Principles and Practice of Experiential Learning for Adults
By Beverley
Walters, MA
“The
review and analysis of literature sets the stage for a later process”
(Stringer, 2007, p. 176).
One of the major strengths of adult education is the
diversity that often characterizes it. The field can serve a vast array of
adults through an equally broad variety of program delivery methods.
Underpinning these methods are a number of key characteristics that are unique
to adult learners and a number of principles and practices that are key to an
experiential learning model. The consideration of these two topics established
the conceptual framework for this literature review.
An exploration into some historic definitions of
terms used in adult learning was beneficial to determine their relative
association with one another. The terms: adult, adult education, adult learner,
and andragogy were reviewed in the context of their definitions and underlying
assumptions.
Knowles, Holton and Swanson (1998) considered four
definitions of the term “adult” that were embedded in Knowles’ theory of
andragogy. They reviewed the biological, legal, social and psychological
definitions of the term: “With regard to learning, it is the psychological
definition of adult that is most crucial. We become an adult psychologically
when we arrive at a self-concept of being responsible for our own lives, of
being self-directing” (Knowles et al., p. 64).
Knowles et al. (1998) built upon the work of Boone
(1985) who earlier produced a glossary of terms that defined both adult
education and the adult learner. Embedded in Boone’s definition of adult
education is the term ‘adult status’ which is consistent with Knowles’
psychological adult. Boone stated: “adult education is a process whereby
persons whose major social roles are characteristic of adult status undertake
systematic and sustained learning activities for the purpose of bringing about
changes in knowledge, attitudes, values, or skills” (p. 14).
To build upon this concept of adult education,
Boone also offered a definition of the adult learner: “a participant in any
adult learning opportunity, whether special or regular, to develop new skills
or qualifications, or to improve existing skills and qualifications, or to
acquire information” (Boone, 1985, p. 14).
“The education of adults has been a concern of the
human race for such a long time. Yet, for many years, the adult learner was
indeed a neglected species.” (Knowles et al., 1998, p. 35).
Lindeman “laid the foundation for a systematic theory about adult learning” (p.
37). Lindeman’s key assumptions about
adult learners were summarized by Knowles and company:
(1) adults are motivated to learn as they experience needs and
interests that learning will satisfy; (2) adults’ orientation to
learning is life-centered; (3) experience is the richest source for adults’
learning; (4) adults have a deep need to be self-directing; (5) individual
differences among people increase with age (Knowles et al, 1998, p. 40).
Knowles et al. (1998) reported that, for a time,
the Dutch educator Ger van Enckevort believed he invented the term andragogy
until it was later discovered that the term Angrgogik
was first “coined by a German grammar school teacher in 1833” (p. 38).
Currently, andragogy is defined as “the academic discipline that reflects and
researches the science of the lifelong and life-wide education and learning of
adults” (Reischmann, 2004, p. 2). Andragogy is the science that studies
education and learning in adults. This definition was important in
understanding the research of Malcolm Knowles who built upon the work of
Lindeman and others when he formulated his own assumptions about andragogy.
The andragogical model was meant to inform
curriculum designers who sought to increase their efficacy in the development
of adult learning/adult education programs. It was interesting to note that the
number of assumptions about andragogy has grown significantly and been
re-defined since Lindeman’s model. Knowles’ andragogical model is based on six
assumptions:
1. The need
to know. Adults need to know why they need to learn something before
undertaking to learn it.
2. The learner’s
self-concept. Adults have a self-concept of being responsible for their own
decisions, for their own lives.
3. The role
of the learners’ experiences. Adults come into an educational activity with
both a greater volume and a different quality of experience from youths.
4. Readiness
to learn. Adults become ready to learn those things they need to know and be
able to do in order to cope effectively with their real-life situations.
5. Orientation
to learning. Adults learn new knowledge, understandings, skills, values, and
attitudes most effectively when they are presented in the context of
application to real-life situations.
6. Motivation.
While adults are responsive to some external motivators (better jobs,
promotions, higher salaries, and the like), the most potent motivators are
internal pressures (the desire for increased job satisfaction, self-esteem,
quality of life, and the like. (Knowles et al., 1998, pp. 64-68)
In
summary, the historical definitions of adult, adult learner, adult education
and andragogy, with their underlying assumptions gave meaning to my own
definition of adult learning that I describe as:
The self directedness of adults to
build upon their vast life experience by engaging in activities that would
enhance their knowledge, skills and values in a relevant and practiced way for
the purpose of applying new behaviours to situations that arise in various life
areas and over the period of their life span. (Walters, 2009)
In
keeping with this concept, I offer that adult educators must be responsive to
the definitions of the ‘adult as a learner’ when designing educational
experiences for them. This position is supported by Merriam and Brockett
(1997), “We define adult education as activities
intentionally designed for the purpose of bringing about learning among those
whose age, social roles, or self-perception define them as adults" (p. 7).
Some
key principles and practices have grown out of the critical linkage between
experience and knowledge. Kolb (1984) defined learning as “the process whereby
knowledge is created through transformation of experience” (p. 38). In Kolb’s
view, the process of experiential learning can be described as a four-stage
cycle involving four adaptive learning modes. Vella (2000) drew heavily on the
work of Kolb as she developed the theoretical underpinnings for the creation of
workshops for adult learners.
The heart of Kolb’s experiential
learning model is a cycle of learning that proposes four learning modes:
concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and
active experimentation. A key idea in Kolb’s model is that experiential
learning occurs most effectively when all four modes in this cycle of learning
are completed. (p. 9)
According
to Vella (2000), developers of experiential workshops needed to consider the
design of learning tasks. “A learning task is an open
question put to learners who have all the resources they need to respond” (p.
