The Adult Learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development

This book has proved to be quite useful. This was a required book for a class that is a part of my master's degree. I am really enjoying reading this book and find it useful to my course of study. I have enjoyed "The Adult Learner" by Malcolm Knowles. I have had the opportunity to read this book for my Master's Degree in Leadership and learning about andragogy and pedagogy has proven quite useful for me. I have enjoyed learning about the different concepts that are here in this book and I am happy to have this book in my library. I have enjoyed reading it and definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about adult learning and the differences between that and teaching children. The process of facilitation has proven very interesting to me.Pedagogy involves the art and science of teaching children (Knowles et al 2015, 19) while andragogy involves the art and science of helping adults learn (Knowles et al 2015, 40). Pedagogy is focused on the decision of the teacher and gives the teacher full responsibility and authority, while placing a submissive role on the learners (Knowles et al 2015, 41). Pedagogy and andragogy both involve the art and science of teaching and that is the biggest similarity that they share.Pedagogy and andragogy involve six assumptions about the learners: the need to know, the learner’s self-concept, the role of experience, readiness to learn, orientation to learning, and motivation (Knowles et al 2015, 41-47). However, these six assumptions are different with each model.Concerning the need to know, in pedagogy, “learners only need to know that they must learn what the teacher teaches” (Knowles et al 2015, 41) while in andragogy, “adults need to know why they need to learn something before undertaking to learn it” (Knowles et al 2015, 43). Pedagogy involves a need to learn because if they do not, they will not pass and move on (Knowles et al 2015, 41). Adults focus on the positive and negative effects that learning and not learning something will have on them (Knowles et al 2015, 43). Adults are not required to learn like children are, and often pose the question, “why should I learn this?” (Ricketson, Andragogy part 2 video).The learner’s self-concept of pedagogy involves the teacher believing that the learner is dependent upon the teacher (Knowles et al 2015, 41). The andragogical model states that adults are responsible for the decision hat they make for their own lives (Knowles et al 2015, 43). Adults and children differ in this area, because an adult does not want to be treated like he is a child and an adult learner needs to be treated as such, while a child can be treated like a child.In the pedagogical model, the role of experience of the learner is of little value as a resource for learning (Knowles et al 2015, 42). In the andragogical model, the learner’s experience has much more importance in the classroom. More experience for adults also means that there are many more differences than there may be amongst a group of children (Knowles et al 2015, 45). “For many kinds of learning, the richest resources for learning reside in the adult learners themselves” (Knowles et al 2015, 45). While a group of adults with varied differences and experiences may cause turmoil, it also may bring others closer together, as each member can bring different qualities and experience to the group.Readiness to learn in pedagogy involves the learner becoming ready to learn what the teacher tells him in order that he may pass and get promoted to the next grade (Knowles et al 2015, 42). The andragogical model involves the adults becoming ready to learn the things that they need to know and do so that they might cope with situations that they will experience in life (Knowles et al 2015, 45). “The critical implication of this assumption is the importance of timing learning experiences to coincide with those developmental tasks” (Knowles et al 2015, 45). Andragogy seeks to teach adults how to handle each phase and how to direct themselves through life.The orientation to learning of pedagogy involves learners having a subject-centered focus to learning in that they organize learning experiences based on the logic of the subject matter (Knowles et al 2015, 43). The orientation to learning of andragogy is focused on life-centered learning rather than subject-centered like children (Knowles et al 2015, 46). The life-centered orientation to learning involves adults focusing on learning tools that will help them to travel through life.The motivation to learn for the pedagogical model involves learners being motivated by external motivators such as their parents, the desire to get good grades, or the approval or disapproval of someone (Knowles et al 2015, 43). The motivation to learn for the andragogical model involves the adult being responsive to some external motivators, but mostly being motivated by internal motivators (Knowles et al 2015, 47). The adult is harder on himself and more focused on what is going on internally than what is going on externally.This review is my opinion and it is truly what I believe about this product. Thank you for reading my review. Please give it a thumbs up if it was helpful to you! :)

I'm working on understanding best practices when it comes to adult education for a program that I'm working on in a ministry context and found this book to be quite helpful. I will outline what I consider to be the two strongest points of the book and then discuss briefly what I perceive to be a weak spot.The first strength of this work is its dedication to enforcing the point that adults learn differently than adolescents and children. The authors never miss an opportunity to note this and explain it well in many places. This is something that I think all too often goes by the wayside when it comes too many church education programs. As someone who has gone through higher education I intrinsically knew that there was a difference but didn't necessarily have the words or research to back it up, this work helps to fill that gap. Most notably the authors really lean into two key features of adult education, namely that adults want to leverage their past life experience in their current learning environment and that adults need to have a concept of the why behind the educational program that they're being asked to be a part of. These are huge and ought to help inform how we develop curriculum and programs for our adult learners.The second strong suit of the work is that the authors are aware that this is an introductory work and treat it as such. Rather than diving too deeply into the various intricacies of adult learning they provide a healthy overview of most topics. Where the topic necessitates they do dive in deeply but never to the detriment of the work. The one exception to this might be the chapters or sections that are solely dedicated to the history of the discipline, but as this is an introductory work, that makes sense and is helpful for context.The one weak point of the work in my estimation is that it's a little dated already, but that's to be expected. This particularly shows up in the chapter on Computer Based Instruction (CBI). I think in the forthcoming edition this chapter could be expanded and perhaps even given its own section. Especially in a post-COVID-19 world we, as educators, need to be thinking through how we can reach people best and I have a feeling that it is going to be increasingly through digital means.I would say that all-in-all it's an excellent introductory work and will be something that I keep as a reference text.

Great book for the course I took on learning how to teach adults. some of it was more researchy and about history than I needed. I did learn a lot form this book and will keep it as a reference for the future.

I am an Instructional Systems Specialist and this book is one of my reference guides along with the Carey, Carey and Dick and Mager books​. The book has clear and coherent information for a curriculum designer who has to develop lessons for training and workforce development programs. I love this book and highly recommend for individuals who develop, design and evaluate educational and professional development programs for adults.

For educators teaching adults, this theory of andragogy is clearly explained and has been proven by research to be effective.

Not sure what to fully think about this book. It's not the greatest or worst...The HR material seems out of place and was probably added to broaden potential buyers.

I needed this book for an Adult Learning course. I actually really enjoyed this book. It is easy to read, the ideas are supported with a lot of research, and it's laid out in a way that makes sense. Interesting text!

My purchanse was affordable but I was very disappointed in the fact that this was my second purchase of this book and both copies had a slit on the back cover. If I am going to continue business with you in the future maybe I need to foot the expense of hard back covers as my final option.

Wat de titel zegt: een definitieve klassieker. Verplichte kost voor iedereen die aan volwassenenscholing doet.