Leading Adult Educators

Chris Cathcart posted to: Group Three and Four
Mary Henehan - posted to: Groups Three and Four
Rob Hill posted to:
Ben Ranfeld posted : Group 3 and 4

Leading Adult Educators

Chris Cathcart

Rob Hill

Mary Henehan

Ben Ranfeld

Ball State University

Adult and Community Education

February 17, 2014

Leading Adult Educators

            The volumes of work produced on the subject of Adult Education is as unmeasurable as it is varied.  Many great leaders have provided their insights as an effort to expand the field in a way that supports better understanding of the adult student with needs that are vastly different from traditional concepts.  This paper seeks to spotlight the contributions made by two great leaders in education, Paulo Freire and Malcolm Knowles.  As researchers and educators both of these men made great strides to strengthen our concept of Adult learning while along the way providing frameworks for learning that are still used today. 

            Although they represent different focus areas, Freire and Knowles are both widely considered to be pioneers of the field.  Their diverse backgrounds are as dissimilar as they are fascinating however they are joined by a common thread, the need to understand what makes a successful learning experience for a given group and how can that knowledge be used in learning settings.  Here we provide an overview of each one starting with histories and perspectives, following through their work and ending with a summary of their impact and what implications can be drawn from their work. 

This work is not meant to be an exhaustive review nor is it a critical analysis, although some consideration is given to shortfalls of their work.   Focusing on each individual’s body of work should provide a clear understanding of their importance to the field and how they are still influencing the work presented today.

Paulo Freire

In 1999, after the death of Paulo Freire, an entire issue of Democracy and Education paid tribute to one of the foremost educators of the twentieth century. Such was his influence that Wilson (1999) memorialized him in saying, “Our remembrances therefore, to be complete, must offer, beyond reflection, concrete exemplars of the sorts of actions through which the tenacity, love, and humanity of Paulo Freire can continue to educate.”

Having lived a life in an oppressed socio-economic system among poor rural field workers and laborers, Freire devoted an abundance of his life toward helping the plight of these people.   The Pernambuco province of Brazil was a volatile region rife with political upheaval.   Unrest became more common and a coup in 1964 forced Freire into prison for seventy-five days for “what the new regime considered to be subversive elements in his teaching” (Paulo Freire Biography, 2014).  A subsequent coup freed him and he fled to Chile. While in Chile, he worked for democratic and agrarian reform (Cook, 2001).  These life-changing events left a profound impact on Freire that is evidenced in his works and carries heavy influence in all of education today.

Profile

In September 1921, Paulo Freire was the fourth child born to devote Catholic parents living in Recife, capitol city of the Pernambuco province located in the northeastern region of Brazil (Cook, 2001).

Cook (2001) states that Edeltrudes Freire Snows, Paulo’s mother, was a firm believer in education and taught her son to read and write before he entered school.  When he was 13, his father passed away leaving the family destitute.  Challenging circumstances did not deter him from pursuing his education.  While still in high school, he became a grammar tutor.

He and his first wife Elza, also an educator, raised five children.   He graduated from the Oswaldo College Cross and University of Recife with degrees in education and law.  He received twenty-seven honorary degrees.  Early in his career, he was a welfare worker. In 1964, he was appointed National Coordinator of Literacy.  The campaign was targeted towards those living in rural agricultural areas and the urban poor (Cook, 2001).

For much of his life, Nita, his second wife believed that Freire struggled with depression perhaps stemming from extreme living conditions of his youth (Wilson, 1999).  The poverty of his youth shaped his philosophy for life, education and serving the poor.

Perspectives

            Groves (2011, p. 702) believes Freire’s perspectives are based upon his “periphery” experience with field workers in “Latin America reality.”   His beliefs align with “existentialism, phenomenology, catholic thinking, and obviously the Marxist tradition” (Groves, 2011, p. 702).  Through literacy, he believed he could empower others to make change, but not in the traditional revolutionary models. 

            Freire believed that “autonomy is a condition arising from the ethical and responsible engagement with decision making”: that we are “unfinished in our development as human beings” and that it was important to develop a “critical consciousness” (Weiner, 2003, p. 90).  A central concept to his educational perspective was that curiosity is the “keystone of the educational process” (Weiner, 2003, p. 90).  He helped others to believe in hope toward “a political, social, individual, and spiritual horizon not yet known” (Weiner, 2003, p. 90).  His perspectives clashed sometimes with the concepts of capitalism and trickle-down economics as his beliefs aligned with “democracy from below” (Weiner, 2003, p.  90).  Weiner (2003) notes that his emphasis on transformative leadership, whereby “power and authority begins with questions of justice, democracy, and the dialect between individual accountability and social responsibility,”  allowed him to limit his influence and “power through democratic processes” (Weiner, 2003, p. 91).  This ability to change where the influence was derived helped in empowering the oppressed he sought to support.

