rational
humanism.
Behaviourist The environment Stimulus-response; behaviour Programmed
modification; competency- instruction; contract
based; mastery learning; learning; teaching
behavioural objectives; trial machines; computer-
and error; skill training; assisted instruction;
feedback; reinforcement. practice and
reinforcement.
Progressive Situations that Problem-solving; experience- Problem-solving;
learner finds based education; democracy; scientific method;
him/herself in; lifelong learning; pragmatic activity method;
culture knowledge; needs assessment; experimental method;
social responsibility. project method;
inductive method.
Humanistic The self/learner Experiential learning; Experiential; group
freedom; feelings, tasks; group discussion;
individuality; self- team teaching; self-
directedness; interactive; directed learning;
openness; co-operation; discovery method.
authenticity; ambiguity;
related to existentialism.
Radical Socioeconomic Consciousness-raising; praxis; Dialogue; problem-
and socio-political non-compulsory learning; posing; maximum
imbalances autonomy; critical thinking; interaction; discussion
social action; de- groups.
institutionalization; literacy
training.

Philosophical practices in adult education

Philosophy Key philosopher and practices Origin and Timeframe
Liberal Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas Adler, Oldest philosophy of education in
Friedenberg, Kallen, Van Doren, Houle, West. Roots in the Classical
Great Books; Lyceum; Chautauqua; Period of ancient Greece.
Elderhostel; Center for the Study of
Liberal Education
Behaviourist Skinner, Thorndike, Watson, Tyler, APL Founded by John B. Watson in

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 (Adult Per-formance Level); competency- 1920s.
based teacher education; behavior
modification programs
Progressive Spencer, Pestalozzi, Dewey, Bergevin, Origins can be traced to 16th c.
Sheats, Lindeman, Benne, Blakely, ABE, Europe. Based on empiricism and
citizenship education; community pragmatism (1870s U.S.). Began
schools; cooperative extension schools; as a serious movement in U.S. in
schools without walls, Participation early 1900s with Dewey.
Training.
Humanistic Erasmus, Rousseau, Rogers, Maslow, Roots go back to classical China,
Knowles, May, Tough, McKenzie; Greece, and Rome, but became a
encounter groups; group dynamics; self- movement as we know it in the
directed learning projects; human U.S. in 1950s-60s through work
relations training; Esalen Institute. by Maslow and Rogers.
Radical Brameld, Holt, Kozol, Reich, Neill, Origins are found in the 18th c.
Freire, Goodman, Illich, Ohliger; anarchist tradition, Marxist
Freedom Schools; Summerhill, Freire's thought, and the Freudian Left.
literacy training; free schools. Modern movement began in early
1960s in Brazil with Freire.

CHAPTER 3: POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION OF ADULT EDUCATION IN KENYA

Adult Education denotes the entire body of organized educational processes, whatever the
content, level and method, whether formal or otherwise, whether they prolong or replace initial
education in schools, colleges and universities as well as in apprenticeship.
It is whereby persons regarded as adult by the society develop their abilities, enrich their
knowledge, improve their technical or professional qualifications or turn them in a new direction
and bring about changes in their attitudes or behaviour in the twofold perspective of full personal
development and participation in balanced and independent social, economic and cultural
development
In 1964, the Kenya Government established the Department of Community Development, which,
among other tasks, was responsible for promoting literacy activities on a self-help basis.
However due to lack of appropriate material and human support, the Department’s efforts did not
show significant results.
In 1979, a national seminar was organized to discuss ways and means of implementing the
presidential directive by President Daniel Arap Moi on 12 December 1978, and a full-fledged
Department of Adult Education was established within the ministry of culture and social
services.
The roles of the Department of Adult Education entails : Simulation, Supervision and Technical
support provision.
The major means by which the Department performed its roles were the following:

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  Training of literacy personnel through short-term seminars and correspondence courses
 Preparation of printers and other teaching materials according to a decentralized
production scheme
 Regular supervision of teaching staff
 Out Collection of statistical data about enrollment centres and teachers
 Organization of national literacy tests
The Department promoted a functional approach, aiming at establishing systematic links
between literacy teaching and the everyday activities of the participants. In concrete terms, the
functionality of the program had the following implications as far as teaching methods and
content were concerned:
 The medium of instruction used in the literacy centres was the local language, except at
the Coast and urban centres, where the learning took place in Kiswahili

