The Adult Learning Theory - Andragogy - of Malcolm Knowles

Knowles’ 5 Assumptions Of Adult Learners

Knowles’ 5 Assumptions Of Adult Learners

In 1980, Knowles made 4 assumptions about the characteristics of adult learners (andragogy) that are different from the assumptions about child learners (pedagogy). In 1984, Knowles added the 5th assumption.

1. Self-Concept  As a person matures his/her self concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directed human being.
2. Adult Learner Experience  As a person matures he/she accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning.
3. Readiness to Learn  As a person matures his/her readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his/her social roles.
4. Orientation to Learning  As a person matures his/her time perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to immediacy of application. As a result his/her orientation toward learning shifts from one of subject- centeredness to one of problem centeredness.
5. Motivation to Learn As a person matures the motivation to learn is internal (Knowles 1984:12).