            Schugurensky (1998) posits that Freire manifested “anger and rigor in denouncing structures of oppression and immense love and creativity in annunciating a better world” (Schugurensky, 1998, p. 1).  His disdain for educational models that he termed “banking education” is evident in his writings (Schugurensky, 1998).  He believed that the teacher as expert and student as ignorant form of education lead to oppressive style learning.  Conversely, he believed in the problem posing model and adult literacy (Schugurensky, 1998).  He advocated not only “reading the word, but the world” (Bentley, 1999).  Part of this concept was to question what was being presented and to think deeply as opposed to accepting concepts without critique.

Contributions

            Freire’s contributions are “recognized worldwide for his profound impact on educational thought and practice” (Bentley, 1999).  His emphasis on helping the oppressed has carried on since his death in 1997.  Today there are “thousands of books, articles and dissertations written about Freire, full of descriptions, interpretations and critiques” (Schugurensky, 1998, p. 2).  His primary work was Pedagogy of the Oppressed and his explanation of banking education led to his model of education that has the “teacher as facilitator” and “the traditional class becomes a cultural circle where the emphasis shifts from lecture to problem posing strategies, and the content, previously removed from the learners experience, becomes relevant to the group” (Schugurensky, 1998, p. 3).  This contribution to education today is a highly used strategy in adult education.

Impact

            Freire believed that it was impossible to separate politics and education and his work within adult education with oppressed workers can be linked to “issues of authority and freedom, and oppression and social change” that are embedded in adult education (Schugurensky, 1998, p. 2).  Bentley (1999) may have best demonstrated the lasting impressions and contributions of Freire when he held that:

As long as the struggle for more humane educational practices, for deeper insights into constructions of power and oppression, and the impulse for people to invent their own identities and realities exist-Freirean praxis will challenge every person toward personal and social liberation, both in thought and deed.

Implications

            By using Freire’s models we could, as a society, look at how certain groups are oppressed in the workforce, economy and education-both adult and traditional education.  If, as Freire believed, there is a banking model that serves to keep others from rising from their conditions, it is important to look at how adult education can serve to empower persons to understand situations that might keep them from advancing.  Shifting the focus to problem solving and dialogue in situations is a proactive stance that would be considered admirable in empowering the underprivileged.  The concept of power from below can serve adult education as those that desire training or social change through action can be heard.  Uniting together with a vision toward change is a concept not exclusive to Freire in adult education but nonetheless a powerful force.  Freire himself believed that his opinions changed over time and he was proud that they had.  We can learn that in adult education there are opportunities to change; we do not have to stay the path because it was our original intent but rather we can adjust as we learn more.

Malcom S. Knowles

To state that Malcolm Knowles was an influential figure in adult education would and should be considered a gross understatement.  In a retrospective of his work, John A. Henschke, Associate Professor of Adult education at the University of Missouri, St. Louis underscores Knowles’s significance with very powerful words.  “Malcolm S. Knowles stands as a giant catalyst at the juncture - past, present, and future- of andragogy (the art and science of helping adults learn) within the field of Adult Education and Human Resource Development.” (Henschke, Fall 2008).  

While Knowles is considered the father of Andragogy based on his efforts to define the discipline, his work is truly the culmination of years of study under great educators such as Eduard Lindeman and Carl Rogers.  It also spans a range of practice areas including Humanistic and behavioral Psychology as well as training and development.    

Although his work in the field of Adult Education is highly debated, especially with respect to Andragogy, Knowles’s work remains a guiding force in the pursuit of a more perfect system for helping adults learn to this day.  Beyond just this Knowles also pioneered study in the area of self-directed learning further pushing the boundaries of what is considered adult education and learning strategy.  It is no wonder he is said to be “the” central figure in US adult education in the second half of the twentieth century (Smith, 2002).

Profile

Malcolm Knowles was born in Livingston, Montana in 1913 where he lived until the age of 12 when his family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida.  Participating in the Boy Scouts and his mother’s example, which encouraged him to be a more caring and empathetic person, helped shaped Knowles through high school (Smith, 2002).  In 1930 Knowles started attending Harvard University on scholarship where he met his future wife, Hulda.  While at Harvard “he became President of the Harvard Liberal Club, general secretary of the New England Model League of Nations, and President of the Phillips Brooks House (Harvard’s social service agency)” (Smith, 2002).  

