Adults and Children as Learners Essay -- Education Psychology Essays

Adults and Children as LearnersTeaching adults should be antithetical if adults learn differently than children do. Theories or perspectives on adult eruditeness, such as andragogy, make a number of assertions about the characteristics of adults as scholars adults need learning to be meaningful they are autono(prenominal)ous, independent, and self-directed prior experiences are a rich learning resource their readiness to learn is associated with a change point or a need to perform a chore their orientation is centered on problems, not content they are in and of itself prompt their participation in learning is voluntary (Draper 1998 Sipe 2001 Tice 1997 Titmus 1999). For some, the major disparity between adults and younger learners is the wealth of their experience (Taylor, Marienau, and Fiddler 2000, p. 7). For others, the capacity for circumstantial thinking or transformative learning is what distinguishes adults (Vaske 2001). In contrast, pedagogy assumes that the child lea rner is a dependent personality, has limited experience, is ready to learn based on age level, is oriented to learning a particular subject matter, and is motivated by external rewards and punishment (Guffey and Rampp 1997 Sipe 2001). If there are indeed distinctive characteristics of adults, on which claims for the uniqueness and coherence of adult education are based, therefore one might expect them to be taken into account in all organized education for adults (Titmus 1999, p. 347). However, each of these characteristics is contested. Courtney et al. (1999) assert that characteristics of adult learners refers to a small number of identified factors with little empirical evidence to patronise them. Andragogy has been criticized for characterizing adults as w... ...ctions for Adult and Continuing Education no. 91, edited by C. A. Hansman and P. A. Sissel, pp. 17-27. San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass, Fall 2001.Smith, M. C., and Pourchot, T., eds. Adult Learning and Development. Per spectives from Educational Psychology. Mahwah, NJ Erlbaum, 1998. Taylor, K. Marienau, C. and Fiddler, M. developing Adult Learners. San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass, 2000. Tice, E. T. Educating Adults A Matter of Balance. Adult Learning 9, no. 1 (Fall 1997) 18-21.Titmus, C. Concepts and Practices of Education and Adult Education Obstacles to long Education and Lifelong Learning? International Journal of Lifelong Education 18, no. 5 (September-October 1999) 343-354. Vaske, J. M. Critical Thinking in Adult Education An Elusive bespeak for a Definition of the Field. Ed.D. dissertation, Drake University, 2001. (ED 456 251)