It is the passage discussing indigenous learning that stood out for me with regard to the theories of adult learning and development. In summing up the passage, it is the holistic learning aspect which incorporates the mind, body and, spirit as it connects to nature. It is social learning based on community, family and one’s ancestors. This is where storytelling and passing down of information from one generation to the next is done through traditions within a culture. The indigenous learning theory reports that informal learning has equal or greater value to formal learning (Kasworm, Rose and Ross-Gordon, 2010, para. p. 42).
My interpretation of indigenous learning includes the view that knowledge is shared as one learns through narratives, storytelling, rituals, and modelling. It is about passing on wisdom to help empower an adult learner in the many different facets of their daily life. It is based on wholeness as a community and/or family as Ntseane (2007) noted, “Learning in Botswana…incorporates family, community, and the spirits of one’s ancestors” (p. 42). When cultural values merge with critical thinking the result is problem solving and decision making.
Each adult learner brings their personal cultural context into the learning environment. It is the responsibility of the educator to know their students, backgrounds, culture, and values in order to successful teach. According to Santor, Reid, Crawford, & Simpson (2011), “Really knowing students means knowing what knowledge they bring to the classroom and how their cultural practices, values and beliefs shape them as learners and, as producers of knowledge” (p. 67).
The chosen concept applies to my experience of listening and telling stories. I personally have no family (except my four kids with paws, cats). My close “family” are my friends, yet my larger “family” is being part of the LGBTIQQ (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual. transgender, queer and questioning) community. Each individual who is “family” has their stories to tell, the good, bad, and indifferent. When we listen, we learn and hopefully connect to the narrative and take that new knowledge to use for future occurrences in our lives. In my opinion, this is the beginning of social change for the positive as we learn to become more humanistic and compassionate through oral presentation.
How can we confirm that indigenous learning is beneficial? Take a minute and think back to your parent, grandparent or other elders and the stories they told about how they grew up? Do you recall details? Then you have learned about a piece of history which stayed in your memory.
References
Kasworm, C., Rose, A. and Ross-Gordon, J.M. (2010). Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
Santor, N., Reid, J.A., Crawford, L. & Simpson, L. (2011). Teaching indigenous children: Listening to and learning from indigenous teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36(10), 65-76. Retrieved from, http://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1556&context=ajte
I, Danelle am an adult lifelong learner. I am like a tree whose roots are grounded deep in the earth as the sun light gives me the nutrients of knowledge and the rain provides my growth. My branches are extensions of myself as each limb symbolizes my past experiences.
As an adult learner I am a statistic. I am considered a nontraditional student due to my age of forty-eight. I am part of many adult educational participation groups within the formal learning environment such as, online students in distance education programs that totaled nearly 1.5 million as of 2006 (Kasworm, C., Rose, A. & Ross-Gordon, J.M., 2010, para. 25) and within the college institution of Empire State College in 2013, I am included in more than sixty percent of students who study part time and sixty-one percent who are white.” (para. Empire State College, 2013).
As I reflect on being an adult learner there are certain characteristics of the learning community which I possess. I utilize my past experiences as resources to build upon my new learning endeavors. Throughout my life I have acquired skills and knowledge outside of the formal education setting which has led to personal reflections and critical thinking. Coombs, Prosser, & Ahmed (1973) notes:
In addition, Adult and Continuing Education occurs in a variety of settings, including formal (educational settings), nonformal (organized activities outside educational organizations, such as in businesses and industry, churches and professional associations), and informal (learning in everyday settings contexts (Kasworm, Rose & Ross-Gordon, 2010, p. 5).
It is within these various realms that mistakes were made which resulted in my successful learning progress.
Furthermore, as an aging adult learner and a baby boomer I am associated with the changing demographics within our society since this generation has now become the largest in our country. I believe that due to today’s technology and medical research one theory comes to mind by Swain (1995), , “…our life expectances have increased throughout the last half of the 20th century and is believed to be higher than any increases from recorded history until 1900” (Crawford, 2004).