 The literacy materials were locally designed and produced so that their content reflected
local socio-cultural conditions and economic activities. There were two literacy primers
in 23 different languages, which aimed at the systematic transmission of knowledge and
skills, directly relevant for improving the living conditions of the learners in terms of
production, health and sanitation, family planning and others

 Teachers were supposed to contact and invite local officers of the different development
sectors to address their literacy learners on topics related to their respective fields of
competence

 Each group of learners was also encouraged to undertake some form of collective project
work as part of their participation in the program. Such projects included those that
generated income for the learners (like poultry raising); community improvement (like
building a literacy centre); or just for entertainment (like folkloric dancing). Among
others.
The method of teaching was to be based on the learners’ experience. Learners were supposed to
become functionally literate within nine months, which corresponded to some 300 to 400 hours
of literacy class attendance (two hours a day for five days a week) (Carron et al. 1989)
Achievement
Launching of the 1979 literacy program was beneficial particularly to women in a number of
ways:
Female participation, especially in the initial years, was consistently more than 70 percent of the
total number of enrolled learners. More recent enrolments continue to demonstrate an increasing
decline, with marginal rises in a couple of years.
Major problem that faced the literacy campaign has been the difficulty in sustaining demand by
the potential learners, especially women, the general decline in enrolments has mainly been the
consequence of the fact that the literacy campaign relied more on individual motivation than on
efforts of the government and NGOs to mobilize participation in the literacy program.
Reasons advanced for the dominance of women in the literacy program

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 ☺ A combination of historical and socio-cultural factors explains the state of affairs.
Women had less access to formal education than men since the colonial era. Men are m
reluctant to attend literacy classes together with women
☺ Poor families prefer to educating sons to daughters because of perceived long-term
economic security, which is believed to be more likely guaranteed by the sons

☺ On religious grounds, some communities, especially Muslims, many parents worry about
the perceived effects of Western education on their daughters. It is said to make the girls
discontented or immoral and, hence affect their marriages

☺ Demands of a changing economy, which force women to acquire extra responsibilities

outside the home. Aware of the disadvantage they have to suffer in a demanding modern
economy because of their limited formal education, more women, therefore wish to
acquire new skills whenever they get the opportunity. Acquisition of new skills enables
them to be self-reliant and perform similar roles to men.

NEED FOR POLICY IN ADULT EDUCATION

What is a policy?
 Policy is a statement of aims, purposes, principles or intentions, which serve as
continuing guidelines for management in accomplishing objectives
 Can be taken to refer to the principles that govern action directed towards given ends.
The concept denotes action about means as well as ends and it, therefore, implies change:
changing situations, systems, practices, behaviour
 Primarily a policy refers to guidelines, principles, legislation and activities that inform
and guide Adult Education.
Rationale/importance of policies in adult education
Educational policies are rules that are used in schools to effectively and efficiently teach students
and keep them safe. These rules determine:
 How students are taught, the methods used and strategies of content delivery
 What they are taught including the need and philosophy informing adult educational
programs
 How schools manage students and school personnel
 Set framework guiding innovation in adult literacy programs
 Inform content selection, development, monitoring, supervision, evaluation/auditing
 The policies can also affect the equality of an education in an area
 Educational policies are important because effective policies can help keep students in
school
 They guide the emerging trends in education

There are several factors for make adult learners to participate in adult learning
1. Social Relationships: making friends and meet others
2. External Expectations: complying with the wishes of someone else with authority
3. Social Welfare: desire to serve others and/or community
4. Professional Advancement: desire for job enhancement or professional advancement

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 5. Escape/Stimulation: to alleviate boredom and/or to escape home or work routine
6. Cognitive Interest: learning for the sake of learning itself in order to satisfy the inner
needs.

