Republic of the Philippines

Province of Sorsogon
Municipality of Donsol
DONSOL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Tres Marias Drive, Donsol, Sorsogon
______________________________________________________________________________
PROF ED 6

MODULE 3
What is Andragogy?

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
First Semester:AY 20___-20____
Module 3: What is Andragogy?

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Module Development Team

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION 6

Writer: WALTER M. BELBES

Editor: RENE C. BAROLA
Reviewers: JOAQUIN G. ATAYZA
RENE C. BAROLA
Lay-out WALTER M. BELBES
RENE C. BAROLA

This module is a property of Donsol Community College. No

portion/s of this instructional material may be reproduced or used
without the permission of Donsol Community College. This module is
not for sale.

Welcome to this self- learning module on Andargogy of Learning Including

Principles of Trainers Methodology 1. This focus on the application of adult learning
principles and learning styles in implementing training program. In accomplishing
this learning material, yuo have to answer first the Pre- Assessment, study the
lesson in Read and Study and answer and perform the Learning Engagement. After
doing so, you may take the Post- Assessment to determine the knowledge, skills
and attitudes you have gained from this lesson.
To enhance your competence, you have also to accomplish Going Further
found in this module. Thank you and Goodluck.

After completing the module you should be able to:

Demonstrate understanding of andragogy.

PRELIMINARY ACTIVITIES

Write P if the statement is an assumption of pedagogy and A if it is on adragogy.

______1. The learner is dependent personality who relies on the teacher/ trainer to
take responsibility for making decisions about what is learned, how and when it
should be learned and whether it has been learned.
______2. Learner motivation comes mostly from internal motivators including
promotion, job change, and quality of life.
______3. Learners need to know why they need to learn.
______4. Orientation to learning is most likely life and/or task centered.
______5. People enter into an educational activity with a subject- centered
orientation.
______6. People are ready to learn when they are told what they have to learn in
order to advance to the next grade level.
______7. Learners embrace a sel-f concept of being responsible for their own
learning.
______8. People are motivated to learn primarily by external pressures from parents,
teachers/ trainers, grades, certificates, etc.
______9. Learner’s readiness to learn is linked to coping with real- life situation.
______10. The learner enters into an educational activity with little experience that
can be used in the learning process.

READ AND STUDY

In the Beginning it was Pedagogy
In the simplest way, pedagogy can be defined as the art and science of teaching.
According to etymology, pedagogy originated from Greek and means, “the art of
teaching children”. To be more specific, ‘paidos’ means ‘child’ and ‘agogos’
stands for a ‘leader’ in Greek, and ‘pedagogue’ stands for a teacher.
Pedagogy is defined simply as the method, and practice, of teaching. It
encompasses:
1. Teaching styles
2. Teaching theory
3. Feedback and assessment
When people talk about the pedagogy of teaching, they
will be referring to the way teachers deliver the content of the
curriculum to a class.
When a teacher plans a lesson, they will consider different
ways to deliver the content. That decision will be made based
on their own teaching preferences, their experience, and the
context that they teach in. It is formally focused on educator’s belief on how
learning should take place.

Then came the Andragogy

Andragogy refers to methods and principles used in adult education. The
word comes from the Greek ἀνδρ- ( andr- ), meaning "man", and ἀγωγός ( agogos ),
meaning "leader of". Therefore, andragogy literally means "leading man", whereas "
pedagogy " literally means "leading children".
The first known use of the term andragogy was by the German educator
Alexander Kapp in 1833 in his book, Platon’s Erziehungslehre (Plato’s Educational
Ideas). The term he used was andragogik. It didn't catch on and largely disappeared
from usage until Malcolm Knowles made it widely known in the 1970s. Knowles, a
pioneer and advocate of adult education, wrote more than 200 articles and books
on adult education. He espoused five principles that he observed about adult
learning at its best:
1. Adults understand why something is important to know or do.
2. They have the freedom to learn in their own way.
3. Learning is experiential.
4. The time is right for them to learn.
5. The process is positive and encouraging.
Andragogy, as defined by Malcolm S. Knowles (1984), is a theory based on
the psychological definition of adult, which states that people become adults
psychologically when they arrive at a self-concept of being responsible for their own
lives, of being self-directing.