Changing demographics have a connection with continuous lifelong learning by adults, such as me. According to Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner (2007), “For the first time in our society, adults outnumber youth, there are more older adults, the population is better educated than ever before, and there is more cultural and ethnic diversity” (p.7). It is this group of learners that will find their educational needs increasing. It is reported that aging adults pace of learning may decrease with age, but the concentration of learning tends to increase as research by Knowles (1980) revealed that, “…the decline was that of speed of learning, not intellectual power and that even this was minimized by continual use of the intellect (Crawford, D.L., 2004). I have a desire to take control of my learning and to expand my knowledge in social change while participating in a formal learning setting. According to Newman (2005), “social action “occurs when people act collectively to bring about change” (Kasworm, Rose and Ross-Gordon, 2010, P. 7).
I have been a formal learning adult student for the past twenty years at Empire State College and have confronted many barriers for instance, being a primary caretaker for my mother, which in turn, changed my family responsibilities and educational goals. I have encountered many of life’s transitions and have traveled down the old-fashioned path only to stop unexpectedly due to family medical issues. Johnston and Rivera (1965) acknowledged external barriers as, “…influences more or less external to the individual or at least beyond the individual’s control (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007, p.66). Yet, I always return even as my goals were in a constant state of evolving and changing. My motivation has always been to better myself, my career and to be educationally well rounded while sharing my knowledge with others.
I have a combination of preferred learning methods that are uniquely my own. First, I am strongly a kinesthetic learner by touching, feelings, moving my hands and using all my senses. For example, if I have to spell a word, I need to write it out on paper. Second, I am a visual learner as I learn through visual illustrations for instance, in seeing images, pictures and also I happen to be an avid note taker. Third, I am an auditory learner as I self-talk and acquire new information by reading it out loud. Lastly, I am a verbal learner. I enjoy writing and expressing myself, but I have always been challenged by the action of reading. In knowing my styles I will be able to study more efficiently hence, learn more effectively. In doing so, I will begin to understand other adult learner’s styles to help teach them on their own levels while examining their strengths and weaknesses.
Presently, my goals are to teach, inspire, and guide other adult learners towards their own meaning of success. I want my knowledge to increase daily leading me to the comprehension of what it means to be an educator of adults in today’s contemporary world. I want to teach adult learners about the controversy regarding gender and the binary system within our society. I want to be the teacher who educates, learns from students, and is able to create change. My current educational priorities are based on learning and understanding how to create change in social welfare in order to serve the community. I want to learn how to build a learning environment that incorporates the different learning styles such as, providing sensory (hard evidences), visual (PowerPoint presentations), kinesthetic (field trips), auditory (lectures/discussions), and verbal (expressing through writing and learning through the written word)
My strengths as an adult learner begins with being a diverse individual based on my past and present experiences whether it is formal, informal, nonformal, community based, spiritual, indigenous and online learning. I am self-directed in my approach to how I learn and have acquired strong literacy/critical thinking skills throughout my life. I am an analyzer with a curious nature and have a passion for knowledge. I am confident in my time management skills and know that learning increases my confidence as an adult learner whereas; my weaknesses revolve around the act of reading information.
There is one major factor that has had the most significant impact on my learning goals and experiences; it has been my marriage/divorce with Charles, a Female to Male transgender. Through this experience I found a need and passion to explore what is the meaning of gender.
I believe that the different theories provided by the theorists are sufficient information on adult learning and found nothing that was not applicable. The textbook descriptions fit me as well as others whom I interact with as adult learners by reporting diversity being the key, participation within the learning and intellectual commons and finally, we are all lifelong learners. We commit to continue learning because “the trouble with the future is that it usually arrives before we’re ready for it” (Arnold H. Glasow).
References
Arnold H. Glasow Quote: Retrieved September 10, 2013 from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/arnold_h_glasow.html.
Bo Ingeborg’s perspective on the philosophy of life-long learning is a, “cradle to grave” progression of human potential through a constantly supportive process which encourages and inspires individuals to obtain all the comprehension, morals, abilities and understanding they will need throughout their lifetime. This knowledge helps people to relate within themselves self-confidence, motivation and satisfaction in all roles, experiences and environments. It is the ongoing development of maintaining the mind in active pursuit of new experiences and knowledge. This philosophy portrays a never ending journey. As eachhigh pointis passed on the highway to knowledge, another objective comes into view on the horizon. Life is a continuous learning cycle. There is no comparison to the amount of knowledge we take in through formal education compared to informal knowledge.
