Listen to thisThe theories of lifelong education and of life-span development may have been the most important theoretical contributions to adult education in recent years. We now know that not only children can learn. In a man's life-span there is no division between a period of learning and application of what has been learned earlier. Learning and application are interwoven, both continue and both reinforce each other. However, the way adults learn is different from the way learn. What does it mean to be an adult learner? What are the characteristics of an adult learner?
1.1. Who is an adult? The meaning of adulthood
Rogers distinguishes three main clusters of ideas within any of adulthood:
The idea of maturity, of full development, personal growth and expansion and utilization of all the individual's talents;
the idea of a sense of perspective leading to sounder judgements about oneself and about others;
the idea of autonomy, responsible decision making, voluntariness rather than involuntariness.
According to Rogers adult learners
are adults by definition; but some are more adults than others; some are still searching in education for dependency, others for autonomy;
are in a continuing process of growth, but they grow in different direction's and at a different pace;
bring with them a package of experience and, values, but degree of willingness to use this material to help the learn process differs;
come to education with intentions and” needs, some specific, some more general and related to the subject matter under discussion, and others unknown even to themselves;
bring expectations about the learning process; they are all at different points in the spectrum between those who require to be taught everything and those who wish to find out everything for themselves; and they each have some consciousness of what they can and cannot do in the way of learning;
already have their own set patterns of learning, which vary considerably one from the other.
1.2. Characteristics of adult learning
Education of children is compulsory, formal and standardized. Adult
learning is voluntary and intentional. The aim of adult education is the
independent self-directed learner. Adults tend to resist a learning
process which is incongruent with their self-concept as autonomous
individuals and does not correspond to their needs and interests.
Adult learning is learner-centered
What children learn in school should be useful to them “but later in
life. Child learning is subject-centered. Adult learning is
learner-centered. Adults focus on direct application. Given their daily
obligations in job, profession, family and community they learn to cope
with the pressures and problems of life they are facing. In consequence
the adult educator's concern is not only and not even primarily the
logical development of a subject matter but the needs and interests of
the learners. “Andragogy (adult education) calls for program builders
and teachers who are person-centered, who don’t teach subject matter but
rather help persons learn" (Knowles). However, the interests of adults
are their real needs. Or the solutions learners have in mind do not
solve their problems. The adult educator often has to enter into a “needs negotiation" (Bhola) with learners when teaching new needs about
boiled water or a balanced diet, about clean surroundings, preventive
health practices or small families. In the dialectical process of needs
negotiation the needs as felt by the learners and the needs as seen by
the adult educators must be brought together to reach a consensus on the “real" needs. These real needs must correspond to the experience of
adult learners. If an adult gets the impression that his experience is
not being valued he feels rejected as a person. New learnings take on
meaning as adults are able to relate them to their life experience.
Experienced adult educators, therefore, build into the design of their
learning experiences provision for the learners to plan and rehearse how
they are going to apply their learnings in their day-to-day lives or
duties and combine training with transfer and application. A workshop
then really can become a workplace where educational materials are
produced or evaluation studies are designed.
Adult learning is social learning
According to Knox's proficiency theory the learning needs for an adult
arise from life situations and interpersonal communication. Social
expectation motivates and empowers an adult to search for more
knowledge, better proficiency and more suitable performance. Adult
learning is based on experience, on the learners” own experience and on
the experience of others. Learning settings of adults usually have a
participatory and collaborative element. Adults prefer to meet as equals
in small groups to explore issues and concerns and then to take common
action as a result of dialogue and inter-learning by discourse. The
group becomes the “learning co-operative". The group provides the
opportunity for inter-learning. Within the group the teacher as well as
the other group members play the role of facilitators. All group members
become “co-agents" (Bhola) in learning.
The absence of formal accreditation or certification facilitates collaboration not only on a specific product or outcome but even in structuring and restructuring the learning process according to the needs and interests of the group. The learning process becomes as important as the learning outcome, and a balance between both is often difficult to maintain. How much freedom can actually be given to the adult learner in choice of content and method?
