Andragogy. Who the heck came up with that!? I know, Andraya… Andragogy. For anyone who isn’t studying how to inspire adults to a be motivated enough to sit through a compliance training and recognize what is in it for them, “andragogy” can seem like a fictitious word.
Andragogy
I in fact did not come up with this word. The term Andragogy was popularized by Malcolm Knowles in the 1970’s as a way to sum up the notion that adults learn differently from children. Knowles was an American educator and author, to learn more about Knowles and Andragogy check out this great article on infed.org.
Disregarding the similarities that my name shares with the term andragogy, I actually find the topic of adult learning to be quite intriguing. For many of us, our primary-school educational background is our only point of reference on how to train someone to change their awareness, attitude, or behavior. This makes sense right? Many of us have spent 12+ years in a classroom, you’d think that all of that “experience” would make us well equipped to stand in front of a group of our peers and run the show ourselves. But this pool of educational experiences is actually not the best to pull from when leading an in-person or virtual classroom.
According to Knowles, not only do adults learn in a different fashion than children, but they learn based on certain principles. Knowles determined that there are 5 principles associated with the way that adults learn.
The principles of adult learning theory are:
Self-concept
Experience
Readiness to learn
Orientation to learning
Motivation to learn
Other theorist such as have also developed theories based on how to best present information to adults. Here are a few great resources to gain a well-rounded understanding of andragogy and adult learning theory.
Andragogy with Andraya
Adulting is hard. This blog is not simply about how adults learn but it is where I share my own learning journey with you.
My name is Andraya Goodwin, yes that sounds an awful lot like andragogy. I am an instructional designer with a passion for designing and developing eLearning content! Also, I am a graduate student, and I have learned so much about managing this new lifestyle, developing my skills, broadening my network, and how adults learn.
In this blog, I am so excited to begin exploring the intricacies of andragogy, how we instructional designers can become major players in our companies, and how to maximize creativity while doing what we love! I am honored to be apart of such a vibrant community! Let’s get started!
Comments