Therefore the approaches to adult education can be categorized into:

 Work/economic (higher earning potential, professional advancement and work retention)
 Personal (cognitive interest, family togetherness)
 Social.

The adult learners and school pupils…

An adult learner is a mature/aged person who is in adult education program. Is a person who is
engaged in learning in adult classes beyond traditional schooling.
Generally as a person matures his or her self concept moves from that of a
dependent personality towards one of a self‐directing human being...an adult accumulates
a growing reservoir of experience which is a rich resource for learning...the readiness of an
adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his or her social role...there is a
chance in time perspective as people mature – from future application of knowledge to
immediacy of application...the most potent motivations are internal rather than external...adults
need to know why they need to learn something.

Characteristics of Adult learners;

♫ Are autonomous and self-directed
♫ Have a foundation of life experiences and knowledge
♫ Are goal-oriented
♫ Are relevancy-oriented
♫ Are practical
♫ Need to be shown respect
♫ Mature and exhibit significant ability to serve as a knowledgeable resource to the trainer
and fellow learners
♫ Adults are internally motivated and goal-oriented
♫ Has learning needs closely related to changing social roles
♫ Is problem-centered and interested in immediate application of knowledge
♫ Is motivated to learn by internal rather than external factors
♫ Stress increases the desire for learning
♫ Learning in relation to congruence of goals
♫ Problem-centered rather than subject-centered learning
♫ Single-topic has more appeal than survey
♫ Adult learning has ego involved…professional development must be structured to
provide support from peers and to reduce judgement during learning
♫ Transfer of learning is not automatic but has to be facilitated through coaching and other
kinds of support follow-ups are needed to enable them to help them to transfer learning
into daily practices so that learning can be sustained. Assignment should be discussed on
the onset because adults dislike surprises.

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School Pupils
A pupil is any young person who is enrolled in the formal schooling programmes to acquire
functional employable skills, competence and the ability to lead a productive life or make a
career.
Characteristics of young learners and pupils…
☺ Learning is subject-centered rather than problem-centered
☺ Rely on others to decide what is important to be learned
☺ Accept the information being presented at face value
☺ Expect what they learn to be useful in their long-term future
☺ Have little or no experience upon which to draw relevant examples. They are relatively
blank slates or tabular rasa
☺ They have little ability to serve as a knowledgeable resource to teacher or fellow class
mates…
☺ May be rebellious because they are prone to peer pressure and mob ideals
☺ Transfer of learning is fairly fast because it is exploratory learning.

CHAPTER 4: PRINCIPLES OF PROMOTING EFFECTIVE ADULT LEARNING

Types of principles of promoting adult learning
There are six principles of adult learning. These include:
 Adults are internally motivated and self-directed
 Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences
 Adults are goal oriented
 Adults are relevancy oriented
 Adults are practical
 Adult learners like to be respected

 The adult learner is primarily in charge of his or her own learning and therefore
instructors do not have the power to implant ideas or to transfer skills directly to the
learner. The adult instructors can only suggest and guide the adult learners.
 An instructor's primary responsibility in a class is to facilitate and manage the process
through which adults learn…
 The learners are encouraged to use their own judgment and decision-making capabilities.

Studies show that over a period of three days, learning retention is as follows:
 10% of what you read
 20% of what you hear
 30% of what you see
 50% of what you see and hear
 70% of what you say
 90% of what you say as you do

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How educators can use principles of adult learning to facilitate
student learning...
1. Adults are internally motivated and self-directed
Adult learners resist learning when they feel others are imposing information, ideas or actions on
them..
Educators should facilitate a students' movement towards more self-directed and responsible
learning as well as to promote the student's internal motivation to learn.
As an adult educator you can ensure good class practices by:
 Setting up a graded learning program that moves from more to less structure, from less
to more responsibility and from more to less direct supervision, at an appropriate pace
that is challenging yet not overloading for the student.
 Developing rapport with the student to optimise your approachability and encourage
asking of questions and exploration of concepts.
 Showing interest in the student's thoughts and opinions. Actively and carefully listen to
any questions asked.
 Lead the student toward inquiry before supplying them with too many facts.
 Provide regular constructive and specific feedback (both positive and negative).
 Review goals and acknowledge goal completion
 Encourage use of resources such as library, journals, internet and other department
resources
 Set projects or tasks for the student that reflect their interests and which they must
complete. For example: to provide an in-service on topic of choice; to present a case-
study based on one of their clients; to design a client educational handout; or to lead a
client group activity session...
 Acknowledge the preferred learning style of the student.

2. Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences

♫ Adults like to be given opportunity to use their existing foundation of knowledge and
experiences gained from life experience, and apply it to their new learning experiences.
As an educator you can do the following:
 Find out about your student - their interests and past experiences (personal, work
and study related)
 Assist them to draw on those experiences when problem-solving, reflecting and
applying clinical reasoning processes...
 Facilitate reflective learning opportunities in order to assist the student to
examine existing biases or habits based on life experiences and move them toward
a new understanding of information presented.
3. Adults are goal oriented
Adult students become ready to learn when they experience a need to learn it in order to cope
well with real-life tasks or problems
Educators’ should facilitate a student's readiness for problem-based learning and increase the
student's awareness of the need for the knowledge or skill presented.
Educators can:
 Provide meaningful learning experiences that are clearly linked to personal, client and
fieldwork goals as well as assessment and future life goals

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  Provide real case-studies (through client contact and reporting) as a basis from which to
learn about the theory, methods and functional issues implications of relevance
 Ask questions that motivate reflection, inquiry and further research
4. Adults are relevancy oriented
Adult learners want to know the relevance of what they are learning to what they want to
achieve. One way to help students to see the value of their observations and practical experiences
throughout their placement is to:
 Ask the student to do some reflection on for example, what they expect to learn prior to
the experience, on what they learnt after the experience, and how they might apply what
they learnt in the future, or how it will help them to meet their learning goals...
 Provide some choice of fieldwork project by providing two or more options, so that
learning is more likely to reflect the student's interests.

5. Adults are practical

Through practical fieldwork experiences, interacting with real clients and their real life
situations, students move from classroom and textbook mode to practical activities of problem
solving where they can recognize immediate solutions. The learners are able to understand what
they are learning and how it applies to life and the work context. Therefore the adult Educators
can:
 Clearly explain the learners reasoning when making choices about assessments,
interventions.
 Be explicit (clear and open) about what the student is learning and how is useful and
applicable to the job.
 Promote active participation by allowing students to try things rather than observe.
Provide plenty of practice opportunity in assessment, interviewing, and intervention
processes with ample/ sufficient repetition in order to promote development of skills,
confidence and competence.
6. Adult learners like to be respected
Respect can be demonstrated to the learners by:
 Taking interest on learners’ activities.
 Acknowledging the wealth of experiences that the student brings to the classroom
situation.
 Regarding them as a colleague who is equal in life experience
 Encouraging expression of ideas, reasoning and feedback at every opportunity

Ways of promoting effective learning in adult classes

 Setting clear expectations and objectives
The teacher should give the learners an opportunity to understand why they’re taking the
course and what they should be learning. People like to get oriented and know what’s
expected of them
 Make it clear when they are being tested and when they are not being tested.
Adult learners don’t like to fail and more so they don’t like to fail publicly. Therefore
prior communication before the assessment is very useful to the adult learners.
 Create an environment where the adult learners have as much freedom as possible.
Let them click around and explore the school environment because it gives them
exercises to practice and demonstrate their understanding in a real way

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  Give them ways to collect information
This is a great way to counter the locked navigation issue. Create situations where they
need to make decisions and then free up the navigation to collect the information needed
to make decisions. This is a much better way to assess understanding than viewing a
screen full of text.
 Focus on relevance
If your content isn’t relevant to the learners, they’ll just tune out and you’re wasting time
and money and little learning will happen
 Create a visual design that is friendly and attractive
This helps with the initial engagement and sets the tone of the course. The teacher is
required to create a course that’s as visually inviting as possible.
 Respect different learning styles. It encourages different ways of learning
for example…

