                                5.  ADULT LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
        
               In an old school reader, one of the stories "with a moral"
        which used to so delight the editors of such texts gives an
        account of the chief minister of the king who approached three
        stonemasons engaged in work on St.  Paul's Cathedral in London. 
        The questioner asked each man in turn what he was
        doing.
               "I am trimming and laying stones," said the first man.
               "I am earning wages to care for my wife and family," said
        the second.
               "I am helping Sir Christopher Wren build a great monument
        to the
               glory of God," said the third.
               Whatever the reader thinks of such fables, there are at
        least three aspects in any learning transaction.  And the
        cathedral that every learner is
        building is himself (Kidd, 1973, p.  124).
        
               Knowles (1978) suspected that for an organization to
        foster adult learning to the fullest degree it must go even
        farther than merely practicing a democratic philosophy, use a
        facilitative approach to teaching, and really stimulate
        individual self-renewal to the extent that it consciously engages
        in continuous self-renewal itself.  Just as a teacher's most
        potent tool is the example of his own behavior, so Knowles
        believed an organization's most effective instrument of influence
        is its own behavior.  This proposition was based on the premise
        that an organization tended to serve as a role model for
        those it influences.  So if its purpose was to encourage its
        personnel, members, or constituents to engage in a process of
        continuous change and growth, it was likely to succeed to the
        extent that it modeled the role of organizational change and
        growth.  This proposition suggested that an organization must be
        innovative as well as democratic if it were to provide an
        environment conducive to learning (pp.  92-93).
        
               Figures 4.  and 5.  presented on the following pages serve
        to illustrate the differences between pedagogy and andragogy in
        theory and design and how they apply to the learning environments
        for children and adult learners.  The first is a comparison of
        how assumptions and design elements can and do differ for the
        two.  The second is Knowles' schematic for a lifelong learning
        system to enhance individual development from "cradle to grave."       
        
        ROLES                                   COMPETENCIES
        
        Learner                       Reading, writing, computing,
                                      perceiving, conceptualizing, 
                                      evaluating, imagining, inquiring
        
        Being a self                  (with a unique self-identity) 
                                      Self-analyzing, sensing, goal-
                                      building, objectivising,
                                      value-clarifying, expressing
        
        Friend                        Loving, empathizing, listening,
                                      collaborating, sharing, helping,
                                      giving feedback, supporting 
        
        Family member                 Maintaining health, planning,
                                      managing, helping, sharing, 
                                      buying, saving, loving, taking
                                      responsibility
        Worker                        Career planning, technical skills,
                                      using supervision, giving
                                      supervision, getting along with
                                      people, cooperating, planning,
                                      delegating, managing 
        
        Leisure-time                  Knowing resources, appreciating the
                                      arts and humanities, performing,
                                      playing, relaxing, reflecting,
                                      planning, risking(Knowles, 1978, p.
        
                                      167)
        
               Knowles' (1978)  assumption regarding pedagogy was that
        the primary purpose of schooling was to help children and youth
        learn the skills of learning.  The ultimate behavioral objective
        of schooling would be: "The Individual engages efficiently in
        collaborative self-directed inquiry in self-actualizing
        directions." Knowles believed that the skills of andragogical
        learning (as listed above) included the following:
        
               1.      The ability to develop and be in touch with
                       curiosities.  Perhaps another way of describing
                       this skill would be "the ability to            
                       engage in divergent thinking."
               2.      The ability to formulate questions, based on one's
                       curiosities, that are answerable through inquiry
                       (in contrast to questions that are answerable by
                       authority or faith).  This skill is the beginning
                       of the ability to engage in convergent thinking or
                       inductive-deductive reasoning.
               3.      The ability to identify the data required to
                       answer the various kinds of questions.
               4.      The ability to locate the most relevant and
                       reliable sources of the required data (including
                       experts, teachers, colleagues, one's            
                       own experience, the various audio-visual media,
                       and the community).
               5.      The ability to select and use the most efficient
                       means for collecting the required data from the
                       appropriate sources.
               6.      The ability to organize, analyze, and evaluate the
                       data to get valid answers to questions.
               7.      The ability to generalize, apply, and communicate
                       the answers to the questions raised.
        
               Knowles (1978) surmised that the curriculum of organized
        education would most effectively achieve the objective of
        schooling if it were organized according to a spiraling series of
        individual learning projects, with the understanding that several
        individuals with similar learning needs might engage in a
        learning project collaboratively (pp.  6-15).  Under this
        assumption, Knowles visualized that the school (collective term)
        would be presented to learners as a learning resource center and
        that teachers would be presented as learning project consultants.
        