8). In 1994, Vella and Menendez decided that any effective design for
experiential workshops had to have four components:
1.
a
learning task that connects learners with what they already know and with their
unique context
2.
a
learning task that invites them to examine new input (concepts, skills, or
attitudes)-the content of the course
3.
a
learning task that gets learners to do something directly with that new
content, somehow implementing it
4.
a learning task that integrates this
new learning into their lives. Menendez and I called this model the four I’s: Inductive work, Input, Implementation, Integration. (Vella, 2000, p. 33)
As
stated earlier, the program model that was the subject of my research project
was the Life Skills and Career Development Coach Diploma program. Year-one is the
Life Skills concentration with a focus on the development of expertise for
managing group process and the demonstration of advanced facilitation and
coaching skill. Year-two is the Career Development concentration which is
heavily influenced by the experiential methodologies applied to the first year
of study with the addition of a great many theoretical constructs specific to
the field of Career Development.
As
the LSCD program was built upon the theoretical underpinnings of experiential
learning in adult education, I thought it appropriate to explore the history of
Life Skills coaching in terms of its experiential nature.
The
initial theoretical formulation for Life Skills training was developed by
Adkins and Rosenberg when they were engaged by the YMCA in Bedford-Stuyvesant,
New York, from 1965 to 1968. “It was during this period that the term Life
Skills was coined to describe the kind of behaviour-based psychological
learning needed to help people cope with predictable developmental tasks”
(Walters, 1991, p. 15). In November 1968, the two psychologists were invited to
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan to profile their Life Skills program.
In
mid-1969, Life Skills, Saskatchewan NewStart, became a division of the
Training, Research and Development Station of the Department of Manpower and
Immigration, Canada. At this point Ralph Himsl and Mary Jean Marin, under the
leadership of Stuart Conger, introduced the notion of problem-solving as an
important component in the design of Life Skills lessons and the course itself.
They helped shift the focus from almost a purely human relations program to one
in which there was a balance of human relations, behavioural skills and
knowledge which became known as a problem-solving model. (Sluser, Allen, Mehal
& Palmateer, 1995, p. 7)
A change was made to the term Life Skills
educator, and facilitators of Life Skills groups became known as Life Skills
coaches. The term ‘coach’ was thought to more adequately reflect the practice
of guiding individuals in the development of skills. An additional change was
made to the four phase lesson plan that Adkins and Rosenberg designed in that a
fifth stage was added to the lesson process that linked in-class
experimentation of various skills to an application phase conducted outside the
learning environment, in a work or personal interest field.
By 1974, Life Skills, Saskatchewan
NewStart, was defined by its five stage lesson process which included: (1) a
stimulus, where the Coach presents a problem or topic that will be the basis of
the lesson; (2) an evocation, which is the exploration of learner experiences,
feelings and opinions related to the topic; (3) objective inquiry, is the new
knowledge or lesson content the Coach brings forward; (4) skill drill, is the
experimental component that affords learners the opportunity to practice new
skills related to the content of the objective inquiry; (5) evaluation, is the
last phase of the lesson in which learners actively and constructively engage
in how they will apply what they have learned (knowledge) to situations arising
from involvement in their major life areas outside the classroom (experience).
(Walters, 1991, p. 2)
The
core essence of experiential learning began to emerge from the various
principles and practices applied in the field of adult learning and
specifically, the design of experiential education. Brooks-Harris and
Stock-Ward (1999) produced a sequence of activities for experiential workshops
that included: “Introduction and Overview; Reflecting
on Experience; Assimilating and Conceptualizing; Experimenting and Practicing;
Planning for Application; and Conclusion” (p.3). These learning activities
built upon six definitional characteristics of experiential workshops,
identified as: “(1) short-term, intensive learning; (2) small group
interaction; (3) active involvement; (4) development of competence, (5) problem
solving; (6) behaviour change as an outcome” (p. 3). A review
of experiential learning since 1968 revealed a continuous thread of consistent
information contained in the definitions, assumptions, practices and principles
within the framework of adult education.
In a previous section of this literature review, I
identified my own concept of adult learning as: the self directedness of adults
to build upon their vast life experience by engaging in activities that would
enhance their knowledge, skills and values in a relevant and practiced way for
the purpose of applying new behaviours to situations that arise in various life
areas and over the period of their life span.
I integrated this definition of adult learning
with the commentary of authors who addressed the design of experiential
learning activities and was able to discern the core essence of experiential
learning for adults.
The core essence of experiential
learning for adults is an intentional design that reflects the definition of
adult status and incorporates past experience, new knowledge and relevant
practice, followed by integration into one or more of the adult’s major life
areas. (Walters, 2009)
References
Boone, J. E. (1985). Developing programs in adult education.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Brooks-Harris, J. E.,
& Stock-Ward, S. R. (1999). Workshops: Designing and facilitating experiential learning. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
Knowles, M. S., Holton,
E. F., & Swanson, R.A. (1998). A theory of adult
learning: Andragogy. In The adult
learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource
development (5th ed., pp. 35-72). Woburn: Butterworth Heinemann.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and
development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Merriam, S. B., & Brockett, R. G. (1997). The profession and practice of adult
education: An introduction. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Reischmann, J. (2004). Andragogy: History, meaning, context, function. Retrieved February
16, 2009, from http://www.andragogy.net. Version Sept. 9, 2004.
Sluser, R., Allen, S., Mehal, M., & Palmateer,
S. (1995). The new dynamics of life
skills coaching. Toronto: YWCA.
Stringer, E. T. (2007). Action research (3rd ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Vella, J. (2000). Taking learning to task. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Walters, B. (1991). A guidebook for trainers of life skills coaches. (Available from
Box 1006, Bragg Creek, Alberta, Canada T0L 0K0)