The Andragogy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Andragogy - Research Paper Example One of the central principles which surround the teaching of adult learners is that of individual experience. â€Å"As a person matures he accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning† (Smith, 2011). Unlike children, adults have inevitably built up a wealth of personal experience which can be utilized in a way which can help to learn, such as relating new information to previous experience, recalling the previous experience, and/or using familiar examples to apply to learn to unfamiliar concepts. Though it has been disputed that a child’s experiences are of no less learning value than an adult, it cannot be argued that the adult has more experience to relate to. Whether or not this is enough to justify the concentration on experience regarding adult learners as opposed to child learners, remains in dispute (Glowaki-Dudka, 2011). Teaching strategies which build upon experiential learning will be an extension of everyday l ife (Knowles, Holton & Swanson, 2005). Adult learners partake in a process which sees them reflect, draw an inference from and conceptualizes, based upon previous individual experience. As this wealth of experience is seen as the richest resource of information for the learner, it must be pointed out that individual experience is fundamentally biased and of an entirely subjective nature. This implies that new information may be interpreted in different ways, which can be advantageous as it allows for new ideas and opinions but can also have its disadvantages regarding personal bias. A second principle which Knowles determined to be of special significance to andragogy is that of the self-concept. Within the paradigm of learning, self-concept relates to the movement of an individual’s perception of themselves as a self-directed person rather than being dependent upon others.