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Taken from
http://www.fsu.edu/~elps/ae/download/ade5385/Brookfield.pdf
Stephen Brookfield 1995
Adult educators frequently
speak of adult learning as if it were a discretely separate domain, having
little connection to learning in childhood or adolescence.
Four Major
Areas of Adult Learning Are:
-
Self-directed learning
-
Critical reflection
-
Experiential learning
-
Learning to learn
Each of these has been
proposed as representing unique and exclusive adult learning processes.
Issues in Understanding Adult Learning
We are very far from a
universal understanding of adult learning. Even though warnings are frequently
issued that at best only a multitude of context and domain specific theories are
likely to result, the energy expended on developing a general theory of adult
learning shows no sign of abating.
Judged by epistemological,
communicative, and critically analytic criteria, theory development in adult
learning is weak, and is hindered by the persistence of myths that are etched
deeply into adult educators' minds (Brookfield1992).
These myths (which, taken
together, comprise something of an academic orthodoxy in adult education) hold
that
-
Adult learning is inherently
joyful
-
Adults are innately
self-directed learners
-
Good educational practices
always meet the needs articulated by learners themselves
-
It is a uniquely adult
learning process
-
It is a uniquely adult form
of practice
The attempt to construct an
exclusive theory of adult learning - one that is distinguished wholly by its
standing in contradiction to what we know about learning at other stages in the
lifespan is a grave error.
Indeed, a strong case can be
made that as we examine learning across the lifespan the variables of culture,
ethnicity, personality and political ethos assume far greater significance in
explaining how learning occurs and is experienced than does the variable of
chronological age.
Major Areas of Research on Adult Learning
The four areas discussed in
this section represent the post-war preoccupations of adult learning
researchers.
Taken together these areas of
research constitute an espoused theory of adult learning that informs how a
great many adult educators practice their craft.
1.
Self-Directed Learning
Self-directed learning focuses
on the process by which adults:
-
Take control of their own
learning
-
Determine how to set their
own learning goals
-
Locate appropriate resources
-
Decide on which learning
methods to use
-
Evaluate their progress
It is important to note the
cross-cultural dimension of the concept has been almost completely ignored.
Recent work on gender has
criticized the ideal of the independent self-directed learner as reflecting
patriarchal values of division, separation and competition. The extent to which
a disposition to self-directedness is culturally learned, or is tied to
personality, is an open issue.
We are still struggling to
understand how various factors – the adult's previous experiences, the nature of
the learning task and domain involved, and the political ethos of the time –
affect the decision to learn in this manner.
We also need to know more
about how adults engaged in self-directed learning use social networks and peer
support groups for emotional sustenance and educational guidance.
Finally, work is needed on
clarifying the political dimensions of this idea; particularly on the issues of
power and control raised by the learner's assuming responsibility for choices
and judgments regarding what can be learned, how learning should happen, and
whose evaluative judgments regarding the quality and effectiveness of learning
should hold sway.
Citing self-direction, adults
can deny the importance of collective action, common interests and their basic
interdependence in favor of an obsessive focus on the self.
2.
Critical Reflection
Developing critical reflection
is probably the idea of the decade.
Evidence that adults are
capable of this kind of learning (but not younger learners), can be found in
developmental psychology, where a host of constructs – such as embedded logic,
dialectical thinking, working intelligence, reflective judgment, and post-formal
reasoning – describe how adults come to think contextually and critically
(Brookfield, 1987, 1991).
As an idea critical reflection
focuses on three interrelated processes:
(1) The process by which
adults question and then replace or reframe an assumption that up to that point
has been uncritically accepted as representing commonsense wisdom
(2) The process through which
adults take alternative perspective on previously taken-for-granted ideas,
actions, forms of reasoning, and ideologies. The use of role play, cases, and
simulation are use in teaching.
(3) The process by which
adults come to recognize the hegemonic (means imperialistic) aspects of dominant
cultural values
The most important work in
this area is that of Mezirow (1991). Mezirow's early work (conducted with women
returning to higher education) focused on the idea of perspective transformation
which he understood as the learning process by which adults come to recognize
and reframe their culturally induced dependency roles and relationships.
Much research in this area
confirms that critical reflection is context or domain-specific. How is it that
the same people can be highly critical regarding, for example, dominant
political ideologies, yet show no critical awareness of the existence of
repressive features in their personal relationships?
3.
Experiential Learning
The emphasis on experience as
a defining feature of adult learning was expressed in Lindeman's frequently
quoted aphorism that "experience is the adult learner's living textbook" (1926,
p. 7) and that adult education was, therefore, "a continuing process of
evaluating experiences" (p. 85).
The belief that adult teaching
should be grounded in adults' experiences, and that these experiences represent
a valuable resource, is currently cited as crucial by adult educators of every
conceivable ideological hue.
