Often when you think educational engineering, we think school, and when we think school, we think children. Teachers who design learning methods generally do so for children or adolescents. Of course, this does not make these methods inapplicable to adults. However, they are not motivated by the same things. Take for example the classic and much-criticized carrot and stick method. Replace carrot with candy and stick with a well-meaning remark, and you'll be more likely to teach children something (that's an example, don't do that, you'll ruin their health - and character). An adult, on the other hand, may point out to you that he sees you coming with your big hooves, and that if you still make the slightest unpleasant remark to him, he will shove the candy down your throat. Faced with the more or less resounding failures of pedagogies designed for children and used on adults, andragogy was created.
Opposed to pedagogy, andragogy is a whole art. It therefore encompasses methods intended for adult education. While the youngest show emotional immaturity accompanied by a great capacity for adaptation, adults are mainly motivated by personal or professional goals. Note that if you replace carrot with promotion and stick with blackout, it can motivate adults to learn. However, there are more subtle ones (and it's a bit of a sago method, anyway). Thus, although the concept of andragogy is less well known than that of pedagogy, it brings numerous advantages, especially to businesses.
Origins of andragogy
Andragogy is a term invented by Alexander Kapp, a German educator, in 1833. It is made up of two words from ancient Greek: “anern”, or “andros”, and “agogos”. The first refers to the male, because at the time, men were the only ones who could benefit from training (which shows that everything was not better before, except perhaps the Currywurst). The second term, on the other hand, means guide. The concept of andragogy has evolved over time. In 1926 in the United States, the first current established by Edward L. Thorndike focuses on adult learning abilities, not on the process itself. It has also shown that adults actually benefit from learning abilities, which was not yet certain at the time. (Well, given the behavior of some adults, you can't blame them for having doubts.)
Andragogy has become a theoretical method based on adult education, especially from the 1950s, thanks to the American Malcolm Knowles. Twenty years later, the term andragogy appears in emerging and institutional research, but also in training programs and publications. At a time of digitalization and the advance of technology, by definition, Andragogy has become the very basis of the methodology of continuing education that learners can follow throughout their lives according to their desires, needs and availability. It is found both in face-to-face training and in principles of e-learning.
Andragogy in opposition to pedagogy
The concept of andragogy is opposed to that of pedagogy. For children, learning is both a duty and an obligation, while for adults, learning is a focus, a need, or both. Their desire to learn can be explained by professional dissatisfaction, a need to deepen their knowledge, a simple pleasure, a professional retraining or even a desire to learn. The reasons are numerous and vary from person to person. It is therefore useless to offer them any kind of carrot ersatz, to try to motivate them: the motivation is already there. It is on the quality of training and its adaptation to the needs of learners that we should focus. For example, it is one of Reasons for the success of micro learning, practical to fit into a busy schedule: when you have a busy day full of meetings, a method to train when you have five minutes between two doors is almost lifesaving.
In the context of group training, adults especially need to integrate well. In person, for example, It is necessary to ensure that the learner has an environment that makes him comfortable. Trust, dialogue and kindness are therefore essential. (as well as a minimum of comfortable seats. Really. People's backs are not meant to be turned into compote).
Adults are also more demanding than younger people, and they want to understand all the actions performed or requested. For adults to learn effectively and assimilate the courses, it is essential that they stay active. Taking these elements into account, Andragogy promotes active learning methods rich in activity and group work. When everyone is serious, working in a group is very stimulating: forget about your high school years where it was always the same person who did 90% of the work while the others were giggling. In addition, the material to note/experiment is provided. No more whispers in the back of the class from the person who systematically forgets their things and asks if you don't have a sheet, a pen, two euros or a restaurant ticket.
Moreover, in terms of expectations, those of a child are identified by the teacher. On the other hand, adults are able to diagnose their needs themselves in relation to the apprenticeship and the program offered by the company or training center. However, the support of a trainer is often necessary throughout the learning process to guide and explain the information that is most difficult to understand. Both autonomous and responsible, an adult needs above all a learning facilitator and a climate based on collaboration. Respect and openness in discussions are also important for the learner. He can also learn from his colleagues, in a process social learning.
Resources and ways of learning
With the concept of andragogy, the trainer provides adults with all the resources they need to learn. It must focus on the experience already acquired in order to interest learners. Experience is in fact a basis for determining the relevance of the training offered. If the youngest have to refer to content that they are obliged to assimilate throughout the school year, adults learn mainly based on a task or on problems to be solved. These lead them to courses of action that they will be able to replicate in the field later. They already have the theoretical knowledge related to their job, and are there because they are looking for concrete solutions to this or that problem.
For adults, training is not limited to the acquisition of knowledge. It is also an opening to constant development as a human being with a structured personality. Adults benefit from a strong ability to ask questions, to reflect and even to doubt when necessary. Andragogy was designed to adapt to these specificities of adults. Self-esteem, the desire to collaborate, relaxation and conviviality are at the center of this concept, which is based on the ability to learn. They can learn throughout their lives and on an ongoing basis. They immerse themselves in their new experiences and take advantage of new opportunities to deepen their knowledge in a specific field.
This is especially true as they are generally responsible for the decisions they make and are fully capable of managing their work, training and personal life at the same time. In general, because we've all come across this colleague who's reluctant to anything, who doesn't like anything and who complains every time you want him to do something. Our advice: take inspiration from andragogy. Since experience is specific to each individual, it deserves to be considered and valued in their professional training. We can therefore offer the colleague Rétif a course adapted to his needs: “survive six months in Alaska with your tent and your knife to understand that in fact you are doing well at work”. Because there is always training to restore peace and harmony within companies.
