Motivation and Adult Learning
In
the world of adult education there are many compelling factors and theories
into how adults learn. The idea is that
adults may require a different approach than those of a younger generation for
various reasons. These may be argued to be due to intelligence, comprehension
or even life experience, however in saying that, a key factor can is the
motivational reasoning in an adult’s education. Adults choose to further their
education and for the purposes of this essay I would like to discuss and ask
what I think is one of the most relevant question regards this matter. Why do
adults choose to further their education? At the same time we need to consider
the opposing side of, why do some adults choose not to further or on occasion
even complete their education and how does this affect them in participating in
learning tasks.
Malcolm Knowles |
As an educator or educational facilitator we must consider this as
it is the role of the educator to motivate the learner, and even more so in a
business training environment. It has been argued that Knowles may have not
fully considered all the various aspects of motivation in his theory as it was
a later addition to his original theory (Teixeira 2005). I would be
inclined to agree because with the likes of policy and procedure in the
business environment or even guides to plagiarism and codes of conduct in
academia, these cannot be left to the motivational interests of the learner,
these can be a matter of contract or even legality so I propose this, how do we
help internalise or even drive the internal motivational aspects to an adult
learner.
To discover how we can help internalise motivation in the learner,
we need to first understand what motivation means. Although we commonly see
motivation used in terms of what guides or pushes in the direction of certain
actions or as a dictionary definition - a driving force or forces responsible for the
initiation, persistence, direction, and vigour of goal-directed behaviour (Colman, 2006). The
understanding must be that there is no predefined motivation to suit everyone.
There are therories on how motivations can be structured in a predetermined
order of importance (Maslow 1943), but this has be argued in various studies (Max-Neef 1991)
that the motivational needs of the indiffidual are non-heirachal. That the
needs of the individual are relevant to their surroundings and supporting
factors of their life. This means that just because you have food and a home
doesn’t necessarily mean you want security in you life before you look after
your family as Maslows theory can be seen to suggest. This does by no means
discredit Maslows theories of instance, rather it just puts a second
perspective that in finding our learners motivation it may not be as simple as
seeing what level they are at on the scale, but more in line of what are they
missing?
A key in helping to find this may be related
back to the theory that adults learn what they want to learn and what
they perceive as useful (Tusting and Barton 2003). In
the case of a child when we put them through schooling, there is no real questioning
from them into why should they learn, it is just perceived as the social norm.
This is not the case with the Adult learner who will need to see the benefits
of the education before they begin. This is understandable considering that a
child’s life tends to revolve around development in one form or another, an
adult however generally has a lot more commitments and needs justification in
taking the time away from their daily pattern. These can be due to work or
family commitments for instance. Another consideration is the social aspect;
some adults will be concerned as to what people will think if they are back in
education or maybe still associate education with a negative child hood
experience of education.
I believe the key to motivation for an adult
learner lies in a combination of these theories discussed above. This approach
however would need to be tailored to the individual. In finding what an adult
would perceive as useful or even interesting we have an opportunity to see if
it can fit their circumstances but rather than go through it in a hierarchal
manner we could directly try fitting it to their needs. For instance an adult
who finds computer technical skills interesting but is unsure as to if they
should study it as they have now prior experience, could be explained as to how
this could be beneficial to their esteem, at having a broader scope of
abilities and safety in possibly helping them be better prepared to progress in
the work place in future, as just two examples. In this sense the educator is
nearly selling the idea to the learner.
On the other side we could have a learner who needs to learn computer
technical skills as perhaps their business is being modernized and this person
has little motivation as they can continue working in the fashion they already
do using hard copies of documentation. In this instance we need to show the
learner how the teachings could be useful and even try to inspire an interest
in the field, perhaps finding a common ground on how it could beneficial to their
role or development.
In the first case we can see a situation of
the desire is there for the learner but not the need and the reverse is seen in
the second. In the matter of motivation
for an adult learner I believe it is the role of the educator to adapt to a new
role, the role of sales person. With the theories available it could be a case
that in amalgamating the theories and adapting the sales approach, we as
trainers could facilitate the introduction of motivation to any learner with
the right amount of flexibility in our approach. This is what I believe is the
key in initiating and sustaining participation in learning for
an adult learner.
So in conclusion I believe from the studies
and theories discussed that although there may be a difference in our approach
to Adult Learning or even to say Andragogy opposed Pedagogy it could be seen
that one of the greatest differences is the need for motivation. In realizing
this, the goal should not be to hope or just to see the motivation in an
individual, but rather to put the motivation in them. Giving the learner the
desire to participate and even complete the learning available and for the
Educator to adapt to the role of selling the ideas and benefits to the learner,
facilitating more than just the education but inspiring the need for the
education in itself.
Bibliography
Colman, A. M., 2006. A Dictionary of Psychology: Oxford
University Press.
Davenport, J. & Davenport, J., 1985, ‘Knowles or Lindeman: Would the
Real Father of American Andragogy Please Stand Up,’ Lifelong Learning. 9:3, pgs 4-5
Knowles, 1984, The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (3rd
Ed.), Gulf Publishing, Houston, Texas.
Maslow, A.H., 1943,
A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review 50(4)
Max-Neef, M., 1991, Human Scale Development, Apex
Press, New York and London
Teixeira, P., 2005, ‘ANDRAGOGY AND DISTANCE EDUCATION: TOGETHER
IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM’, SerProfessorUniversitario, Accessed 29
November 2009, from http://www.serprofessoruniversitario.pro.br/textos.php?modulo=1
Tennant, M., 1996,
‘An Evaluation of Knowles's Theory of Adult Learning’ International Journal of Lifelong Education.
5:2, pgs 113-122.
Tusting, K. and Barton, D., 2003, Models of adult learning: a literature
review, National Research and
Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy. Institute of Education, UK
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