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Andragogy: The Cornerstone of Adult Education Essay

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In the essay following I will be concentrating on the subject of Andragogy and how it has always been a cornerstone of adult education. Andragogy in a sense leads you down the path promoting individualism in learning and in turn allows the availability for each adult to find their own specific learning style. As we all know, each individual will not learn the exact same as another. In the following essay we will explore all there is to know of Andragogy.
The long standing debate of Andragogy is if adults and children learn differently and also if they should or should not be taught differently. To fully understand andragogy one must research into the different perspectives as I have done. For centuries it has been a well-known fact that…show more content…
Knowles had five basic assumptions for andragogy, (1) an adult having motivation to learn with internal factors, (2) learning needs based on social roles, (3) independent self-concepts, (4) interest in application of knowledge, and (5) being a vast resource for learning.
Like all theories the one Knowles propositioned of Andragogy was debated and critiqued with much discussion over the years. Debates on whether or not Andragogy could even be considered a theory for adult learning ensued throughout the 1980s. The main contention of this debate being that Andragogy may not even be considered a theory, rather a basic principle following of good learning practices. Another critique that continues to present day is the assumption that all adults share the same characteristics in learning. Knowles eventually pitted Andragogy vs. Pedagogy and admitted that both were perfectly applicable to both adults and children depending on the situation.
The situation as mentioned above comes to be known more in the aspects of teacher-directed learning or student-directed learning. Examples being that in the teacher-directed learning are when the person does not know much about a certain subject and in that case will seek out the help of the teacher. At the very extreme opposite of the teacher-directed learning is the example of student-directed learning. An example of this
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