Page 98 - DMGT518_TRAINING_AND_DEVELOPMENT_SYSTEM

Unit 6: Learning Theories

Evolution of this concept brought to the forefront a new technology for the education of adults. Notes
Andragogy is premised on at least four crucial assumptions about the characteristics of adult
learners that are different from the assumptions about child learners on which traditional
pedagogy is premised. These assumptions are that, as a person matures:
1. His self concept moves from one of being a dependent personality towards one of being
a self directing human being.
2. He accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an ever increasing resource
for learning.

3. His readiness to learn becomes increasingly oriented to the developmental tasks of his
social role.
4. His time perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to
immediacy of application and accordingly his orientation toward learning shifts from
one of subject centreness to one of the problem-centreness.

Techniques of Adult Learning

From each of these assumptions, several techniques of adult learning flow which have been taken
care of in the training system. They are as follows:
1. The learning climate: Learning in an adult is facilitated by comfortable physical
environment and psychological climate causing the adult to feel accepted, respected and
supported, to feel a mutual trust, respect and helpfulness between trainer and trainee and
also feel freedom of expression and acceptance of differences.
2. Diagnosis of needs: Learners are involved in a process of self-diagnosis of needs for learning.
The trainer involves the trainee in a mutual process of formulating learning objectives in
which the needs of the trainee, of the trainer, of the subject matter and of the organisation
and society are taken into account.
3. The planning process: The trainer and the trainee share the responsibility of planning and
conducting a learning experience, and therefore, learners have a feeling of commitment
towards it. Trainer here is considered as a facilitator or a resource person who helps the
learner to learn as a catalyst agent. As a result, the learner participates actively in the
learning process.
4. Experiential techniques: Learning is related to and makes use of the experience of the
learners. Learners are involved in the learning process and new concepts and broad
generalisations are illustrated by life experiences drawn from the learners.
5. Unfreezing and learning to learn from experience: Techniques and efforts are adopted in
which the adults are helped to be able to look at themselves more objectively and free
their minds from misconceptions enabling them to learn how to take responsibility for
their own learning through self directed enquiry, how to learn collaborative with the help
of colleagues and specially how to learn by analysing one’s own experience.

6. The timings of learning: There is the teachable moment in adult training. Therefore, the
sequence of the curriculum must be timed so as to be in step with his development tasks.
This is the appropriate organising principle for an adult-education and training programme.
7. The organisation of the curriculum: Unlike youth education which follows the subject
matter concept of curricular organisation, adult learning is problem-centered. Because
adult learners tend to be problem-centered in their orientation to learning, the appropriate
organising principle for the sequences of adult learning is, problem areas, not subjects.

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