Higher Education Instruction style should be like a FOREST VEGETATION...

1. Like the seeds that spread through various media - air, water and physical propagation; the ideas / learning tips should follow through any form of input brain storming, Debates, Focus Group, reading materials, video clips, downloads from various sources etc.,...

2. As in forests, the growth stage is on unexpected grounds and climate; Braving through various skills of presentation, deliberations, articulations, negotiations etc., selling and buying thoughts and building upon information and processing.

3. The forest resources are wild and bountiful; the information and learning that is garnered should be tested for implementation

4. The vegetative from Goods are ready to consumption; the grooming during the course work should fettle them to quick and sought after for quick placements and opportunities of industrial use............. the above mentioned types suit me in MBA Course works...

I like the way that you have used the forest vegetation as a metaphor for the richness and availability of opportunities to teach and learn, Krishnan! You are something of a poet, I can see!

Indeed, in the forest metaphor that you used, your role seems to be that of a guide and a facilitator. From a philosophical stance, you seem to be saying that you value knowledge that is gained from experience rather than from formal authority (such as teacher-centric in which lectures might predominate, for example). This has roots in early pragmatics such as Dewey and Lindeman who, in turn, influenced Knowles and was reflected in Knowles' theory on andragogy. Of all the techniques that you have used in your classrooms, which would you say have been the most effective in preparing learners for change and complexity in the real business world?

Hi Ruth,

There certainly are differences between pedagogy and andragogy. The target audience is one big point to factor in when you think of what teaching strategies could be adopted. Mainly, it is good to keep in mind that in an adult-learning atmosphere, it is recommended that:

1)The learning outcomes strongly correspond with the learning objectives (adults need to see relevance and usefulness, in order to find their learning to be meaningful)

2) A genuine learning environment be created. Although adult learning is meant to be more specific and measurable, sometimes we may need to explore areas that may not be of immediate value but have long-term or subsidiary benefits. Often our know-it-all adult mind tends to get judgmental about what we need and what we think we don't. So, it is important to democratically set up a learning climate before the learning actually starts.

3) Instruction be flexible and accommodative, to suit people coming in from different professional backgrounds

4) Learning provides substantial opportunities for application, critical thinking, self-regulated learning, problem-solving, self- and peer-evaluation as well as metacognition.

And of course--

5) A teacher whose primarily role is that of a facilitator, with a TLLM approach (Teach Less, Learn More).

I have been teaching and practicing in industries... i teach by sharing my day-to-day experiences with the students...who are MBA's or executives with around 5 years of experience and learn Management or to my company staff through development initiatives and ramp-up meetings...

what i have felt is as people grow by age and experience behave more" towards child", their receptivity is enhanced when as teacher we make them envision more, in-basket exercises and presentation; simulate an environment of FELT LEARNING...

The situation is different with raw students... who are more on to Role plays, questionnaires, models, debates and self-evaluation....

...A cooked dish has to be relished and consumed.... Life is continuous learning for both teacher and taught....

Consider the move from andragogy to heutagogy...

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1076

Hi, Barbara -

Thank you for the link to this very informative site!

I recently took part in a survey about a new form of "learning delivery'" that is being investigated as an additional choice for adults who have gained deep experiential learning in their fields. The idea seems to be to allow such adults to take tests that would assess and confirm their experiential learning (instead of having them do courses related to their field) as a way to accelerate their degree path. This competency based learning would also demand that the learner be highly autonomous and an instructor/facilitator would be less present in the virtual classroom. Capella has recently introduced such an option.

However, even though I consider myself an independent learner, and even though I have deep industry experience in my field, this option made me a little nervous because I don't know what I don't know - and that is why I went back to school after owning and operating two businesses that spanned over 15 years. In theory, I like the idea, but in practical application I am not so sure...How do you think the missing pieces (i.e. the gaps in knowledge) might be filled in with this method? What am I missing? Have you applied heutagogical principles in your own profession?

Thank you for a very informative response, Monica!

How do you think these principles might be communicated to learners through a document such as the "Faculty Expectations" that learners are required to read at the start of every semester? Having read quite a number of them, I have been surprised that this "window" to the instructor's teaching philosophy can be so vastly different from one to another. Some reflected that accommodative element that you mentioned, others were rigid and almost punitive in nature... Any thoughts?

Hello, Krishnan ~

I like your sentiment that learning is continuous for both the teacher and the learner - it reminds me of one of my favorite verses in the poem "Ulysses" by Alfred Lord Tennyson:

"I am a part of all that I have met;

Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough

Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades

For ever and for ever when I move.

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,

To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!"

Can you share with me how you simulate an environment of "felt learning"? Thank you so very much!

Dear Ruth,

The competency-based model may feel new, though it is not necessarily new. Western Governors University has been using the model for awhile, with Capella's Flex option a much more recent addition.

Addressing any feared gaps in knowledge is done by evaluating the basis for the competencies. If the standards of a well-respected industry source (e.g., national or international professional association) are the basis of the competencies, then there is low risk of missing significant pieces of knowledge. Plus, such risks exist in classroom-based instruction, too.

