Pedagogy vs. Andragogy

In Pedagogy vs. Andragogy: A False Dichotomy?, Geraldine Holmes and Michele Abington-Cooper discuss the origin and evolution of pedagogy and andragogy. The article also includes opinions of proponents and opponents of these two educational models.

I think that the author does well at defining pedagogy and andragogy. While most novice trainers assume that it is easy to distinguish an adult learner from a younger learner just by looking at the difference in years, the authors note that the difference goes beyond age and years and that it is risky to make generalizations about behavior based solely on age. The term pedagogy is derived from the Greek words paid, meaning child and agogus, meaning leader of. Pedagogy evolved in the monastic schools of Europe between the 7^th and 12^th centuries where pedagogical assumptions were based on observations by the monks in teaching skills to children. The 1920s gave rise to a new educational model as a result of teachers of adults finding problems with the pedagogical model whose purpose they found is insufficient. Malcolm Knowles wrote that the goal of adult education should be self-actualization; thus the learning process should involve the whole emotional, psychological, and intellectual being. According to Knowles, the role the andragogical trainer differs from that of the pedagogical teacher. The andragogical trainer is more of a facilitator who aids adults to become-self-directed learners, while the pedagogical teacher decides in advance what knowledge and skills need to be transmitted. In pedagogy, the teacher also designs the training. Knowles made several assumptions about the adult learner, one being that as humans mature and become adult learners, their time perspective changes from future application of knowledge to immediate application. I agree with Knowles. The adult learner’s orientation toward learning is problem-centered, rather than subject-centered. I also agree with the assumption that the readiness to learn becomes increasingly more oriented to developmental tasks of social roles and not academic pressure. The result of that, in my opinion, is that adult education is a lot more specific than the general education modules young learners encounter.

The andragogical model is described as a process concerned with providing procedures and resources for helping learners acquire information and skills which goes back to the idea of andragogical teachers being facilitators and adult learners being self-directed learners. However, I do not agree with the andragogical model for the same reasons that Houle and Kerka disagree. Houle argues that education is a single fundamental human process and that models are probably most useful when seen not as dichotomous, but rather as two ends of a spectrum with a realistic assumption in a given situation falling in between the two ends. Kerka takes it one step further by arguing that most of the assumptions about andragogy aren’t based on scientific research. She considers those assumptions nothing more than myths. One of those myths is that adult learners are self-directed. Kerka argues that adults have varying degrees of willingness or ability to assume personal responsibility for learning. She also states that self-directed learning may be psychological control that a learner can exert in any setting, whether solitary, informal, or traditional. I believe that self-directedness is not a matter of being an adult or young learner, but of the content and application of the knowledge and skills the learner seeks to acquire. For instance, if an adult learner says he wants to become a hobby programmer, he may not portray much self-directedness at all, depending on previous experience in IT. In this case, he would be much better of learning according to the standards of the pedagogical model that provides him with a solid foundation and direction. On the other hand, if an adult that is already familiar with programming seeks to learn a new programming language, such as ASP.NET or C# to build a web application for his company, he already possesses a foundation and direction. In this case, Knowles assumption about time perspective and immediate application hold true as well.

I don’t think the andragogy vs. pedagogy debate will ever end and as Houle already suggested, there may not be a one-size-fits-all model. I believe that the key to educational success is to know your learners and to use a combination of strategies that are both andragogical and pedagogical in nature.