Andragogy

Definition

Andragogy is a method of learning which focuses on adult education as opposed to child education. According to Knowles, adults have different learning preferences compared to children mostly because they are self-motivated (Pappas, 2013, Knowles’ 5 Assumptions).¹

Personal observations

While Andragogy is an effective method for teaching adults, reality has shown me that this is not always clear cut. While it is true that most school-aged learners are found to be externally motivated, I believe this is due to the system which forces students to learn and cuts down the time students can spend on exploring content by themselves and seek knowledge they deem important. As such, I believe that, in some cases, it is not so much that schools adapt to learners’ extrinsic motivation but rather that learners adapt to the school system.

For instance, the Montessori approach to learning encourages students to learn from each other informally when they feel ready. In a Montessori school, learners are not conditioned to adapt to a standard school system but rather are guided toward what they need to learn at their own pace. When going back to a traditional school, many Montessori students experience difficulties adjusting back to a traditional behaviorist grounded system (Age of Montessori, 2015).²

This shows that andragogy as a learning theory should not only apply to adults but also to younger learners to a certain degree (Smith, 2010).³

Andragogy learning scenario

One personal example of Andragogy and informal learning is in my High School English course. Throughout the year, students have to build a portfolio which serves to show learners that their English lessons will help them achieve something real and useful in their life. For instance, in one of our units about careers, the portfolio deliverables consist of dressing for an interview, writing a resume, being interviewed, conducting an interview, taking part in a role-play job fair on campus and later, going to a real career fair. Since the students know about the event, they know it is in their personal interest to prepare well for it since it is immediately relevant to their life (Pappas, 2013, Knowles’s principles of Andragogy #3).¹

The opposite is also true when asking adults to study content they do not want to learn. In this case, external motivation such as a pay rise, bonus, or other reward may be needed to convince learners to try harder. Such a behaviorist approach to teaching adults goes against andragogy’s assumptions (Cohen, D. 2021)⁴ but can be necessary in certain scenarios especially in certain cultures. One example for this is at a training center where I once worked. The adult learners there were asked by their company to take an English test. However, as is culturally common in this part of the world, these employees lacked intrinsic motivation and mostly worked just to get paid. Most of them would do the bare minimum just to pass the course because this would be enough for them to get the external monetary reward that they were seeking.

Further reading

Esthermsmth (2017). Andragogy — Adult Learning Theory (Knowles). Learning Theories, Retrieved September 30, 2017, from https://www.learning-theories.com/andragogy-adult-learning-theory-knowles.html.

1. Pappas, C. (2013). The Adult Learning Theory – Andragogy – of Malcolm Knowles. eLearningIndustry.com. Retrieved 19 February 2023, from https://elearningindustry.com/the-adult-learning-theory-andragogy-of-malcolm-knowles[↩][↩]
2. Age of Montessory (2015). Ten BIG Differences between Montessori and Traditional Education. Age of Montessori. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from http://ageofmontessori.org/differences-montessori-traditional-education/[↩]
3. Smith, M. K. (1996; 1999, 2010). Andragogy. The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://infed.org/mobi/andragogy-what-is-it-and-does-it-help-thinking-about-adult-learning/[↩]
4. Cohen, D. (2021). Adult Learning Theories Every Instructional Designer Must Know. Shiftelearning.com. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/adult-learning-theories-instructional-design[↩]