Journal Writing and Adult Learning Essay

Writing has always been my most difficult part of English. Reading, on the other hand, is something I could do all day; however, with writing, I grimace just thinking about it. It was not that I did not have anything to say, because I actually have quite a bit to say. I just could never figure out how to phrase what I had to say in just right way on the page. My mom taught me to read and write at a young age. After that, I would devour any book that I could get my hands on. However, I have had trouble with writing since it became more than just my alphabet and numbers.

The journals I have written came from my four years of high school English. Everyday I came to class there would be a topic on the board. I took five minutes each day to write about the given topic. It was brainstorming and giving our input on whatever the topic was. I think

Abstract Aimee Horton and Malcolm Knowles were giants among lifelong learners and had many similarities as well as several contrasts. Their passion was adult learning. Both spent their career passionately facilitating learning for adults while achieving advanced degrees. The two scholars were very similar in their desire that all adults wanted to and could learn. They saw a rapid ever-changing world and the need to adapt to ensure that adult learners was not left behind or taught like children.

Knowles posits that adult learners are self directed and autonomous. They are goal oriented, practical and must see and understand the relevance of any training. Adults bring an abundance of experience and knowledge, experiential learning, with them. Most importantly, “…adults need to be shown respect.” (Lieb)

Over the last decade there has been a steady rise in college and university enrollments. The vast majority of the enrollees are from the 25 to 40 age bracket, and this trend is only expected to continue into the foreseeable future. The trend has been recognized and embraced by colleges and universities all of the country, and as a result the traditional educational methodologies have been adapted to accommodate the adult learners of today.

The author saw his students become more engaged. He also felt that his role as an academic discourse “gatekeeper” was lessoned by his enjoyment. The goal was to use Elbow and Fulwiler; which is a technique English instructors use to help students academic levels increase. He picks up Elbow’s idea that journals are a low-risk kind of writing, a safe place within the composition classroom in which students can “cook and grow” their writing. This is emphasized quite a bit in this piece, and this is very important because the study has shown that this simply isn’t the case for many students. A couple of thoughts here: He does seem to teach the journal more

The traditional adult attending a college or university is attempting to get their foot in the door of life. While the non-traditional adult, someone who is already in the workforce, is attending college for a different reason: either to change a career, improve a job skills, or for the joy of learning. The wise employers are sending employees back to school in order to make the business successful. Universities and colleges are adapting their programs to the needs of these non-traditional adults. As the non-traditional adults flood the colleges and universities, corporations and educational institutes are collaborating to establish the most optimum way to support the needs of the students while providing the best trained and educated workers in the industry.

Life is a cycle of learning and the dissemination of what we’ve learned. In each day of our lives we learn something new to add to our list of skills and knowledge. When I first entered university, I thought the writing courses were useless and just a waste of time since we all can write. Later, however, I realized how those courses are beneficial in improving our critical thinking and communication skills not only the style of writing.

Another study, similar to the design research project, showed how revision and self-regulation can essentially improve a student’s writing. This study included 17 students taking a 13-week course on “Women and Leadership” at Brescia University College at Western University in Ontario, Canada. “Students received detailing assignment instructions and a grading rubric covering writing, information gathering and presentation, and quality of ideas” (Feltham and Sharen, 114). The students received six hours of classroom instruction, which consisted of: library research, critical thinking, writing, giving and receiving feedback, and revision strategies. To determine whether the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors of the subjects changed, a pre and post

Today's workers need to prepare with continuous job training, growth and development. Given the increased age, experiences and diverse lifestyles of the working population, it is understandable that adult education practices must move beyond the traditional model of teachers and learners, while new skills, working with local companies to match their needs and sending staff into factories and other workplaces to spread the word about state and federal retraining assistance. While trying to decide how to rebuild your life after loss of employment and lack of job opportunities following the current recession, or devastated from a divorce? Adult students faced with other struggles; studies have shown that older adult students face different hurdles, family problems, and poor self-image. These along with poor time management, weaker academic preparation and a need for remediation an increased focus on adult learners and their needs can help. (armour)

As an educator, it is my role to teach as well as learn. The role of a teacher allows me to experience both Andragogy and Pedagogy. “Andragogy” is “the art and science of helping adults learn "where as “Pedagogy is the art and science of teaching children” (Knowles, 1984, p. 13). In my profession, it is a daily task to teach concepts to children. Children are generally, teacher directed learners meaning, they are always looking to the teacher to guide them in their learning. They seek out answers and need direction to what they will be learning and what activities are provided to solidify the learning concept. This is quite different than the self directed, or the adult learner. According to Caruso (2011), adults learn by performing

One of the main theories of adult education comes from Malcolm Knowles who is often credited for putting adult education and adult learning at the forefront because of the researches he did on the topic and many papers and books he wrote about it. His idea of how adults learn was based on five basic principles. These first is that the motivation for adults to learn is more intrinsic as they may have greater self esteem or need to learn to achieve a better quality of life. The second is that adults are more experienced and that experience can be useful in the learning process as it is a form of resource. The third is “self-concept: As a person matures his self concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directed human being[5]” meaning adults are independent and will not rely on instructor for everything. The fourth is that there is an increased readiness to learn information that may prove useful in their daily lives and fifth, adult become more task or problem solving oriented instead of learning by subject matter. The principles of how adults learn are presented in a way

The Adult Learning Theory by Malcolm Knowles discusses strategies for adult learning and is based on the understanding that adults require certain considerations to learn effectively (Knowles, 1990). Knowles? Adult Learning Theory is based on six assumptions of the adult learner (See Appendix A). For optimal learning to occur, the following are necessary: ?(1) a need to know, (2) a responsibility for one?s own learning, (3) the role of experience as a resource for one?s learning, (4) a readiness or applicability of the information to one?s life situation (5) motivation to learn and (6) problem-centered learning with real-life problems? (Knowles, 1990; Mitchell & Courtney, 2005). Knowles (1990) suggested that adult learning and readiness to learn are influenced by developmental tasks. According to Knowles (1990), adults learn best when there is a perceived need for information. Adults have a need to be self-directed often deciding what they want to learn. For learning to occur, the patient first needs to know why they must learn something. Therefore, the nurse must ensure that the patient understands their underlying diagnosis prior to teaching. When adult learners have control over the timing and direction of the learning process, the learning experience is enhanced (Russell, 2006). Knowles (1990) also stated adults need individualization of learning strategies. Adult

My impression of adult education has changed immensely. First and foremost, the first lesson learned that teaching adults are a separate, intensive, and long debated process. Portions of certain theories learned illustrated below. I have extended knowledge about Meizrow (Transformational Learning) and Knowles (Andragogy). The six key features of Adult Learners are:

My experiences in writing have been minimal. I have only learned the basics of writing, like putting together sentences, forming paragraphs with sentences, and things like that. Since I have been taking college English, I can tell my writing has improved a lot. In the future, I hope to be able to improve tremendously at writing essays, paragraphs, research papers, documents, and stories so that I have very little to no errors with drafting and final products. I predict I will be a well rounded writer when I graduate from college.