Adult Education

What is Adult education?

Adult Education is a systematic way of engaging adults in particular activities design to enable them to acquire knowledge, values and skills. Adult learning affect by globalization, demographics, and technology. It can be formal i.e. in a training institution or non-formal like in a workplace and even informal i.e. learning life lessons from life experiences.

Andragogy and Padagogy

It differs from education of children in many ways since adults believe to take their own responsibility for learning. Moreover they already have some previous learning experience which would add to their accumulated knowledge and what they further want to learn. Since mostly adult education voluntary there great motivation seen in learners. Hence this self-driven learning refer as ‘andragogy’ instead of ‘pedagogy’.

Adult Education Self Driven Learners

Adults rely on less help from the teacher and know where they are heading. Adults are assumed to be capable of learning what they want to learn. Hence learning should be need based i.e. learning should respond to their needs. The curricula should be structured in order to train them for better job opportunity or help them in their day to day tasks. Adults being mature have already gained a lot of knowledge from their life experience. Now they just need some refinement so as to polish their skills. Hence they are intrinsically motivate to learn and retain information.

Their education is more problem center than subject centered. Their aim is personal growth and personal development. Moreover it is also about professional growth and development in order to improve their social structure.
The basic purpose of adult education is to provide a second chance for those who could not acquire education for any reason what so ever, to get education and climb the social ladder, and achieve social justice with equal access to education.