 Visual learners rely on pictures. They love graphs, diagrams, and illustrations.
“Show me,” is their motto. They often sit in the front of the classroom to avoid
visual obstructions and to watch you, the teacher. They want to know what the
subject looks like. You can best communicate with them by providing handouts,
writing on the white board
 Auditory learners listen carefully to all sounds associated with the learning. They
will pay close attention to the sound of your voice and all of its slight messages,
and they will actively participate in discussions. You can best communicate with
them by speaking clearly, asking questions
 Kinesthetic learners need to physically do something to understand it. Their motto
is “Let me do it.” They trust their feelings and emotions about what they’re
learning and how you’re teaching it. They want to actually touch what they’re
learning. They are the ones who will get up and help you with role playing. You
can best communicate with them by involving volunteers, allowing them to
practice what they’re learning

 Allow students to experience what they’re learning

Experience can take many forms. Any activity that gets your students involved makes the
learning experiential. This includes small group discussions. Involvement of activities
also keep learners energized.

NB: Adults learn best when:

 They understand why something is important to know or do
 They have the freedom to learn in their own way
 Learning is experiential
 The time is right for them to learn
 The process is positive and encouraging

Personal attributes of adult educators that can enhance better learning outcomes
The following suggestions are offered as ways in which the instructor can help foster a
comfortable, productive learning climate through the attitude that she/he projects:

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  Show respect for the learner's individuality and experience
 Be sensitive to the language you use so that learners are not accidentally offended
 Be open to different perspectives
 Adopt a caring attitude and show it
 Treat the learners as individuals rather than as a group of people who are all alike
 Support all learner comments by acknowledging the "rightness" that is in each comment
and each person
 Take the learning process seriously because it is serious and important
 Resourceful, creative and knowledgeable.
 Establish a learning climate/atmosphere of:
 Mutual respect
 Collaboration rather than competition
 Support rather than judgment
 Mutual trust

NB: Adult learners respond to reinforcements. Although adult learners are usually self-
directed, they also need to receive reinforcement. Instructors should take every opportunity to
demonstrate appreciation in the classroom.

Indicators of effective learning includes

 Students will work effectively as a member of a team
 Students can apply the principles learnt to solve a technical problem
 Students will have an appreciation for the need to be lifelong learners
 Students will have effective communication skills
 Increase in enrolment and attendance
 Students will know a professional code of ethics (knowledge)
 Students will be able to describe the problem solving process (comprehension)
 Students will solve research problems through the application of scientific methods
(Application of skills/knowledge)

CHAPTER 5: METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF TEACHING ADULTS

There are two main methods and techniques of teaching adults which inmclude:
 Pedagogy
 Andragogy

Origin and development of pedagogy

The pedagogical model of instruction was originally developed in the monastic (basic) schools of
Europe in the middle ages. Young boys were received into the monasteries and taught by monks
according to a system of instruction that required these children to be obedient, faithful, and
efficient servants of the church. From this origin developed the tradition of pedagogy, which
later spread to the secular schools of Europe and America and became and remains the dominant
form of instruction.

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Pedagogy is derived from the Greek word "paid," meaning child plus "agogos," meaning leading.
Thus, pedagogy has been defined as the art and science of teaching children. In the pedagogical
model, the teacher has full responsibility for making decisions about what will be learned, how it
will be learned, when it will be learned, and if the material has been learned.

Pedagogy, or teacher-directed instruction as it is commonly known, places the student in a

submissive role requiring obedience to the teacher's instructions. It is based on the assumption
that learners need to know only what the teacher teaches them. The result is a teaching and
learning situation that actively promotes dependency on the instructor. Pedagogy entails didactic,
traditional, or teacher-directed approaches.

Up until very recently, the pedagogical model has been applied equally to the teaching of
children and adults, and in a sense, is a contradiction in terms. The reason is that as adults
mature, they become increasingly independent and responsible for their own actions. They are
often motivated to learn by a sincere desire to solve immediate problems in their lives.
Additionally, they have an increasing need to be self-directing. In many ways the pedagogical
model does not account for such developmental changes on the part of adults, and thus produces
tension, resentment, and resistance in individuals.