Adult learning is active learning
Adult learning is life-centered. It is learning by doing, by application
and experience, and if need be by trail and error. Adults do not simply
receive knowledge created by outsiders, but should examine their own
reality themselves and make assertions about it. “Praxis" is the focus
of effective adult learning and praxis means analysis and examination of
reality in order to transform it. Adult learning is a continuous process
of investigation and exploration followed by action grounded in this
exploration, followed by reflection on this action, leading to further
investigation and so on. The principle is testing not “banking" (P.
Freire) of knowledge. Exploration of new ideas, skills and knowledge
take place in the context of the learners” experience. In settings where
skills are being learned, learners become acquainted with skills, apply
these in real life settings, redefine hoe these skills may be altered by
context, re-apply these in other settings and so on. Adults interpret
ideas, skills and knowledge through the medium of their life-experience
and test them in real life settings. To make the learner self-directed
is the purpose of adult education. But the self-directed learner is
neither the one who can retrieve information or locate resources nor the
one who emerges in group dynamics. The “inner-directed, self-operating
learner" (R. Kidd) is the one who reflects critically on his own
assumptions and is keen to find alternative and better solutions.
Adult learning means acquiring knowledge
and competence
The learning process contributes largely to the success of learning. But
learning is more than just the learning process. A participative
learning process which fails to assist the learners in acquiring
knowledge and competence is a failure. A participative learning process
may take more time because it means active involvement of everybody,
discussing all the pro's and con's, nevertheless it must lead to
concrete results combining commitment with competence. Education is, as
Brookfield points out a “ transactional encounters". That means that the
sole responsibility for determining curricula or for selecting
appropriate methods does not rest either with the educator or with the
learner. If the first obtains, then we have an authoritarian style and a
one-way transmission of knowledge and skills. If curricula, methods and
evaluative criteria become predetermined solely by what learners say
they want, then the “cafeteria approach" governs the educational
process. Accepting the felt needs rationale without any further inquiry
and needs negotiation means that the facilitator has abandoned
responsibility for the learning process and the achievement of learning
aims and objectives. Successful learning especially in workshop settings
means to keep the balance between the learning process and the learning
outcome so that the results justify the efforts and if they are not
excellent they should be at least and always “good enough".
2. Principles of participatory training
The training model presented in this handbook is based on participation.
The principles of participatory training (Shrivastave and Tandon explain
these principle in greater detail) reflect how adults learn.
Participatory training is life-centered
What is learned must be applicable to real life situations. A workshop
programme, therefore, must provide opportunity and assist adult learners
to apply what has been learned to life situations and job requirements.
Participatory training is
learner-centred
A workshop programme arises out of the needs of participants as
articulated by them and negotiated with them. These “needs-negotiations"
are necessary to keep the balance between the interests and needs as
voiced by the learners and the state-of-the-art of the subject matter
which learners have to become familiar with in order to acquire
knowledge and competence and to get the feeling of success and
achievement. However, participants should always maintain control of the
training process and influence upon the methods used.
Participatory training is flexible
The teaching-learning process, while not losing track of the objectives
and the subject matter, should always take into consideration the
problems participants are facing and the learning progress, they are
making. The programme schedule must be open and leave room for
repetition and the unforeseen. Tue final programme of a workshop evolves
as the workshop goes on.
Participatory training is comprehensive
with focus on awareness, as well as on knowledge and skills
This combined focus makes the choice of training methods complex.
Awareness-raising, is most aptly achieved through a dialogue between
facilitator and learner. Knowledge-acquisition is most effectively done
through lecture-discussions or-readings based on handbooks and carefully selected reference material. Learning new skills or
sharpening existing ones demands giving opportunity to practice within a
workshop, be it in groups (with peer review) or individually under
guidance by the facilitator.
Participatory training is learning
through the experiences of learners
Learners come with their experiences and make new ones during the
training process. It is important that learners (and resource persons)
report on their experiences and share their experiences to find
appropriate solutions. Thus a workshop becomes a “learning
cooperatives."
Participatory training is based on
mutual respect
Learners always need a opportunity to first unlearn and then relearn.
Both processes imply a deficiency and can be highly threatening to a
person. In order to accept criticism, learners must feel accepted as
they are, must be encouraged to run risks and to accept support. The
atmosphere in a workshop must be such that participants enjoy learning
and feel comfortable and confident that, whatever happens in training,
will not be used against them.