It is the attitude that it’s never too early or too late to incorporate new knowledge into your life. This belief describes the opportunities for intellectual development, cultural stimulation and personal growth which can open the door to a world of information. The viewpoint is based on individuals in society becoming better rounded citizens by furnishing them with learning opportunities at any age whether it is instilled in the home, through formal education, work or in religious environments. Formal and informal lifelong learning experiences can enlighten each other through the implementation of constructive approaches to learning. The curriculum in formal learning facilities can support the development of acquiring deep learning and critical thinking.
From the past, present and future we are seeing that formal education facilities are significantly changing along with the learners. Presently, more than ever before, one can find numerous students of diverse races and ages with differences in their national and heritage backgrounds/beliefs. Since there is such a range of learners, it is essential for knowledge to be colorful as well. The obtaining of knowledge always follows the constructs set by those who attain it. “Every student, regardless of their background is entitled to the building blocks of greater knowledge.”
To accomplish this, knowledge must incorporate critical-thinking and problem-solving capabilities as well as the competence for reflective learning. Critical thinking is described as “Reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on what to believe or do” (Marshall and Rowland 1998:33). This is important for a student’s development since it helps them to become open to a diversity of perspectives, which is necessary beyond formal education and into the workplace. R. Paul described the phases of learning as, “The three stages of learning which form the basis for lifelong learning are: experiencing information literacy (learning), reflecting on the experience (being aware of learning) and applying the experience to a new context (transfer of learning)”. Individuals learn not only in formal settings, but also through non-formal situations. The key elements are neither school nor university taught, but are acquired in social groups or in the family. These life-long learning competencies guide an individual’s development through the years; they are personal, analytical and communicative. It is the capability of utilizing logic, the ability of writing, speaking, listening and the ability to display emotional balances which are all characteristics of the progression of knowledge within a student. Through the process of life-long learning an individual follows the path into life-long education.
The idea of lifelong education was first fully expressed in this century by Basil Yeaxlee (1929). He along with Eduard Lindeman (1926) provided an intellectual basis for a comprehensive understanding of education as a continuing aspect of everyday life.
It is seen as a development of citizens to achieve additional comprehension and aptitude which can be advantageous to them and contributory to the society. Life-long learning enriches one’s intelligence to grasp the basics of learning and enhances one’s soul to advance goodwill towards the society. This view point suggests that a critical practice of lifelong learning is steered by the concept of helping individuals become more open, responsible, citizen learners and workers who are capable of thinking, speaking and expand their knowledge in life, learning and work situations.
These individuals have a great impact to the lives of others. Although these people are different in nature and character they symbolize a prevalent purpose intended for the common good. Life-long learners view this process of attaining knowledge through further education as a responsibility to society withstanding all of its burden and difficulties.
Life-long learning is by now a reality for numerous adults. Some engage in learning to keep up with the rapid societal changes, others to improve their knowledge and capabilities. However, we know from work carried out in diverse places that a significant amount of adults do not contribute in the lifelong learning process. Some face hurtles that arise from a variety of reasons such as: financial set backs or family/home issues as well as the available learning opportunities which are poorly adapted to their learning needs or the situations in which they find themselves.
In the 21st century, employees need to be life-long learners, adapting continuously to changed opportunities and labor market demands of the knowledge economy. Life-long learning therefore, is not a luxury for any nation. Today, the educational systems in most countries will have to advance in that direction. More programs are needed to advance the lifelong learning philosophy which includes not only investigating ways of increasing the quality of secondary education, but also improving the guidelines to support different universities, programs, and procedures that permit all individuals to access education, whether to advance their skills for employments purposes or to satisfy their thirst for knowledge.
Whether we teaching our children (pedagogy) or examining how adults learn (andragogy), learning is fundamental to growing…growing is fundamental to life. Lifelong learning throws the axiom “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” out the door.”
We commit to continue learning because “the trouble with the future is that it usually arrives before we’re ready for it” ~ Arnold H. Glasow
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References
I am the eternal student...but I am not alone 
