Application: Interview and Analysis

Introduction

Learning is a lifelong process and it creates various expectations for an individual regardless of the environment where learning occurs. This process creates many experiences both positive and negative which an individual can apply to novel situations in the future. It is not only restricted to classroom settings but occur in informal ways as well. Experiences outside the classroom may therefore seem more ‘authentic’ and grounded in ‘reality’ as is stated by (Waite & Pratt, 2011). In formal environments such as Primary and Secondary Schools, great emphasis is placed on curriculum objectives.

Adult institutions are more dynamic in nature and focuses not only on knowledge but also from experiences gained by the learner. Knowledge coupled with experience creates a meaningful journey for the adult learner and this allows the individual to have control over their learning outcomes. Stephen Brookfield acknowledges the fact that learners exhibit similar characteristics with regard to their learning. Some of these characteristics are: that “adults display a distinctive motivation towards their learning; that they prize the incorporation of their experiences, and the critical analysis of these, into the curriculum; that they possess a methodological preference for self-directed modes of learning; that they exhibit distinctively adult modes of cognition and that they experience certain predictable emotional reactions when returning to learning”, Brookfield (2003). With this integration of the learner’s experiences into the curriculum, adult instructors have to adopt new measures to adjust their strategies of delivery to actively engage the adult learner.

This assignment seeks to report the findi...

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... learner as is advocated by Brookfield (2003).

References

Brookfield, S. D. (2003). Adult education learning model. In A. DiStefano, K. E. Rudestam, & R. Silverman (Eds.), Encyclopedia of distributed learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from http://sage-ereference.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/view/distributedlearning/n9.xml

Erickson, D.M. (2007). A developmental re-forming of the phases of meaning in transformational learning. Adult Education Quarterly, 58(1), 61-80.

Knowles, M.S. 1980. The modern practice of adult education: From pedagogy to andragogy (2nd Ed.). Chicago: Association/Follett.

Merriam, S.B. (2004). The role of cognitive development in Mezirow’s transformational learning theory. Adult Education Quartley,55(1),60-68.

Waite,S.& Pratt,N. (2011). Children learning outside the classroom: From birth to eleven. University of Plymouth.