In participatory training trainers are a
team of facilitators
In participatory training the trainers' behaviour and value system is as
important as his professional knowledge and his teaching abilities. In
workshop settings trainers should work as a team of facilitators, open
to self-criticism, ready to support each other without becoming
defensive against participants. The team of facilitators should be
present throughout a workshop from its beginning to the end.
The venue is of great influence on the
learning process
The venue should facilitate an uninterrupted learning process. It should
be outside major towns, where participants, free from daily obligations,
can exchange their experiences and cooperate in finding solutions. It
will usually be a residential setting so that the learning co-operative
becomes a captive audience.
Participatory training is based on
feedback
Nobody is perfect! Feedback is necessary not only to adapt an ongoing
workshop programme to the learning needs and progress of participants
but also to learn from past workshop experiences in order to prove
future programmes. This can be done by appropriate methods of internal
evaluation be it formative during the workshop or summative at its end.
3. The Action Training Model (ATM).
A model to combine principles of adult education and
participatory training with production
The Action Training Model is meant to train adult educators. It takes
into consideration how adults learn and is based on the principles of
participatory training.
3.1. The emergence of the model
The Action Training Model (ATM) grew out of the need to assist adult
educators and development workers to cope with specific tasks for which
they had no specific training, e.g. to do systematic evaluations, to
produce reading materials for new readers coining out of literacy
programmes or to produce distance education materials for untrained
teachers or literacy workers. In contrast to the well known “all-talk
seminars and no-work-workshops" the Action Training Model combines
training with action and production. In a workshop setting participants
get the necessary know-how to elaborate a concrete product, be it an
evaluation report or a distance education unit – and they do it. They do
the “real thing" not just an assignment for the wake of training. The
skills learned are acquired within the framework of production. As this
is not feasible within a two weeks training setting of a workshop, the
model combines collective training in a sequence of workshops with
individual work under guidance at the place of work, or in the field.
This combination of inter-learning and cooperating
in workshop, settings on the one hand with individual work under
guidance at the place or work on the other is the essence of the Action
Training Model. It should be noted, that the Action Training Model does
not imply to specifically “go to the field" as it is the case in
operational seminars. The “field" is the learner’s usual place of work
and nothing else. Te go to this field is not an extra (and artificial)
activity. It is the learner’s job.
The model makes some important assumptions about delivery and design of
training (Bhola).
3.2. Assumptions about the delivery of
training
The ATM is a model of in-service and block-release training for , middle
level technical personnel based on workshops of about two weeks duration
combined with individual work under guidance on a concrete task be it an
evaluation unit to be conducted or a distance education unit or a
booklet for new” readers to be written”. The assumption here is that
adults who are at work cannot spare much time for time for long-term
training courses and that training for this group must be practical and
tailor-made to assist them in fulfilling their daily duties. In a first
workshop of about two to three weeks duration participants get a
systematic introduction to the subject matter e.g. evaluation or the
writing of distance education materials and they elaborate an evaluation
proposal or draft a distance education unit.
After the first workshop they go back to their places of work and collect data in the field or develop instruments to test their units or booklets. They do this under guidance of experienced resource persons. A few months later they come for a second workshop, a “mid-term panel", and present their data collections or tested distance education units. They get information on data organization and analysis and they organize and analyse their data or they get feedback from peers and resource persons on their test instruments and how to use them. After the mid-term panel participants write their evaluation reports or test their units. In a third workshop they present their evaluation reports for discussion or their distance education units for further review refinement and editing. Thus, participants can follow a training course of up to one years duration without being absent from their places of work for more than five to six weeks. The time in-between the-workshops is filled with work on a concrete project. However, to finalise the project means longterm commitment both by the participants themselves, by the group of resource persons who have to assist participants, and by the institutions participants come from who have to give all necessary support.
3.3. Assumptions in design of training
The training design is based on the principles of adult learning and
participatory training.
The model combines training and action
All training takes place in the work context of participants. Each
participant is working on a concrete task, an evaluation proposal, a
unit of a distance education course or a booklet for new readers.
