Adult Learner

- Changing Demographic- The global economy (globalization)- Information and technology

- Formal settings- Informal settings- Self-directed learning- Online learning (formal, non formal and informal learning)

Knowing who participate in adult education activities and why adults are participating or not is necessary information for both providers and policymakers. Since participation in adult education is largely voluntary activity, knowing who is participating, reasons for participation, and what conditions are likely to promote can help providers better serve adult learners.

- Lack of time- Lack of money- Family responsibilities- Lack of interest

- #1 job related motives- psychological and sociological reasons- motivation - goal oriented learners - education to achieve some goals- activity oriented learner - for the sake of it and social interaction- learning - oriented learner - knowledge

Andragogy is based on assumption about the adult learner.1. As a person matures, his or her self concept moves from that of dependent personality toward one of a self-directing human being. 2.

An adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience, which is a rich resource for learning.3. The readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his or her social role. 4.

There is a change in time perspective as people mature - from future application of knowledge to immediacy of application. Thus, an adult is more problem centered than subject centered in learning. In later publication, Knowels also referred to a fifth and a sixth assumption:5. The most potent motivations are internal rather than external6. Adults need to know why they need to learn something.

The andragogy has been primarly model of adult learning.

His theory is founded in the notion that adulthood is a time of growth, change, and integration in which one constantly seeks balance between the amount of energy needed and the amount available. This balance is conceptualized as a ration between the "load" (L) of life, which dissipates energy, and the "power" (P) of life, Which allows one to deal with the load. Margin in life is the ratio of load to power. More power means a greater margin to participate in learning.

He identifies two factors in adult's life, the load he or she carries and the power he/she has to deal with the load. He defines load as "the self and social demands required to maintain a minimal level of autonomy" and power as the infrastructure which supports the load such as family, friends, social and economic abilities.

Illeris is interested in the learning process itself. In his model there are three dimensions involved in learning:- Cognitive- Emotion- Society.He pictures these dimensions as an inverted triangle, with cognition and emotion at the top and environment at the bottom of the inverted apex. All three aspects of learning occur within society, represented by the circle around the triangle.

The learning process begins with one of five stimuli, what he calls raw materials of the process. 1. perception is where the surrounding world comes to the individual as a totally unmediated sense impression, 2. Transmission, wherein someone else passes on information, (3) Experience, which while it can include both perception and transmission , the learner is not simply receiving, but also acts in order to benefit from the interaction, 4. Imitation occurs when the learner attempts to imitate or model another's action, 5. Activity or participation in which the learner is engaged in a goal-directed activity sometimes participating with others as in a community of practice.

His theory is that all learning begins with the five human sensations: sound, sight, smell, taste, and touch. His model of the learning process links the whole person, the body, mind, self, life history with an experience that a person encounters in a social context. The learning includes/involve emotion, thought, and action. The result of learning is some change in the person.

Tough 1970 - building on the work of Houle (1960)Spears 3 elements Model:Goals of self-directed learning:1. To enhance the ability of adult learners to be self-directed in their learning.2. To foster transformational learning as central to self-directed learning.

3. To promote emancipatory learning and social action as an integral part of self-directed learning.

Three types of models:1. Linear - Learners move through a series of steps to reach their learning goals in a self-directed manner. 2.

Interactive model- there is emphasis on two or more factors, such as opportunities people find in their own environments, the personality characteristics of learners, cognitive process, and the context of learning, which collectively interact to form episodes of self-directed learning. 3. Instructional models - it represents the framework that instructors in formal settings could use to integrate self-directed methods of learning into their programs and activities. There are four stages of learners;- Dependent Learner - need authority instructor- Interested Learner - Motivated but ignorant of the subject matter to be learned - Involved learner - they have skills and basic knowledge and view themselves as being both ready and able to explore a specific subject area with a good guide. - Self-directed learner - Learners of high self-direction who are both willing and able to plan, execute, and evaluate their own learning.

Geri's story exemplifies transformative learning. Transformative learning is about change-dramatic, fundamental change in the way we see ourselves and the world in which we live.

Mezirow's theory concerns how adults make sense of their live experience. Mezirow defines learning as "the process of using a prior interpretation to construe a new or a revised interpretation of the meaning of one's experience in order to guide future action. There are two dimensions to our frame of reference: a habit of mind and a point of view.

A habit of mind is a set of assumptions-broad, generalized, orienting predispositions that act as a filter for interpreting the meaning of experience.A point of view is made up of meaning schemes, which are "sets of immediate, specific beliefs, feelings, attitude, and value judgments."Transformative learning occurs when there is a transformation in one of our beliefs or attitudes or a transformation of our entire perspective.

Daloz and Boyd view transformative learning as more holistic and intuitive.

- Daloz focuses on adults who are returning to higher education, the goal of transformative learning is lifelong personal development, with the teacher serving as a mentor in the transformative learning process. - Boyd see transformative learning as an inner journey of individuation from parts of the psyche such as the ego and the collective unconscious.

He has a sociocultural approach to transformative learning. In his approach, personal empowerment and social transformation are inseparable processes. He differentiates between two kinds of education: banking and problem posing.

Banking is teacher centered as the all-knowing" teacher deposits knowledge into the passive students who serve as receptacles for this knowledge. Problem-posing is liberation. Central to the learning is a changed relationship between teacher and student.

Spirituality is fundamentally about how we make meaning in our life through conscious and unconscious processes such as dreams and symbols.

- Experience - One of the assumptions of adragogy is that adults bring with them a depth and breadth of experience that can be used as a resource for their and others' learning.- Critical Reflection - Reflection is a cognitive process, Thinking about the underlying beliefs and assumptions that affect interpretation of said (those) experiences.

- Development - It is a result of critical thinking as well as the transformational process as a whole.. It's engaging life experience in a critically reflective manner for self-development and maturation.

John Dewey made some of the most thoughtful observations about the connections between life experiences and learning. For learning to occur form experience the experience must exhibit the two major principles of continuity and interaction.

Learners must connect what they have learned from current experiences to those in the past as well as se possible future implications.

He believes that learning from experience requires four different kinds of ability:1. an openness and willingness2. observational and reflective skills so these new experiences can be viewed 3. analytical abilities so integrative ideas and concepts can be created from their observations.

4. decision-making and problem-solving skills so these new ideas and concepts can be used in actual practice.

Jarvis's model shows that a person bring his or her biography into a learning situation from life experience with two main types of learning. - Nonreflective learning, which includes remembering an experience and repeating it or just doing what we are told to do.

- Reflective learning - when we plan, monitor, and reflect upon our experiences

- BEHAVIORISM- CONGNITIVISM- CONSTRUCTIVISM- HUMANISM

- Focuses on observable behavior rather than a cognitive activity.- Behaviorists believe that learning has only taken place if a change in behavior is obvious, or observable. - Pavlov's observation that dogs salivate when they ear or even see food provides the most popular example of classical conditioning. The classical conditioning stipulates that behaviors can be "conditioned" by pairing stimuli with responses.

-Cognition means being conscious, knowing, thinking, and forming an opinion. - Cognitive theorists view most human behaviors as very complex.

- They believe that a person's behavior is controlled by an internal intellectual process rather than external motivations.

- Constructivism is a branch of cognitive psychology. - The fundamental point of constructivism is that the learner as an individual combines existing knowledge and experiences with new learning. - Constructivism lies within rational

- Abraham Maslow is considered as a father of humanistic psychology. - Purpose of learning - to become self-directed, mature, autonomous- Focus of learning -affective and developmental needs- Instructional role is to facilitate growth of the whole person.