Of all the models of
experiential learning that have been developed, Kolb's has probably been the
most influential in prompting theoretical work among researchers of adult
learning (Jarvis, 1987).
But almost every textbook on
adult education practice affirms the importance of experiential methods such as
games, simulations, case studies, psychodrama, role play and internships.
The gradual accumulation of
experience across the contexts of life is often argued as the chief difference
between learning in adulthood and learning at earlier stages in the lifespan.
Yet, an exclusive reliance on
accumulated experience as the defining characteristic of adult learning contains
two discernible pitfalls.
First, experience should not
be thought of as an objectively neutral phenomenon – rather, our experience is
culturally framed and shaped.
How we experience events and
the readings we make of these are problematic; that is, they change according to
the language and categories of analysis we use, and according to the cultural,
moral and ideological vantage points from which they are viewed.
In a very important sense we
construct our experience: how we sense and interpret what happens to us and to
the world around us is a function of structures of understanding and perceptual
filters that are so culturally embedded that we are scarcely aware of their
existence or operation.
Second, the quantity or length
of experience is not necessarily connected to its richness or intensity. For
example, in an adult educational career spanning 30 years the same one-year's
experience can, in effect, be repeated thirty times. Indeed, one's 'experience'
over these 30 years can be interpreted using uncritically assimilated cultural
filters in such away as to prove to oneself that students from certain ethnic
groups are lazy or that fear is always the best stimulus to critical thinking.
4.
Learning to Learn
The ability of adults to learn
how to learn – to become skilled at learning in a range of different situations
and through a range of different styles – has often been proposed as an
overarching purpose for those educators who work with adults.
Smith (1990) has conducted
most research on this topic and Kitchener and King (1990) who propose the
concepts of epistemic cognition and reflective judgment. These latter authors
emphasize that learning how to learn involves an epistemological awareness
deeper than simply knowing how one scores on a cognitive style inventory, or
what is one's typical or preferred pattern of learning. Rather, it means that
adults possess a self-conscious awareness of how it is they come to know what
they know; an awareness of the reasoning, assumptions, evidence and
justifications that underlie our beliefs that something is true.
Yet, of the four areas of
adult learning research discussed, learning how to learn has been the least
successful in capturing the imagination of the adult educational world and in
prompting a dynamic program of follow-up research.
That learning to learn is a
skill that exists far beyond academic boundaries is evident from the research
conducted on practical intelligence and everyday cognition in settings and
activities as diverse as grocery shopping and betting shops (Brookfield, 1991).
Emergent Trends
Three trends in the study of
adult learning that have emerged during the 1990's, and that promise to exercise
some influence into the twenty first century, concern (1) the cross-cultural
dimensions of adult learning, (2) adults' engagement in practical theorizing,
and (3) the ways in which adults learn within the systems of education (distance
education, computer-assisted instruction, open learning systems) that are linked
to recent technological advances.
1.
Cross Cultural Adult Learning
Although the literature based
in the area of cross-cultural adult learning is still sparse, there are
indications that the variable of ethnicity is being taken with increasing
seriousness (Cassara, 1990; Ross-Gordon, 1991).
Two important insights for
practice have been suggested by early research into cross-cultural adult
learning. First, adult educators from the dominant American, European, and
northern cultures will need to examine some of their assumptions, inclinations,
and preferences about 'natural' adult learning and adult teaching styles
(Brookfield, 1986).
Second, 'teaching their own'
is a common theme surfaced in case studies of multicultural learning. In other
words, when adults are taught by educators drawn from their own ethnic
communities they tend to feel more comfortable and to do better.
2.
Practical Theorizing
Practical theorizing is an
idea most associated with the work of Usher (Usher and Bryant, 1989) who has
focused on the ways in which educational practitioners – including adult
educators – become critically aware of the informally developed theories that
guide their practice.
3.
Distance Learning
In contrast to its earlier
equation with necessarily limiting correspondence study formats, distance
education is now regarded as an important setting within which a great deal of
significant adult learning occurs (Gibson, 1992).
Further Research
Seven important issues need to
be addressed if research on adult learning is to have a greater influence on how
the education and training of adults is conducted.
1. Much greater definitional
clarity is needed when the term 'learning' is discussed; whether it is referring
to behavioral change or cognitive development (Brookfield, 1986).
2. The interaction of emotion
and cognition in adult learning needs much greater attention. For example, can
we speak of the emotional intelligence adults develop?
3. Adult learning needs to be
understood much more as a socially embedded and socially constructed phenomenon
(Jarvis, 1987). Current research on adult learning draws almost exclusively from
psycho-logistic sources.
4. Many more cross-cultural
perspectives are needed to break the Eurocentric and North American dominance in
research in adult learning and to understand inter-cultural differences in
industrialized societies. These differences are much greater in adults than
children.
