Malcolm Knowles, an American practitioner and theorist of adult education, developed a new theory and approach to adult learning, or andragogy, in the 1970s. His approaches are “problem-based and collaborative rather than didactic”and emphasize “more equality between the teacher and learner.”
Knowles defined andragogy as “”the art and science of helping adults learn.”
His learning principles include the following concepts:
- Adults are internally motivated and self-directed
- Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences
- Adults are goal oriented
- Adults are relevancy oriented
- Adults are practical
- Adult learners like to be respected