Assumption of Pedagogy and Andragogy

The Assumptions of Pedagogy
The first pedagogical assumption was the dependent personality of the
learner. This implied that the learner not only did not know but could not know his or
her own learning needs. The second
assumption on which pedagogy was
founded was that learning needed to be
subjected-centered. Hence, instructional
curricula were organized around subjects,
such as arithmetic and geography. A third
assumption emphasized extrinsic
motivation as the most important driving
force for learning. Therefore, learners
needed to be motivated with prizes and
punishment. The last foundational
assumption of pedagogy was that the prior experience of the learner was irrelevant.
This is the concept of the blank slate or tabula rasa. In this model, the teacher need
not consider the student’s prior experience as consequential. It should be noted
that pedagogy is fundamentally a teacher-centered model, where the teacher
determines what will be learned, how it will be learned, when it will be learned, and
if it has been learned.

The Assumptions of Andragogy

In 1833, a German grammar school teacher named Alexander Kapp coined
the term andragogy. In describing his theory of adult learning, Lindeman stated that
the approach to adult learning will be via the root of problem solving, not subjects.
In this process the teacher finds a new function. He is no longer the oracle who
speaks from the platform of authority, but rather the guide, the pointer-out who also
participates in learning in proportion to the vitality and relevance of his facts and
experiences.
I. The Need to Know. The first assumption is that adults need to know the utility
and value of the material that they are learning before embarking on learning. As an
example, Tough (1979) demonstrated that when adults undertake to learn
something on their own, they invest considerable energy probing into the benefits
they will gain from learning it and the negative consequences of not learning it.

II. The Learners Self-Concept. Adults have a deep psychological need to be seen
by others and treated by others as being capable of self-direction. They resent and
resist situations in which they feel that others are imposing their wills on them.
However, an educational system that does not nurture this need for autonomy and
self-direction is likely to produce adults who assume the role of dependent and
passive learners.

III. The Role of Experience. Adult learning practitioners believe that prior
experiences are the richest resources available to adult learners. Adults tend to
come into adult education activities with a greater volume and higher quality of
experience than younger children. Consequently, practitioners of adult learning
theory tend to employ experiential techniques, such as simulation exercises,
problem solving activities, case methods, laboratory methods, and group
discussions.

IV. Readiness to Learn. In adults, readiness to learn is dependent on an

appreciation of the relevancy of the topic. Adult learners tend to become ready to
learn things that they believe they need to know or be able to do in order to cope
effectively with real life situations and problems.

V. Orientation to Learning. In contrast with pedagogy, where orientation to

learning is subject-centered, adult learning theory is of the view that an adult’s
orientation to learning is problem-centered, task-centered, or life-centered. Adults
are motivated to learn to the extent they perceive that the knowledge will help
them perform tasks or solve problems that they may face in real life. Thus, adults
learn best when new knowledge, skills, and attitude are presented in the context of
real-life situations.

VI. Motivation. A sixth assumption of adult learning addresses the motivation to

learn. While adults are responsive to extrinsic motivation, they are most driven by
internal pressure, motivation, and the desire for self-esteem and goal attainment.
Tough (1967, 1971, 1979, 1982) documented in his studies that all normal adults
were motivated to keep learning, growing and developing.

The Six Assumptions underlying Andragogy and Its Implication

The six assumptions underlying andragogy, as theorized by Knowles, are 1) self-

concept, 2) experience, 3) readiness to learn depends on need, 4) problem centered
focus, 5) internal motivation, and 6) adults need to know why they need to know
something (as cited in Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007):

1) Self concept. Self concept

refers to an adult becoming more self-
directed and independent as he/she
matures. Adults typically want to
choose what they want to learn, when
they want to learn it, and how they
want to learn. This assumption means
that educators can provide more
choices for learners, such as allowing
them to design their own tests, and/or
providing a collaborative learning
environment that foster mutual
respect.

2) Experience. Adult learners have

a wealth of life experiences that they bring with them into new learning
experiences. Because of this, they are able to contribute richness to class
discussions and are considered valuable resources for learning from and with each
other. Some of the experiences, though, may cause misinformation or biases
related to the new learning and must be clarified so as not to cause a barrier to the
new learning.

3) Readiness to learn depends on need. Whether or not an adult is ready to

learn depends on what they need to know in order to deal with life situations. Life
situations that compel adults to learn include such things as learning to care for a
child who has been diagnosed with a disease, or learning to cook healthy meals to
prevent health risks.

