Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
theories of development in middle adulthood.
theories of development in middle adulthood.
developmental psychology : young adulthood
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: theories of development in middle adulthood.
Psychology and adult learning are inherently linked given their focus upon the internal processes of the mind. The field of psychology has increasingly been applied to inform the adult education practice. Psychology is oftentimes incorporated into the foundation of the training that is received by adult educators in training. The field of psychology provides answers to questions that are common within adult education. These questions include “What motivates students to attend classes? Through what processes to adults learn best? How can I adjust my teaching practices to take into account the learning styles of my students?” (Tennant, 2006). The capacity of adult educators to effectively understand the learning processes and needs of their students is aided significantly through the application of psychology and developmental psychology.
Developmental psychology is important to the adult education practitioner as adults are still experiencing development, albeit in a differing fashion than children or young adults. Education in development psychology enables the educator to better understand the anxieties and concerns of the students. Further, ways through which such difficulties may be overcome are likewise informed through the application of psychology. The primary functions of the adult educator that are supported through the foundation of psychology are controlling the events of the learning environment, interpreting and influencing events, and finally to gain a critical understanding of events, in addition to one’s actions related to them (Tennant, 2006). It is through the foundation of psychology that the educator is able to understand the student, and thereby effectively tailor their practices to the student, as w...
... middle of paper ...
...on is achieved is different as the context of life and learning are different between adults and other learners.
Applying New Learning to Practice
The position of the adult is unique, and each individual adult likewise has a unique position. To optimize the learning environment for the adult, it is thereby the prerogative of the adult educator to effectively quantify the position of their students. While common processes may be utilized to provide the foundation for the course, through the investment of additional individualized attention, those unique psychological barriers in place for a given student may be effectively identified and ultimately overcome. Adults, while having largely completed their physical development, may nonetheless continue to grow cognitively, underlining the central role of developmental psychology in the field of adult education.
The more we study the brain, and how we learn and form memories, the more it becomes feasible to continue to improve our lives, decrease our likelihood of depression, and even treat old age diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. Educational research into the immediate soft outcomes of learning suggest that learning can develop a number of psychosocial qualities including; self-confidence, self-efficacy, self-understanding, competences, communication skills, civic engagement, and a sense of belonging to a social group. (Hammond, 2004) The simple fact that older people are better educated about health concerns and how their brain functions, leads to them knowing how to better take care of themselves and play an active role in their aging. Because adults tend to engage in learning voluntarily they are also more likely to enjoy the experience and not have the negative emotions and anxiety that may have been tied to education at a younger age. Adult education gives those individuals a feeling of control and self-worth that they may feel they have lost as they age, simply because they no longer have full-time jobs or the daily responsibilities that they had as young adults. Jacob Nielsen Arendt did a study that provided, that each year of education roughly improves the probability of good or
Adults are self-motivated. They learn best by building on what they already know and when they are actively engaged (Lindeman, 2010). The approach of adult education revolves around non-vocational ideals and is based on experience rather than subjects (Lindeman, 2010). It helps adults gain knowledge about their powers, capacities, and limitations (Funnell et al, 2012).
Essex, Belinda and Sean O’Toole. “The Adult Learner May Really Be a Neglected Species.” Australian Journal of Adult Learning (2012) Print.
Adult learner retention continues to hold the attention of adult educators in every type of program. Although the reasons students leave and the strategies for keeping them may differ from adult basic education (ABE) to higher education, the goal of retention is the same: to keep learners in programs until they achieve their goals (Tracy-Mumford et al. 1994). In any program, adults are largely voluntary participants, but the student role is just one of many roles and responsibilities competing for their time and attention. In fact, personal reasons such as family problems, lack of child care, and job demands are often cited as the cause of withdrawal. At the same time, adults usually have pragmatic, focused reasons for participating and will leave whenever they feel their goals have been met or if they feel the program will not satisfy their goals. Personal/job factors may seem to be beyond institutional control, whereas program satisfaction is something educators can improve. This Digest provides an updated look at research on retention in adult education and suggests effective practices for different settings.
Adult learning has been studied by numerous philosophers and psychologists for years. Up until the 1970’s most of the theories of adult learning derived from psychology. One of the most important people to study Adult Education is, “James Robbins Kidd”. James Robbins Kidd published over 20 books and at least one thousand articles, reports, and papers. But of all his books, the one that was particularly important is, “How Adults Learn” which was published in 1959. It was later revised in 1973 and became a standard in the field.
Mirriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A
Merriam, S.B., Caffarella, R.S. &Baumgartner (2007) Learning in Adulthood: A comprehensive guide, san Francisco, CA:Jossey-Bass
Brockett, R., & Hiemstra, R. (1991). Self-direction in adult learning. London and New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://www-distance.syr.edu/sdlindex.html
The learning process for adults is never ending and can be very challenging. As an adult educator, teaching adult learners you will face many challenges in the learning process. It is our responsibility to keep the learners engaged, and to help them to realize their full learning potential.
A defining condition of being human is that we have to understand the meaning of our experience. For some, any uncritically assimilated explanation by an authority figure will suffice. But in contemporary societies we must learn to make our own interpretations rather than act on the purposes, beliefs, judgments, and feelings of others. Facilitating such understandings is the cardinal goal of adult education. Transformative learning develops autonomous thinking. (Mezirow 1997, p. 5)
Analysis: having been through the adult learning experience I have realised the roll of learner and teacher in this approach. An effective teacher can facilitate the development of independence, self confidence, learning satisfaction and help students (the learner) to critical think. This experience has taught me that there are different styles of learning and teaching that I can adopt in my future.
As we know, human being keep learning though all their lives, Sometimes I am thinking how we adult learning. In this book, I found them--some related concepts about adult learning and ways to Self-Direct Learning(SDL). Before reading this book. I already knew what is the adult learner is. In China, students who are over 18 years old are the adult in General Principles Of the Civil Law. In some perspectives, University education can be called adult education. It is new for me to learn this knowledge, so I chose the first eight chapters of the textbook.
Readiness to learn- Do they need a lot of direction in order to figure out where to go? How much support do they need in order to learn? Can they do it even if no one is there to cheer them on? Adult learners need their learning to be timely and relevant.
One of the more popular areas of psychology is Educational Psychology. Educational Psychology can be explained several ways. The idea is to study theories and concepts from different parts of psychology and apply them in educational settings. These educational settings may occur in different school settings such as preschool. The goal of educational psychology is to create a positive student-teacher relationship. Educational psychology uses five different types of psychology, behavioral, cognitive, developmental, and social cognitive, and constructivist in this research paper I will be briefly discussing each type of psychology listed above.
Adult learning does not occur in a vacuum. What one needs or wants to learn, what opportunities are available, the manner in which one learns-all are to a large extent determined by the society in which one lives. Whenever adults are asked about their learning, they most often mention education and training programs sponsored by the workplace, colleges and universities, public schools, and other formal organizations. They first picture classrooms with “students” learning and “teachers” teaching in a highly structured format. Yet when we ask these same adults about what they have learned informally over the last year, they typically respond with descriptions of learning activities outside these formal settings. They discuss, for example, remodeling a house, which has involved everything form reading and talking...