Knowles graduated in 1934 with plans to enter the Foreign Service.  He enrolled in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and passed the Foreign Service exam, but there was a three year wait for placement.  He and Hulda married in 1935, and Knowles joined the National Youth Administration (NYA) in Massachusetts as their Director of Related Training.  Knowles worked with local businesses to find what skills were needed of its workers, created courses to teach those skills, and recruited potential employees to enroll in his courses.  It was while working for the NYA that Knowles met Eduard Lindeman, another leading adult educator, who became a mentor to Knowles while supervising training at the NYA.  Knowles read Lindeman’s book Meaning of Adult Education which greatly affected and inspired his ideas on adult education.  

In 1940, he left the NYA to become the Director of Adult Education at the Boston YMCA.  Knowles was drafted into the Navy in 1943 and used his skills as a communications officer until his discharge in 1946.  He moved to Chicago with his family and started working on his M.A. at the University of Chicago while working as the director of adult education for the Central Chicago YMCA.  It was here Knowles met Cyril Houle, his program advisor and another leading adult educator, and Carl Rogers, a founding father to the humanistic approach of psychology.  He earned his M.A. in 1949, became an associate professor at Boston University in 1959, completed his Ph.D. in 1960, and joined North Carolina’s faculty as professor of adult education in 1974.  Knowles was the executive director of the Adult Education Association of the U.S.A., and helped to pioneer the field of laboratory education (Bell, et all., 1989).  After retiring in 1979, Dr. Knowles stayed active in the field of adult education as a consultant to many different groups and organizations throughout the world.  In 1985 Malcolm Knowles was inducted into the HRD Hall of Fame.

Perspectives

Malcolm Knowles as an educator believed that adults learn and experience learning in a way that is fundamentally different from children (Robertson, 2002).  Drawing on the influences of his early mentors, Knowles was able to identify specific characteristics that identify adult learners.  Finally drawing the line between pedagogy, the art and science of teaching children and andragogy, the art and science of teaching adults; Knowles was able to blaze a new train in a field that had little consideration before his work.

Key to his work were the six assumptions that he developed to identify who adult learners were and what identified them as such.  Knowles believed that these six assumptions were critical to the development of all programs for adults (Merriam et. al, p. 85).  The goal was to create a comprehensive theory that would stand as the umbrella for adult learning.  This goal has been met with considerable debate over the years and is still hotly contested in current research.  The question of whether andragogy is an actual theory or just a set of assumptions remains unsatisfactorily answered (McGrath, 2009).

Knowles was also known to his friends and colleagues as a very authentic person.  “Few know Malcolm professionally without feeling they also know him personally” (Bell, et all., 1989).  Knowles took the time to listen carefully to what people said.  He truly believed in his assumptions of adult theory in the need to foster a safe place for people to share their experiences, and he treated everyone as equals.  Throughout his career, Knowles strove to be authentic in his interactions with students while facilitating workshops and learning sessions.

Contributions

            Malcolm Knowles accomplished several firsts in his field.  “He was the first to chart the rise of the adult education movement in the United States; the first to develop a statement of informal adult education practice; and the first to attempt a comprehensive theory of adult education” (Smith, 2002).  While Knowles did not invent andragogy, he did bring the term “…into the training vernacular” (Bell, et all., 1989).  His theory of how adults learn “provided a set of assumptions for the fledgling field of adult education.  It continues to produce research and discussion" (Baumgartner, Lee, Birden, Flowers, 2003).

            Self-directed learning goes hand-in-hand with andragogy and transformational learning.  According to Knowles (1975) it is a process:

…in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes. (p. 18)

While this linear process may seem simple and obvious, it helped to provide the framework for how adults learn and how adults are instructed in informal settings.

Impact

            As previously stated the work of Malcolm Knowles has lasting implications for the field of Adult Education and Learning.  His work redefined the ideas of adult learning by drawing a clear line between adult and child learners.   Knowles’s expansion of the established ideas of Andragogy continue to shape our ideas about adult learners.  It is clear however that his ideas while well formed evolved over time to consider pedagogy and andragogy as bookends of a large scale continuum (Merriam et. al. 2007).  According to Smith (2002), Knowles’ work was complimentary and inclusive.  He was always willing to listen to another perspective and was willing to change his point of view.  This speaks volumes to his impact as an educator.

            His work also led to the development of self-directed learning theory.  Focused on the adult learners need for control and purpose in their individual learning experience, self-directed learning drives this point home by providing suggestions on how to create an ideal learning environment that is supportive and nurturing of the learning experience.  Either of these theories taken alone would represent significant advancement in the field of education, taken together they underscore the importance of Malcolm Knowles as a pioneer in education.

