Adult Learning Principles - The Art of Story Telling

Training & Assessment Professional Development

As educators we want our student to get the most from the our sessions and when we understand the Adult Learning Principles we can be more conscious about planning our session to include this and encourage others to share. It doesn't matter whether you are delivering face to face or via ZOOM you can ensure their is a high level of interaction and story telling into your session.
In this Podcast I give some personal examples and how this has been beneficial and also explain Malcolm Knowles theory on the 6 Principles. See below for his example from the internet.
Malcolm Knowles defined the term andragogy in the 1970s as ‘the art and science of helping adults learn.’

Knowles identified the six principles of adult learning:

1. Adults are internally motivated and self-directed

Adult learners make choices relevant to their learning objectives. They also direct their learning goals with the guidance of their mentors. Students need to be given the freedom to assume responsibility for their own choices.

2. Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences

Educators encourage learners to connect past experiences with current knowledge and activities. Educators must know how to relate the sum of the learners experience to the current learning experiences.

3. Adults are goal oriented

Adult learners aim to acquire relevant and adequate knowledge and for this reason intended learning outcomes should be clearly identified. Once the learning goals have been identified, educators must align the learning activities such that these objectives are fulfilled within a certain period of time.

4. Adults are relevancy oriented

Adult learners benefit by relating the assigned tasks to their own learning goals. If it is clear that the activities they are engaged into, directly contribute to achieving their personal learning objectives, then they will be inspired and motivated to engage in projects and successfully complete them.

5. Adults are practical

It is very important for educators to identify appropriate ways and convert theoretical learning to practical activities. Work placement is a way for students to apply the theoretical concepts learned inside the classroom into real-life situations. Learning is assisted when appropriate ways of implementing theoretical knowledge in real life situations is made clear.

6. Adult learners like to be respected

Adult learners thrive in collaborative relationships with their educators. Learners become more productive when they’re considered by their instructors as colleagues. When their contributions are acknowledged, then they are willing to put out their best work.

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