The science of adult learning (andragogy) focuses on understanding and supporting lifelong learning in adult learners. It also involves developing the teaching of adult learners (Knowles, Holton & Swanson, 2011). We will refer regularly to the work of Malcolm Knowles, the godfather of adult learning theory. Now I am sure we will be interchanging between terminology. We will use teacher, facilitator, instructor and many others. But let’s not get too caught up in the pedantic’s. In the end, we want to discover different learning theories. We seek strategies and appropriate forms of assessment. These should meet our learners’ needs.  

Knowles’ 4 Principles Of Andragogy

1.  Engagement: Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.
2.  Experiential: The opportunity and learning culture to test, succeed and also make mistakes.
3.  Work relevant: Adults are most interested in learning that has relevance and impact to their job or personal life.
4.  Problem-centered: Learner focused with a facilitator guiding the learning as opposed to a traditional teacher delivered content-oriented delivery.

We will focus much of our efforts on adult learning (androgogy). This is because we are training our nursing population. However, we will also explore school level education (pedagogy). We aim to see new ideas and concepts. These could be incorporated into our nursing education approach. It’s always worth remembering the enthusiasm that children have for learning new things. Reflect back to your school days. Consider why as adults we don’t always feel this same eagerness to learn. We have to question what is different? Motivation may well be a key factor in this.

Now this ‘gogy’ is post-Knowles. It is heutagogy, which means ‘self’ in Greek. This is self-determined learning. It places the emphasis of learning on the learner. There is a move away from the traditional teacher/lecturer role as the focal point. Hase and Kenyon (2000) defined this as “the study of self-determined learning.” We live in an ever-changing world of work, study, and life. Information is readily accessible, and learning aligns with this accessibility.

Looking at how knowledge is constructed (epistemology) and how we learn can improve the learning experience and outcomes. In the health setting we also have varied training and education requirements, included is the non-negotiable work requirements. How do we motivate our learners for this type of situation? As an educator, we need to be motivated. We must provide consistency in new teaching opportunities. Consistency is also needed in day-to-day core training (think repetitive basic life support). This reminds of a story of a chef and the consistency of cooking the same dish for 30 years which is now considered the world’s best paella, and the effort in not only their dedication to the same dish but the replicability and standard setting. Health is constantly changing so we nurses are constantly evolving as part of lifelong learning.

Spotlight on Malcolm Knowles

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Reference

Knowles, M. S., Holton III, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2014). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development. Routledge.