4) Problem centered focus. Adults need to see the immediate application of

learning. Therefore, they seek learning opportunities that will enable them to solve
problems.

5) Internal motivation. Adults will seek learning opportunities due to some

external motivators, but the more potent motivators (self-esteem, better quality of
life, self-actualization, etc.) are internal.

6) Adults need to know why they need to learn something. Adults need to
know what’s in it for them – how this new knowledge will solve a problem or be
immediately applied.

Principles of andragogy
 Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.
Focus on the individual need/not one shoe fits all classroom/group based approach.
Assessment on individual level in consultation with learners. Timing and delivery of
subject-complete discretion of each student. Learner controls the process not the
institution.

Adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate

relevance and impact to their job or personal life. Work based training-what people
is currently doing so it has immediate relevance. Allows learner the ability to
structure and perform learning and assessment in a wat that fits into their
professional and personal life.

Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content- oriented. No longer

accept force fed learning they already know. Learning and assessment strategies
can be developed around what they don’t know.

Instruction must be task oriented instead of memorization. Must learn and

demonstrate competence.

Elements of andragogical process

• Setting a climate conducive to learning. This includes giving attention to the

physical environment, creating mutual
respect and supportiveness and creating a
system of mutual respect.
• Involving learners in mutual planning.
• Involving participants in diagnosing their own
needs for learning
• Involving learners in formulating their
learning objectives or goals
• Involving learners in designing learning plans
• Helping learners carry out their learning plans
• Involving learners in evaluating their learning

EXERCISE 1
Look at the picture and answer the questions below. ( rubrics in scoring will
the same in the previous module)

What is your reaction to this? _____________________________________________________

Can this be apply to human? Why?_________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

EXERCISE 2
Answer the questions that follow.

• Describe the similarities and differences between pedagogy and andragogy

using Venn Diagram.
• Describe in simple terms the similarities and differences between andragogy
and pedagogy in relation to instructional design and development?

Take note of the following important points in Module 3 Lesson 1.

-Pedagogy is teacher centered and subject centered while andragogy is
student- centered.

- Andragogy consist of learning strategies focus on teaching adult. It is often

interpreted as the process of engaging adult learners in the structure of the learning
experience.

- Andragogy was first coined by Alexander Kapp in 1833. Malcolm S. Knowles

was known as the Father of Andragogy. Persons who practice and specialize in the
field of andragogy is called andragologist.

-Knowles presented six underlying assumptions of andragogy. This

assumptions have implications in teaching- learning process of adult.

A. In this lesson,
1. I learned that … (knowledge)

2. I felt that… (value/ attitude)

3. I developed… (skill)
 Direction. Read and analyze the following multiple choice questions. Select
and circle the letter of the correct answer.
1. What does andragogy mean?
a.Teaching c. teaching of adult
b. teaching kids d. strategies
2. We can meet adult needs by providing
a. deliberate feedback c. snacks and breaks
b. variety and challenge d. time to express frustration
3. Which type of teaching is teacher- centered
a. andragogy b. pedagogy
4. Active learning refers to teaching activities based on
a. andragogy b. pedagogy
5. Which theorist is associated with the development of andragogy?
a. Socrates c. Knowles
b. Bloom d. Dewey
6. Which of the following is the most appropriate to design learning for adult
learners?
a. focus on the learning experience of the learner
b. teacher plan activities for learners alone
c. evaluation of learning should be done only by the teacher
d. learning environment must develop pessimistic learner
7. Which of the following does not describe andragogical model of instruction?
a. Unexamined learning
b. Self- directed
c. Independent way of learning amongst learner
d. Learner work as a team to understand the subject at hand
8. Who first used or coined the term andragogy?
a.Alexander Kaap b. Malcolm Knowles c. Sigmund Freud d. Lev
Vygotsky

9. When we talk about how children learn in traditional classroom setting we are
referring to the concept of
a. andragogy b. pedagogy c. demagogy d.
mystagogy
10. Which of the following is not an assumption on adragogy?
a. Adults are self- driven and independent.
b. Adult increasing experience become a deepening resource for their
learning.
c. Adult readiness to learn becomes oriented toward various social role.
d. Adults motivation to learn is typically external.

GOING FURTHER

To be effective in teaching my clients, I have to understand that………………