Andragogy is an education discipline that studies the learning process of adults. Special characteristics and assumptions required for the learning process to take place in adults. In contrast to pedagogy, which refers to teaching of young children, andragogy requires special teachers, special methods of teaching and philosophy to help the adults learn (Nottingharm andragogy group 2). This paper seeks to discuss these special assumptions and to show that learning process can take in adulthood. There is a need also to understand the process of adult learning for one to be an effective educator.

Adults education has several considerations and assumptions to put in place. The adults have the characteristics that are different from the children which would make their learning process different. The self concept of a person usually moves from that of a dependent one to that of self directed as he matures. He gains experience in the day to day life that challenges him to acquire more knowledge. The social roles given that a person acquires in the society leads to internal motivation and readiness to learning. Besides, adults are already attached to day to day activities in various field of accupation. The most obvious reason for seeking education by adults is to acquire knowledge that would be applied immediately to their activities that are problem solving. This is in contrast to the pedagogy where the children have subject centered approach bearing in mind that the application would be done later in life.

As Knowles (56) emphasizes, adult life is the point where the individual would like to be viewed as mature and self directing. They don’t not require a second person to reinforce their studies. The educator facilitates more movement toward self direction and fosters the learner’s self motivation. Secondly, the adults learn better in experiential method that includes discussions and practical application of the learnt techniques. These also include group discussions and problem solving activities (Knowles 43). However, this is of no difference with the learning process when applied to pedagogy merely because of accumulation of years or reservoir of experience by the adults. When new information is needed, for example, experiential learning activities may not be effective to the learners. They would be forced to search for the information in different sources. The adults would search for the new information more eagerly due to the enthusiasm of immediate application as opposed to the children.

When a person matures he gets to know the relevance of studying in relation to performance of the expected social roles. This makes him teachable because of the increased readiness to learn and acquire new knowledge (Knowles 44). The role of the teacher would include provision of the right learning experience that is directly linked to the learner’s goals and tasks. It would also involve asking questions to the learners that will increase more reflection on the future goals and the need for more research.

Knowles (45) further indicates that the adults are focused to learn new knowledge that is relevant in their daily lives. The theoretical work is tied with the practical sessions so as to make the learners to understand more easily. The educator facilitates this by involving the learners in critical thinking about what they will learn, what they have learnt and how they expect to apply the newly gained knowledge in their daily lives. The adults also like to be practical in their studies. This complements theoretical learning in classrooms and books to hands-on problem solving activities in the fields. This makes the work of the educator easy and more productive because he is able to assess the learners in the field. The educator can recognize the weak point of the learner and carry out corrective measure appropriately. The educators facilitate the learning by explaining clinical or practical reasoning and promoting active participation of the learners in the field.

As Fidishun (200) emphasizes adult like to be respected so that they can also respect the educators. In most cases the educator and the learners may be of the same age or even younger. The sense of being adults creates a friendly environment where the learners and the educators view each other as colleagues who have equal life experience. The learners acknowledge the pool of knowledge that the educators have. This encourages prompt expression of ideas, feelings and feedback to the learners and also to the educator.

In conclusion, andragogy is basically the art of helping the adults to learn. This is made possible by various assumptions and characteristics that they posses. When these considerations are put into practice, then adult education can take place effectively to produce great pool of knowledge that is directly pt into practical use in daily lives.

Work cited

Knowles, M. Adults learning and principles. Web 15^th Jan 2014.

Smith, M. K. ‘Andragogy’ The encyclopedia of informal education. Web. 15^th Jan 2014