He/she gets familiar with subject matter immediate application of what has been taught in lecture-discussions. All learning is active learning, is learning by doing.
The model is learner-centred
Participants are being confronted with problems they face in their daily
work situations and they get guidance on how to solve some of these
problems. Their experience becomes a learning tool, their needs the
focus of learning process. With whatever background and whatever
intentions participants come “participants in workshops are not just
there to be taught; they are the greatest resource in the learning
co-operative.
Multiple” contexts and settings for learning, including discussions, individually guided instruction, and group work with peer review allow appropriate connections between learning task requirements, learning needs and styles of participants.
The model is based on systematic
learning
Participants become familiar with the subject matter by
through it systematically and a concrete task step by step. To
facilitate this process special handbooks are developed by the
facilitators. These handbooks guide the participant through all the
necessary steps and give a complete overview on the subject matter
including some theoretical background so that the actual workshop
programme can make some selective choices in presentation of the subject
matter by focusing on certain aspects and specific needs of
participants.
The model is flexible and based on
active involvement of all participants
All participants are actively involved in planning, executing and
evaluating their own learning process. The first workshop begins with an
analysis of needs and interests of participants followed by a process of “needs negotiation" to harmonize interests and needs as voiced by
participants with the state-of-the-art of the subject matter and the
requirements of a structured and systemic learning process. While the
topics to be dealt with are defined to some extent by the
state-of-the-art of the subject matter, the programme schedule is kept
open and flexible. The schedule is being developed in a daily process of
adaptation of what has to be learned to progress of the learning process
and difficulties participants face. The curriculum of each workshop is
being “re-invented" in the actual teaching-learning process. This
re-invention does not only validate curriculum choices but also aids
participants to claim ownership of the programme. To re-invent the
workshop programme is the task of the steering committee in which all
faculty members and a number of delegates from the learners cooperate to
review the programme of the day and to plan for the following day.
The model is based on social learning
The learning process does not only have a participatory element, it has
a collaborative element as well. Participants work together in groups,
they get assistance and feedback from the group. Resource persons who
take part in the entire workshop (and don’t turn up for specific
sessions only) work as a team, they consult with each other, they
practice team-teaching and they are “at the disposal of participants"
whenever needed to assist them in completing their tasks. The social
architecture of the workshop develops a cohesive community of learners,
a “learning co-operative" who can stand the “pressure-cooker effect" of
(sometimes) a fifty to sixty hours week of work on a specific task.
The model aims at successful learning
Participants get all possible assistance individually and as a group
within and outside workshop settings to complete their tasks. A system
of continuous feedback from participants has been developed through the
steering committee, through reporting back sessions on groupwork in
plenary, through individual guidance by resource persons, through
critical review of the products of participants by peers and by resource
persons. This feedback system combined with summative evaluation of each
workshop is an, essential element of continuous programme review and
improvement.
It is not only a reliable test instrument of what each participant has learned and achieved. It contributes considerably to the success of the learning process.
The Action Training Model is applicable in a variety of settings in formal training within universities and specialized training institutions and in non formal settings for staff development in education, health, business, government and the like. It is a challenge to the “all-talk seminars" and “no-work workshops". For the learners as well as for the team of resource persons who have accepted this challenge, it can be an experience of high satisfaction.
Sources
H. S Bhola, Training Evaluators in the Third World: Implementation of
the Action Training Model (ATM) In Kenya. Evaluation and Program
Planning, Vol.12, pp. 249-258, Pergamon Press, Oxford, New York
1989
James Roby Kidd, How Adults Learn, Association Press, New York
1975 rev.
Malcolm S. Knowles, The Modern Praxis of Adult Education. Andragogy
versus Pedagogy. Association Press, New York 1976
A. B. Knox, Adult Development and Learning. Jossey-Bass, San
Francisco, London 1977
Alan Rogers, Teaching Adults. Open University Press, Milton
Keynes, Philadelphia 1986
Om Shrivastava and Rajesh Tandon (eds.), Participatory Training for
Rural Development. Society for Participatory Research in Asia. 45,
Sainik Farm, Khanpur, New Delhi 1982.
This feature: Muller, J. (1993) The action training model and its
educational foundations. Adult education and development p.
239-253