               Each individual's learning project spiral would proceed
        according to his maturational process.  Knowles (1978) maintained
        that at each developmental stage the learning project consultant
        would expose the learner to appropriate role competency models. 
        For example, in roles labeled "early learner", "friend", "family
        member", and "leisure-time user", the learning would actually
        take place over several years, outside the classroom, and with
        increasingly complex competencies being presented as the person
        matured.  In early adolescence the emphasis would gradually shift
        to the roles of unique self, citizen, and worker.  Following each
        exposure to a role competency model the learner would select a
        set of competencies for which learning projects would then be
        developed with the help of learning project consultants and other
        relevant resource specialists.  Emphasis would be placed on the
        learner's making use of learning resources proactively and in
        widening circles out into the community.  At the completion of
        each learning project the consultant would engage with the
        learner in an analysis of the experience in a variety of
        dimensions, including cognitive gains, learning skill gains,
        affective gains and losses, and diagnosis of further needs (pp. 
        25-29).
        
               Choosing a curriculum for adult learners meant several
        things for Kidd (1973) like understanding the needs and interests
        of the learner, understanding the situation in which he lives and
        the kinds of content that may serve his needs.  It meant a
        careful statement of objectives in a form that sets out the
        desired changes as well as the subject matter.  Finally, it meant
        the selection of the precise learning experiences that may best
        accomplish these objectives.  It assumed the fullest possible
        participation by the learner in curriculum planning (p.  278).
        
               Regarding evaluation of adult learning, Lindeman (1956)
        suggested the following types of questions be asked when a course
        of study was completed by the adult learner and he wanted to
        discover if he learned anything:
               1.      Has it increased my usable fund of reliable
                       information?   
               2.      Have I changed my vocabulary?   Have I, in other
                       words, learned how to make use of some new
                       concepts or principles?
               3.      Have I acquired any new skills?
               4.      Have I learned how to sort out the moral
                       ingredients in the various situations considered
                       in this study group?  Have I learned to think in
                       terms of values?
               5.      Have I altered any of my attitudes, or beliefs?  
        
               Tough (1979) described the six basic principles adult
        educators must follow to create effective adult learning
        environments.
        
        PRINCIPLE 1.   First, he will not feel or act as though he is on
                       a pedestal--superior in all ways to all learners. 
                       Instead, he will comfortably accept the fact that
                       there are differences in status on various
                       dimensions between him and the learners.  He will
                       realize "the importance of respecting the
                       person-to-person parity which exists between
                       teacher and students," to use Mccluskey's phrase
                       (1964, p.166).  He will not feel the need or urge
                       to show off, bluff, pretend to know all the
                       answers, or pretend to be superior in all ways. 
                       He is unlikely to act in an overly    
                       authoritarian, dictatorial, or arrogant manner. 
                       If the learner's expectations tend to force him
                       onto a pedestal, he will resist or discuss these
                       expectations.
        
        PRINCIPLE 2.   The instructor's feelings of equality with the
                       learners will probably lead to his interest in
                       establishing friendly relationships with them,
                       before, during, and after the group sessions. 
                       Their conversations will deal not only with the
                       subject matter of the course or workshop, but     
        
                       also with many other things they have in common:
                       housing, cars, family, travel, problems,interests.
        
                       He expects to learn from them, just as they learn
                       from him.
        
        PRINCIPLE 3.   The equality may be reflected in the seating
                       arrangement.  In the traditional classroom,
                       learners face the instructor, because it does not
                       matter whether the learners can see and hear one
                       another.  The basic assumption is that the
                       instructor knows all the answers, and will be the
                       only one with much experience and knowledge to
                       contribute to the group.  When the instructor is
                       aware of the wealth of resources and knowledge
                       among the learners, though, he will probably
                       arrange the seating so they can see and hear one
                       another.  In addition, he will probably make   
                       some effort to help them become well acquainted.
        
        PRINCIPLE 4.   The instructor may be eager to have the learners
                       assume certain responsibilities in planning the
                       learning activities.  If he accepts their
                       competence and experience, he will realize that
                       the specific content and learning activities can
                       be made even more appropriate as a result of their
                       suggestions.       
        
        PRINCIPLE 5.   The teacher may emphasize that any superiority he
                       has is strictly limited to the one area of
                       expertise, as suggested by Geer (1968).  He may
                       clearly expect some reciprocal help and thus be a
                       learner and receiver as well as a helper.  He may
                       not call himself a teacher.  He may let he
                       learners take much of the initiative in asking  
                       questions and setting directions.
        
        PRINCIPLE 6.   If the instructor realizes that he is
                       approximately equal to the learners in his group,
                       he will probably not experience the difficulties
                       and embarrassment that sometimes arise because an
                       instructor is inferior in some way to some of      
                      his students.  If the instructor accepts equality
                       between teacher and learner as a normal occurrence
                       in adult groups, if he has sufficient competence
                       in teaching the central subject matter, and if he
                       has a pleasant, friendly, demeanor, is unlikely to
                       encounter resistance.  Instead, he will probably
                       be accepted readily by the learners despite his
                       youth, lack of experience, lower rank, or        
                       whatever (pp.150-151).
        
