Have you ever heard of Adult Learning Theory or perhaps the term Andragogy? If you are teaching or training adults then understanding this theory can be useful for understanding how adults learn. I will explain all below.
What is Adult Learning Theory?
Adult Learning Theory is a term that was introduced by Malcolm Knowles over 40 years ago and is also now sometimes known as Andragogy.
Knowles came to the realization that adults learn differently from children, i.e. children appear to have a more sponge-like brain when it comes to learning at a young age.
In comparison, Knowles posited that adults generally learn more so from self-direction, experience, and the relevance of what they are learning (such as in relation to their work or personal interests).
Some of the key assumptions Knowles made include that adult learners:
- Prefer to take charge and direct their own learning.
- Bring a lot of experience and knowledge with them that directs how they learn other things, i.e. life experience helps direct their learning.
- Are more likely to embrace learning when it is directly related to something that matters to them, i.e. it has a connection to their work or personal life.
- Having a real-world need to learn the topic at hand, i.e. learning how to build a cupboard because they’ve bought a house and are renovating it, makes learning more engaging for adults.
Adult Learning Theory is especially useful for workplace learning because many of the elements above connect to employee motivation.
In the workplace, as adults, we tend to prefer learning things that can help us build and develop skills, improve performance, and help shape our career development.
The key to utilizing the theory of adult learning for employee learning is to make the learning engaging for employees, for example:
- Offering different learning options (such as self-directed learning opportunities via microlearning for those who prefer this)
- Using real-world examples or scenarios
- Making the learning relevant to their industry and work
In the following section, from Malcolm Knowles Adult Learning Theory and principles, I will explain the 5 core key principles.
5 Key Principles of Adult Learning Theory
1. Self-Directed Learning
As adult learners, we naturally want much greater autonomy over our learning than children would. In other words, we like to make decisions as to what we learn and how we learn it.
In the workplace, there will certainly be times, of course, when we have little choice over what we learn because our HR department might inform us we must take the online health and safety modules, for example, and that they are a requirement.
As a training designer though or as an HR department, it is worth remembering that if we can give greater autonomy to our employees for their learning, then engagement is much easier, i.e. the employee’s buy-in to the need and desire to do the training more easily.
Some ways to offer this autonomy include:
- Flexible Modules: Give employees choices of topics that they can choose from (where possible) and allow them to focus on the ones that might engage them. If there are different areas they need training on, can you let them choose what topics to start with so that they have the chance to build confidence and expertise?
- Self-Paced Learning: With the introduction of microlearning and gamification, there are many ways of learning these days. Are you able to offer classroom training, self-directed micro-learning (so they learn at their own pace with personalized learning and progress tracking), and perhaps online?
- Custom Learning Paths: Providing personalized learning is becoming quite easy these days and so offering asynchronous learning such as via the likes of Udemy, will tend to mean employees embrace the learning offered to them.
2. Relevance and Goal-Oriented
For children, the sense of time and purpose of learning is really very different from that of adults, i.e. children have more time for learning with less consideration for the end goal.
As adult learners though, we are motivated differently in that we need to feel that the time and money we invest in training is beneficial in a clear way.
The training/learning should, for example, help our career path, provide us with a skill that is clearly useful, or be something that we really want to learn.
In other words, as adults we tend to prefer more practical learning, whereas children are known to more happily engage in more theoretical learning. As adults, we generally need training that addresses real needs for real-world situations.
In the workplace, some ways as a company to direct learning can be to:
- Focus on Job-Specific Skills: Provide training they actually need for their job role, i.e. provide training for managers they will genuinely find helpful and useful on topics such as Inclusive Leadership and Managing Difficult People.
- Make Training Clear: Adults tend to benefit from having a clear understanding of how any training they do will help their overall career plan. Clear learning objectives and measurable outcomes (i.e., a certificate or chance of promotion) are known to help motivate employees because the rewards are clear.
3. Experiential Learning
As adults, we have much more life experience than a child will ever have and so life experience plays an important role in adult learning.
Our experiences and existing knowledge help to shape the way in which we learn as adults, in that if the training builds on our past experiences, we tend to be more engaged by the learning and that is what we mean by ‘Experiential Learning’.
As a company or training manager, you can shape learning for the employees by drawing on experiential learning via:
- On-the-Job Training: Allowing employees the chance to gain experience through on-the-job training where possible is known to be a particularly effective form of learning for adults because it groups together new skills in a real-world context.
