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Adult Education

What is an adult education? What does it mean to be an adult learner? What are the basic principles of adult learning and how specific they are? All these questions should be taken into consideration when the issue of adult education is discussed. "Defining adult education is akin to the proverbial elephant being described by five blind men: if depends on where you are standing and how you experience the phenomenon" (Merriam 3). It is true; because the difficulty consists in defining essential elements of adult education. In general, Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. However, the "adult" and "teaching" are very relative and mutable notions. The discussion about these definitions is intensive and long lasting. For example, the meaning "adult" could be specified according the criteria of puberty, chronological age, psychological maturity or social roles. The meaning of "teaching" or "educating" adults runs into the same difficulties, such as theoretical polemic about the differences between "adult education" and "adult learning". Similar problems appear when the meaning and role of educator are discussed. The part of these discussions includes debates what are the basic principles of adult learning.


The Principles of Adult Learning

In general all theories of adult education and principles of adult learning are based on valuing the prior learning and experience of adults. Adult learning requires the building on this prior learning using methods that treat learners with respect and recognize that people have different learning styles and have a variety of responsibilities and time commitments. For effective adult education the teacher becomes the manager of the processes or according to Knowles " the facilitator of learning" (33). Following the Knowles book "Self-directed learning" and class' handouts, we could describe six basic principles of adult learning: the setting of climate, the substantiality of learning for learners' future, shared authority in decision-making and planning, the correlation (synergistic view) between learners' knowledge and learning and the process of evaluation. All these principals and their practice in reality are the essential for successful adult learning; however few of them are most important for me personally.
The climate

First of all, setting a positive climate for learning helps me to be confident and absorbed presented material easier. Positive learning climate "fosters self-esteem and interdependence" (handouts). The creation of positive climate could motivate people to be better learners. Friendly, open atmosphere in the class stimulate people to learn, because positive feelings and friendly tone let adults be open minded. For example, the sociable and supportive environment in our class let me to absorb the presented material faster than at home, where climate due to family circumstances are toxic. Furthermore, the level of concern in the class has to be appropriate. The level of tension must be adjusted to meet the level of importance of the subject objective. It is the fact that people learn best under low to moderate stress; if the stress is too high, it becomes a barrier to learning. Also, the degree of material's difficulty should be set high enough to challenge adults, but not so high that they become frustrated by information overload. For example, I was excited that the significant part of our subject was covered by the method of open dialogue between instructor and participants. People felt that they are respected by the teacher and by other learners and that they past experiences are valued. That was great pleasure to learn in such environment.
Decision-making and planning

The second principles, which influence me, is shared authority in the process of decision making and planning. The important condition fostering this principal is when "the competency of people as learners and choice-makers for their own lives is recognized and used".(Handouts) For example, if adult learner does not recognize the importance or the need for the provided information, all of the instructor's effort to assist the student to learn will be unproductive. Thus, the instructor must establish connection with participants; recognize the value of students' experience, and importance of involving adult learners into the process of planning. In fact, past experience structures the way in which an adult will approach new experiences; determines what information will be selected for further attention and how it will be interpreted. This is happening because "adult learning focuses on modifying, transforming and reintegrating meanings, values, strategies, and skills, rather than on forming them…" (Brundage 33). Thus, why it is so important to involved adults into process of decision-making and let them take the responsibility of planning. In many instances, the person who plans the learning program learns the most. "The more the adult learner can be involved in the planning related to his own learning activities, the more productive those activities will be and the more likely the desired outcomes will be reached" (Brundage 74). We learn what we plan. The best example could be our "Individual learning contract". We in dependably choose the areas which need the improvement. We recognized the problems and set strategies how these problems should be solved. This project helped me to improved my self-awareness, to understand my strengths and weakness and to organize my learning process in most acceptable for me way. I had the possibility to gain new knowledge, integrate theory with practice, and develop new practice skills. That was very useful and needful experience.

One more, very important principle of adult learning is evaluation. "Adult learning is enhanced when learners evaluate their own learning outcomes, skills and needs for more learning" (Handouts). It is obvious that all learners need specific knowledge of their learning results - feedback. Feedback must be specific, not general in order to better understand the personal progress and achievements. Feedback is the main part of the evaluation process, and according to Knowles, "this is probably the most difficult part of the whole process…" (27) It is very hard to evaluate your own learning outcomes and needs for more learning. For the best result, the process of evaluation should be a co-operative, with emphasis on self-evaluation; and should include self-reflection. In general, an evaluation process could focus on five levels of evaluation: satisfaction, achievement, performance, benefits, and investment in the program. (Knox 300) For me, as self-directed learner the most important are levels of satisfaction and achievements. Furthermore, for many years the evaluation of myself was self-reflected. Thus, the process of co-operative evaluation in this course was new for me. In this case, peers' feedback for "Individual learning project" and small group oral presentation was very valuable. Moreover, the creating of my personal rating scales for "Individual Learning Project" was brand-new experience too. Even tough that I had some experience in self-evolution, the weighing of evidences about my own learning success was not the easiest job. However, this new experience helped me to understand the importance of evaluation in the adults' learning process.

Posted by: Sarah S.

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