Growth and development of andragogy

The growth and development of andragogy as an alternative model of instruction has helped to
remedy the situation and improve the teaching of adults.

Andragogy as a system of ideas, concepts, and approaches to adult learning was introduced to
adult educators in the United States by Malcolm Knowles. His contributions to this system have
been many (1975, 1980, 1984; Knowles & Associates, 1984), and have influenced the thinking
of countless educators of adults. Knowles' dialogue, debate, and subsequent writings related to
andragogy have been a healthy stimulant to some of the growth of the adult education field
during the past thirty years.

The first use of the term "andragogy" to catch the widespread attention of adult educators was in
1968, when Knowles, then a professor of adult education at Boston University, introduced the
term (then spelled "androgogy") through a journal article. In a 1970 book (a second edition was
published in 1980) he defined the term as the art and science of helping adults learn.

His thinking had changed to the point that in the 1980 edition he suggested the following: ". . .
andragogy is simply another model of assumptions about adult learners to be used alongside the
pedagogical model of assumptions, thereby providing two alternative models for testing out the
assumptions as to their 'fit' with particular situations. Furthermore, the models are probably most
useful when seen not as dichotomous but rather as two ends of a spectrum , with a realistic
assumption (about learners) in a given situation falling in between the two ends" (Knowles,
1980, p. 43 ).

The andragogical model as conceived by Knowles is predicated on four basic assumptions about
learners, all of which have some relationship to our notions about a learner's ability, need, and
desire to take responsibility for learning:

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 1. Their self-concept moves from dependency to independency or self-directedness...
2. They accumulate a reservoir of experiences that can be used as a basis on which to build
learning...
3. Their readiness to learn becomes increasingly associated with the developmental tasks of
social roles....
4. Their time and curricular perspectives change from postponed to immediacy of
application and from subject-centeredness to performance-centeredness...

A comparison of the assumptions of pedagogy and andragogy

Pedagogy Andragogy
The learner Dependent. Teacher directs what, Moves towards independence. Self-
when, how a subject is learned and directing. Teacher encourages and
tests that it has been learned nurtures this movement
The learner’s Of little worth. Hence teaching A rich resource for learning. Hence
experience methods are didactic teaching methods include discussion,
problem-solving etc.
Readiness to People learn what society expects People learn what they need to know, so
learn them to. So that the curriculum is that learning programmes organised
standardized. around life application.
Orientation to Acquisition of subject matter. Learning experiences should be based
learning Curriculum organized by subjects. around experiences, since people are
performance centred in their learning

Andragogy is the art and science of helping adults learn

Andragogy as an emerging technology facilitates the development and implementation of
learning activities for adults…While pedagogy refers to the teaching of children, where the
teacher is the focal point, andragogy shifts the focus from the teacher to the learner. Adults learn
best when they have control over their learning.
Adults learn best when learning is focused on them, not the teacher. This is called andragogy, the
process of helping adults learn.
Andragogy is the antonym of pedagogy. In pedagogy, the concern is with transmitting the
content, while in andragogy, the concern is with facilitating the acquisition of the content.
Andragogy differentiates the needs of adult learners from those of juveniles and uses the term
andragogy to describe the specific methods which should be employed in the education of adults.

Andragogy requires that adult learners be involved in the identification of their learning needs
and the planning of how those needs are satisfied. Learning should be an active rather than a
passive process. Adult learning is most effective when concerned with solving problems that
have relevance to the learner's everyday experience.

Andragogy as a teaching strategy developed for adult learners. It is often interpreted as the
process of engaging adult learners with the structure of learning experience. This emerging
technology is based on six andragogical assumptions of the adult learner:

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1. Need to Know: Adults need to know the reason for learning
2. Experience: Adults draw upon their experiences to aid their learning
3. Self Concept: Adult needs to be responsible for their decisions on education,
involvement in planning and evaluation of their instruction
4. Readiness: The learning readiness of adults is closely related to the assumption of new
social roles
5. Orientation: As a person learns new knowledge, he or she wants to apply it immediately
in problem solving
6. Motivation: As a person matures, he or she receives their motivation to learn from
internal factors

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