- Simulations and Role-Plays: Simulation and role-plays can also be very effective for learning, especially for customer service, project management, and leadership issues training.
- Case Studies: Real-world case studies help to reinforce critical thinking and problem-solving skills because they help adult learners draw on their own past experiences in relation to the case study.
4. Readiness to Learn
Adults tend to be much keener to learn when they feel that it will help them to achieve an immediate goal or a specific longer-term goal.
In the workplace, employee engagement is higher when training in things that they believe will improve their job performance or advance their careers, as opposed to something that they cannot see the direct benefit of.
Children when learning do not have these same kind of need for a connection to outcomes.
To make workplace training better suited to adult learners you can:
- Show the link between the Training and their Own Career Development: Make the connection clear as to how it can help their professional growth.
- Tailor Training to Change: Adults are more open to learning when they feel that it helps them navigate times of transition. For example, if the company is changing to a new computer system, offering training that prepares the employees for this change, will make them more likely to engage with the learning opportunity.
5. Problem-Solving Orientation
Adult learners are often focused on solving practical, real-life problems through their education.
They are more engaged when they can quickly use what they’ve learned to overcome challenges in the workplace.
Training that helps them overcome issues they might or do face at work, tends to resonate far more than abstract theories or general knowledge.
You can include a problem-solving approach in workplace training using:
- Real-World Challenges: By designing training modules that match issues employees might face, the training becomes more relatable. For example, practicing how to deal with difficult customers through role-plays is something a customer service agent quite likely would want to train in and embrace, because it can inevitably make their job easier to do. They personally stand to benefit from learning something so useful.
- Collaborative Projects: There is also a strong case for using Social learning for workplace training. Learning together can be more fun for people and it can help improve teamwork and collaboration skills at the same time.
- Interactive Learning: Interactive learning is also worth considering, particularly if you are interested in hackathons, for example, as these produce real-time results and some employees find this type of learning and interaction highly engaging.
Applying Adult Learning Theory to Workplace Training
If you are a training provider or designer, a Human Resources Department, or a freelance or corporate trainer, keeping the 5 principles of adult learning above in mind when planning training will help you make the training more engaging, and effective.
So with this in mind, let’s look at four ways of applying this theory.
i) Create a Learner-Centric Environment
Place the learner’s needs and preferences central to the training process, where possible, i.e.:
- Giving employees the chance to choose their own learning path such as which courses they are interested in and that align with their career goals.
- As a manager, try and find ways to align the employee’s career goals with the company’s and you will see much better engagement.
- The more you can give autonomy to your employees over their learning journey, the more you can expect better buy-in and employee engagement.
Blended learning can also be worth considering, i.e. providing a combination of online, in-person, and on-the-job training.
What you will find though as a manager, is that some employees will prefer having classroom-led training, while others prefer microlearning, and others benefit more so from on-the-job hands-on training. There is no one best way.
Offering a variety of methods though does help to ensure that all employees have the chance to get training that works best for them.
There is certainly, of course, the issue of time and resources and that is another consideration.
ii) Incorporate Real-World Scenarios
Using real-world scenarios and simulations can make training very useful to help employees’ deal with day-to-day work challenges.
As discussed earlier, training such as on dealing with difficult customers can be extremely useful, and using role plays and simulation works very well for adult learners.
iii) Using Technology
You might want to consider microlearning (using short lessons where learners can learn in their own time and on the move), or other tech-based options.
For learning a language, for example, many companies (including governmental departments) already provide their employees with access to Rosetta Stone.
iv) Facilitate Peer Learning and Collaboration
Peer collaboration and social learning are powerful ways to push learning and hence you might want to consider options such as:
- Group discussions
- Team projects
- Peer-to-peer learning (such as through mentoring or collaboration)
Benefits of Using Adult Learning Theory
I think I’ve mentioned the benefits of adult learning theory many times in the explanations above on the key principles, and on how to apply the theory. So, just to provide a summary of the benefits:
- Better Employee Engagement – adults who learn things they want to learn, are more engaged.
- Increased Knowledge Retention – drawing on life and work experience, when matched against learning, leads to better retention rates.
- Better Performance Outcomes – being able to apply learning to real work practices or other real-world situations works better for adult learners.
- Better Work Environment and Team Culture – adult learning can promote a culture of continuous learning and development through social learning and collaboration.
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Paul is Co-Founder of Symonds Research and is a qualified researcher with a PhD in wayfinding. Paul helps the team at Symonds Research build and focus on providing high-quality training materials packages and programs for trainers, classroom teachers and HR departments.