Adult Learning

Hoe does one learn? Is it sufficient to just tell a person something? How can one encourage others to learn? What guidelines can I follow to facilitate the learning process?
Children often like to learn new things adult usually need a reason for leaning. They need to know why they would learn something and get motivation for learning from that. They usually need to see what the practical use of learning is.
The following principle and conditions for adult learning should be considered when you are designing your training activity. Principles of learning: 1. The process of learning is primarily controlled by the learnerLearning is an experience which occurs inside the learner and is activated by the learner, learning flourishes in a situation in which teaching is seen as a facilitating process that assists people to explore and discover the personal meaning of events for them. 2. Learning is the discovery of the personal meaning and relevance of ideas.People more readily internalise and implement concepts and ideas which are relevant to their needs and problems. 3. Learning (behavioural change) is a consequence of experience:People do not change their behaviour merely because someone tells them to do or tells them how to change. People become responsible and independent not from having other people tell them that they should be responsible and independent, but from having experienced authentic responsibility and independence. 6. Learning is a co-operative and collaborative process:The interactive process stimulates people’s curiosity, potential and creativity. As people invest themselves in collaborating group work, they realise that they count, that they do not have something to give and learn. 7. Learning is an evolutionary processBehavioural changes require time and patience. When quick changes in behaviour are demanded, we often resort to highly structured procedures through which we attempt to impose learning. It is doubtful whether such learning is lasting and meaningful to the learner. Evolutionary learning situations are characterised by free and open communication, acceptances, the right to mistakes, shared evaluation, active and personal involvement, etc. 6. Learning is something a painful processBehavioural changes often calls for giving up and comfortable ways of behaving, thinking and valuing. It is often uncomfortable to share one’s self openly, to put one’s ideas under the microscope of the group and to genuinely confront other people. However, the pain of breaking away from the old and comfortable is usually followed by appreciation and pleasure in the discovery of an evolving idea or a changing self. 7. One of the richest resources of learning is the learner himself:Each individual has a lot of experiences, ideas, feelings and attitudes which from a rich source of material for problem solving and learning. Situations which enable people to become open to themselves, to draw upon their personal collection of data and to share their data when working together with others, maximise learning. 8. The process of learning is emotional as well as intellectual:People are feeling being as well as thinking beings and when their feelings and thoughts are in harmony, learning is maximised. Barriers to communication exist in people and before we can conduct “official business”, we need to work with the problems that may exit in a group, in order to maximise internalisation of ideas. 9. The process of problem solving and learning are highly unique and individual:We need to assist people to define and to make explicit to themselves the approaches they ordinarily use, so that they can become more aware of how they learn and solve problems and become exposed to alternative models used by other people. Conditions which facilitate learningEncouraging people to be activeThe learning process thrives when there is less teacher/trainer domination and talk, and more faith that people can find alternatives and solutions satisfying to themselves. Learning is not poured into people, learning emerges from people. Promoting and facilitating the individual’s discovery of personal meaning of ideas.The needs of the individual and the group are considered in deciding what issues will be explored and what the subject matter will be. The trainers’ goal should accommodate, facilitate and encourage the individual’s discovery of personal goals and meanings in events. 3. Emphasising the uniquely personal and subjective nature of learning:People need to develop awareness that not all to be learned in outside or external to themselves. They should heel that their own contributions and their values as people are uniquely appreciated. Difference is good and desirable: situations which emphasise the “one right answer”, the “magical solution” or the “one good way” to act of think, narrow and limit exploration and inhibit discovery. People should have the opportunity to express their opinions, no matter how different they may be. Different ideas can be accepted, but not necessarily agreed with. Differences in ideas must be accepted if differences in people are to be accepted too. Recognising people’s right to make mistakes:Growth and change are facilitated when error is accepted as a natural part of the learning process. In order fro people to learn they need the opportunity to explore new situations and ideas without being criticised or punished for mistakes which are integral to the activity of learning. Tolerating ambiguity:In a rigid and defensive atmosphere people feel they cannot take the time to look at many solutions, they feel highly uncomfortable without answer and they feel that there is more concern for “right” answers, rather that good answers. The open and fearless exploration of solutions calls for