5. The role played by gender
in learning is as poorly understood in adulthood as it is at other stages in the
lifespan. It is still an open question as to whether the forms of knowing
uncovered in some studies of adult women learners are solely a function of
gender, or the extent to which they are connected to the developmental stages of
adulthood, or are culturally constructed.
6. The predominant focus in
studies of adult learning on instrumental skill development needs widening to
encompass work on spiritual and significant personal learning and to understand
the interconnections between these domains.
7. A way should be found to
grant greater credibility to adult’s renderings of the experience of learning
from the 'inside'. Researchers’ pens, not learners themselves, render most
descriptions of how adults experience learning.
References
Brockett R G, Hiemstra R 1991
Self-direction in Adult Learning: Perspectives on Theory, Research, and
Practice. Routledge, New York
Brookfield S D 1986
Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
Brookfield S D 1987 Developing
Critical Thinkers. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
Brookfield S D 1990 The
Skillful Teacher. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
Brookfield S D 1991 The
development of critical reflection in adulthood. New Education. 13 (1): 39-48
Brookfield S D 1992 Developing
criteria for formal theory building in adult education. Adult Ed. Q. 42 (2):
79-93
Candy P C 1990 Self-direction
for Lifelong Learning: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice.
Jossey-Bass,San Francisco
Cassara B (ed.) 1990 Adult
Education in a Multicultural Society. Routledge, New York
Clark M C, Wilson A L 1991
Context and rationality in Mezirow's theory of transformational learning. Adult
Ed. Q. 41 (2):75-91
Collard S, Law M 1989 The
limits of perspective transformation: A critique of Mezirow's theory. Adult Ed.
Q. 39 (2): 99-107
Collins M 1988 Self-directed
learning or an emancipatory practice of adult education: Re-thinking the role of
the adult educator.
Proceedings of the 29th Annual
Adult Education Research Conference. Faculty of Continuing Education, University
of Calgary
Ekpenyong L E 1990 Studying
adult learning through the history of knowledge. Int. J. Lifelong Educ. 9 (3):
161-178
Field L 1991 Guglielmino's
self-directed learning readiness scale: Should it continue to be used? Adult Ed.
Q. 41, 100-103.
Gibson C C 1992 Distance
education: On focus and future. Adult Ed. Q. 42 (3): 167-179
Hammond M, Collins R 1991
Self-directed learning: Critical Practice. Kogan Page, London
Jarvis P 1987 Adult Learning
in the Social Context. Croom Helm, London
Kitchener K S, King P M 1990
The reflective judgment model: Transforming assumptions about knowing. In:
Mezirow J (ed.)
Fostering Critical Reflection
in Adulthood. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
Lindeman E C L 1926 The
Meaning of Adult Education. New Republic, New York
Mezirow J 1991 Transformative
Dimensions of Adult Learning. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
Modra H 1989 Using journals to
encourage critical thinking at a distance. In: Evans T, Nation D (eds.) Critical
Reflections on
Distance Education. Falmer
Press, London
Podeschi R 1990 Teaching their
own: Minority challenges to mainstream institutions. In: Ross-Gordon J M, Martin
L G,
Briscoe D (eds.) Serving
Culturally Diverse Populations. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
Pratt D D 1992 Chinese
conceptions of learning and teaching: A Westerner's attempt at understanding.
Int. J. of Lifelong Ed.11 (4): 301-320
Ross-Gordon J M 1991 Needed: A
multicultural perspective for adult education research. Adult Ed. Q., 42 (1):
1-16.
Savicevic D M 1991 Modern
conceptions of andragogy: A European framework. Studs. in the Ed. of Adults. 23
(2):179-201
Smith J E, Castle J 1992
Experiential learning for critical thinking: A viable prospect for South Africa?
Int. J. of Lifelong Ed.11 (3): 191-198
Smith R M (ed.) 1990 Learning
to Learn Across the Lifespan. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
Tennant M 1988 Psychology and
Adult Learning. Routledge, London
Tuijnman A, Van Der Kamp M
(eds.) 1992 Learning Across the Lifespan: Theories, Research, Policies. Pergamon,
Oxford
Usher R S, Bryant I 1989 Adult
Education as Theory, Practice and Research: The Captive Triangle. Routledge,
NewYork
Vooglaid Y, Marja T 1992
Andragogical problems of building a democratic society. Int. J. of Lifelong Ed.
11 (4): 321-328
Additional recourses can be
found at:
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/adults-2.htm
http://www.ericfacility.net/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed299456.html
30 Things We Know for Sure
about Adult Learning
http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/education/hcc/facdev/30things.html
Ron and Susan Zemke discuss what is known about adult learning and list current
knowledge in three categories: motivation, curriculum design,and classroom
strategies. (Reference http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~mcisaac/disted/final98/finallj.html)
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