With thanks for the conversation,

Barb

Aaah... you just filled in a gap in my knowledge, Barbara - thank you!

Nice turn of phrase, Ruth!

Hi Ruth,

A good suggestion indeed. Such a document (Faculty Expectations) does well to reduce confusion and lapses in understanding of expectations. What could work even better though, would be to develop an official understanding (in writing) based on a democratic process of student and instructor inputs, where everyone has to decide on commonly agreed upon expectations from the program, from the instructor and from each other. The NGT (Nominal Group Technique) where members first think and decide individually, then amongst a group, and then with the whole class is an effective measure of independent and collective decision-making. Everyone, especially older learners, will do well, if they feel invested in and accountable for their learning.

Best,

Monica

I have been working in andragogy style for behaviours. But now that am working as lecturer for technical graduates, I am really not able to understand which will suit. There has to be balance of both andragogy and pegagogy? would love to learn and understand

Regards

Geetha

Additional terms have been introduced, as well: heutagogy and geragogy. #RiseOfTheOgy

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1076

http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1989-23990-001

Hi, Geeta -

The principles that guide andragogical theories are as follows:

1) adult learners are self-directed;

2) they are repositories of experiential learning and accumulated knowledge;

3) They are goal oriented;

4) They are relevancy oriented;

5) They are practical, and

6) They need to be respected. (in Merriam et al, 2007; Woodard, 2007; Russell, 2006, p. 350).

Merriam et al. (2007) posit that andragogy tells us more about the characteristics of adult learners than about the nature of learning itself (p. 79). Self-direction has to do with one’s own responsibility for learning. Whereas children must be directed, adults take the initiative to seek out learning. They bring to the classroom the sum of their experiential learning and can contribute to the learning classroom community in way that children cannot. For example, they often relate the new knowledge with their experiential learning and will often refer to real-life experiences to illustrate concepts that they are exposed to in the classroom. This is often an eye-opening experience for the adult learner as she may not have understood or tied her experiential learning to the formal (text-book) learning before. This helps to validate the adult learner’s experiential learning.

When adults make these connections and share with each other, they feel respected. While children must attend school by state law, adults are practical and choose to enhance their learning, based on the goals that they have set themselves, so they are more practical and more focused on the relevancy of the materials and what they are learning. This is the theory; however, in practical application it has been my experience that most professors treat adults like children.

For example, most professors make inflexible schedules that do not consider the complexity of the lives of adults. In many cases they lean more on lecturing (a teacher-centric style) than allowing the adult learner to seek out knowledge through appropriate activities. Granted, there are many subjects where lecturing is appropriate, and indeed, essential. I think that in many ways online learning is more appropriate to the adult learner as it appropriately makes the adult learner more responsible for her learning, and leans less on lectures.

The challenge for educators, I believe, is that space that you mentioned, Geeta, where a balance is needed. When young adults transition from high-school to college they do not automatically become adult learners – although, chronologically they are. Additionally, many adult learners return to higher learning many years after high school and may not have made that mental transition from a pedagogical model to an adult learning model, and may need more “telling” and structure than is supposed for the theoretical adult learner.

I think that what might missing in the educator-learner interaction is a some type of communication that clearly explains to the adult learner these andragogical principles so that they can mentally re-orient themselves from their pedagogical, teacher-centric experiences to a different type of learning that is accompanied by different expectations. For example, a friend of mine is a lecturer at one of the city colleges in New York. She kept complaining about how the students were like children because they complained about everything – especially group work. They hated group work! I prepared a handout for her on the relevance of group work to their lives, and the importance of building learning communities.

In it, I explained the stages that groups go through before they get to being productive (e.g. forming, storming, norming, performing), and how to move from forming to performing quickly, and how that increases productivity. Then I linked everything to the workplace, and the value that they can bring to their organizations and to themselves through group work, working across departments, etc. She had taken it for granted that, because they are adults, they would know this. Well, they had a discussion based on the handout, and thereafter they embraced group work! They saw themselves as responsible for building learning communities and were eager to take what they had learned back to their workplaces. Some of them even took the handouts back to their workplaces and the new knowledge helped their teams to work together with better insight and appreciation for the other’s contributions. This is an example of all of the above principles at work. When adults see a practical and relevant purpose for what they are doing, they feel respected and embrace the responsibility for their learning.

Barbara mentioned heutagogy – I am not familiar with this, but will check it out. Thank you, Barbara. You mentioned this before but I have been immersed in my PhD program (I am now at the very end of it!) and have not had time to breathe!

Geeta, do you have a Kindle? If you have kindle unlimited you can access this e-book for free:

http://www.amazon.com/Adult-Development-Andragogy-Theories-Transformational-ebook/dp/B00P0DRL1S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1415901688&sr=1-1&keywords=RM+Tappin

Ruth

Dear Ruth

I have shared a couple of  our articles on your topic .

please read them, available on researchgate

good luck with your research

a