time to explore many alternatives ad to proceed without feeling any pressure for immediate and forthcoming answers. Evaluation is a co-operative process with emphasis on self-evaluationPeople need the opportunity to formulate the criteria to measure their progress. Self-evaluation and peer evaluation enable people to really judge how to much they have learned and grown. For learning to occur, the individual in the group needs to see himself accurately and realistically. This can best be done through self and group evaluation. Encouraging openness rather than concealment of selfPeople solving and learning require that personal feeling, attitudes, questions and concerns can be openly brought to light and examined. There should be an atmosphere free from psychological threat. Encouraging thrust in oneself as well as in external sources:People learn when they begin to see themselves as a source of ideas and alternatives to problems. Learning is facilitated when people begin to draw from themselves and others, rather than rely on the teacher/trainer. Making people feel that they are respected:A genuine expression of care on the part of the trainer and warm emotional climate generate an atmosphere of safety in which people can explore ideas and genuinely encounter other people without any threat. In such a climate, confrontation and differences of opinion become constructive forces and an effective catalyst for learning. Making people feel that they are acceptedPeople are free to change when they feel that change is not being imposed on them. The more we try to change people, the more resistant they become to change. People who are busy defending themselves are not free to learn or change. Permitting confrontationConfrontations provide opportunities for people to have their ideas and themselves viewed and tested from the framework of other people and the group. No person learns in isolation from other people. His behaviour and ideas are refined and modified on the basis of the feedbacks he gets from other people The senses:Research shows that information entering through different senses is retained differently. Combinations of senses improve re-tainment, but doing oneself appears to be the best way to remember things: We retain:10% of what we read 20% of what we hear30% of what we see50% of what we see and hear90% of what we see and do90% of what we say as we do a thing Key learning points: There are four basic types of learning that occurs in a training programme· Getting affirmation or endorsement of existing knowledge, views, working methods, etc., from members of the training group or the trainer.· Adding to or modifying one’s existing level of knowledge and competences.· Inculcating new skill and knowledge· Process of unlearning or discarding the previously held views, concepts, approaches to work, etc. In a training programme, learning takes place through four key methods:· Verbal or written inputs by the trainer or resource persons.· Process of sharing experiences with other members of the training group-group acting as the key source of learning.· Engaging in action or practical work-motor activity or mental exercise,· Through formal or informal methods of observation during training activities.· Informal out-of-session contacts with other participation or trainers. In a training programme, motivation to participation and learning is affected by the following factors, directly related to a participant.· Desire for personal growth and development· Incentives or benefits flowing from attending training.· Consistency between personal learning objectives and programme objectives· Self image and level of self esteem· Working environment in the organisation, especially with regard to the possibility of transfer of training work situations.· Reason and manner of nomination· Previous training experiences· Inadequate learning skills· Family situation or personal problem The following factors, related to training environment, influences the learning process and motivation of the participants:- Programme content and the topics- Training methodology, methods or techniques.- Training team or the trainer- General learning environment in the programme- Pattern and nature of relationship existing within the training group- Training group-composition and features Learning:- Learning has acquired a new meaning and value in the life of an individual. It provides her access to better opportunities in life and also improves its quality- Learning is a universal phenomenon, common to all human beings. It starts soon after birth and continues till death. Learning does not take place only thorough structures or organised activities. We learn through every happening and event that crosses out life, in fact, every human encounter results of learning. Adult learners are:- Owners of unique personal experience- More concerned with short term benefits- Willing to take greater responsibility for their learning- Capable of constructing real-life situations- Have well defined self-image; and- Conscious of their position and status Key features of the process of learning in a training programme:- It is an evolutionary process.- Learning is collaborative venture between trainer and participants.- It is highly personalised process- Learning takes place at conscious as well as at the subconscious level.- It has intellectual and emotional elements.- In a training programme, learning takes place at an uneven place. Learning styles of an individual can be analysed on the basis of the following four aspects of training:- Preference for a particular type of learning activity (physical activity or at the cognitive activity level)- Level of initiative in learning (‘dynamic learner or ‘compliant learners’)- Degree of dependence on the trainer