Implications

            Using Knowles’s six assumptions of adult learning we are able to better understand the motivations of adults seeking educational opportunities and develop curricula that better meet their needs.  Although there is wide debate about the theories of Andragogy and Self-directed learning it is clear that achieve the goal of providing a framework through which program development can occur.  The value placed on life experience and the learning environment also have key implications for the classroom and the instructor, who is in this model a facilitator of information sharing rather than a gate keeper for stored resources.  In this work there are implications for classroom setup and the greater question of the importance of self concept for adult learners.  Using this information we can better understand motivations for learning and have greater impact in learning outcomes for adults.

Table 1. Summary of Leading Adult Educators

	Paulo Freire	Malcolm Shepherd Knowles
Time period	1940-1997	1913-1997
Background	·         Sought justice for impoverished through education. ·         Created awareness and change for those with low SES. ·         Used adult Education to address literacy to empower and inform those affected	Born in 1913 in Montana.  Knowles worked as an adult educator, professor and consultant his entire adult life.  He authored over 230 articles and 18 books.  He is considered the father of andragogy as he was the first to create a theory of adult education based on it.
Profile	·         Influenced heavily by poor economic conditions of youth, Depression ·         Studied at Brazilian Universities ·         Educational Director at universities ·         Helped worker programs	Earned a B.A. from Harvard University and both his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.  He spent 14 years as an associate professor at Boston University and was a full professor at North Carolina State University until his retirement where he continued to stay active as professor emeritus.
Perspectives	·         Socialist Christian ·         Empowering the oppressed ·         Dialogue for Understanding ·         Literacy for empowering	·         Authenticity – Knowles strove to be authentic and not fall into the trap of playing the role of scholar, professor or trainer.  He deeply respected fellow learners and found the most success when simply being himself. ·         Six assumptions of adult learning
Contributions	·         Oppressed topic that has produced extensive research by others due to Freire ·         Challenged Banking Education ·         Emphasis from direct instruction to facilitator model	·         Created a comprehensive theory of adult education based on andragogy ·         Self-directed learning ·         Tracked the adult education movement in the United States
Impact	·         Created awareness of opportunity for oppressed ·         Demonstrated that all can learn ·         Social Change movement ·         Created dialogue for equity	·         Established field of informal adult learning ·         Introduced learning contracts ·         Enhanced the idea of adults ad independent learners in need of control in their education ·         Redefined learning as a continuum of learning from childhood to adult
Implications	·         Created awareness of oppressed with focus on solutions to economics, literacy, equality ·         Power from below ·         United visions for oppressed	·         Uncovered need for unifying theory of adult and learning ·         Provided framework for curriculum development ·         Invited discussion of self-concept and motivation as they relate to learning in adults ·         Redefined the role of the educator

References

Baumgartner, L., Lee, M., Birden, S., Flowers, D. (2003). Adult Learning Theory: A Primer. Information Series No. 392. Center on Education and Training for Employment.

Bell, Chip R., and friends (1989). Malcolm. Training and Development Journal, 43(10), 38-43.

Bentley, L. (1999).  A brief biography of Paulo Freire. Retrieved from

            http://ptoweb.org/aboutpto/a-brief-biography-of-paulo-freire/

Cook, S. (2001).  Paulo Freire, Ph.D.  personal vita.  Retrieved from http://www-distance.syr.edu/pvitapf.html

Groves, T. (2010). Looking up to Paulo Freire: Education and political culture during the Spanish transition to democracy. Paedagogica Historica, 47(5), 702. doi.org/10.1080/00309230.2011.602348

Henschke, J. A. (2008). Reflections on the Experiences of Learning with Dr. Malcolm Shepherd. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, 22(3-4), 44-52.

Knowles, M. S. (1975). Self-Directed Learning. A guide for learners and teachers. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall/Cambridge.

McGrath, V. (2009). Reviewing the Evidence on How Adult Students Learn: An Examination of Knowles' Model of Andragogy. Adult Learner: The Irish Journal Of Adult And Community Education, 99-110.

Merriam, Sharan B., Caffarella, Rosemary S., Baumgartner, Lisa M. (2007). Learning in Adulthood: A comprehensive Guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Paulo Freire Biography. (2014). Freire Institute. Retrieved from http://www.freire.org/paulo-freire/paulo-freire-biography

Roberson, Daniel N., Jr. (2002). Andragogy in Color. (ED465047). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/

Schugurensky, D. (1998). The legacy of Paulo Freire: A critical review of his contributions. Convergence, 31(1-2), 1-3.

Smith, M. K. (2002).  Malcolm Knowles, informal adult education, self-direction and andragogy.  The Encyclopedia of Informal Education.  Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-knowl.htm

Weiner, E. (2003). Secretary Paulo Freire and the democratization of power: Toward a theory of transformative leadership. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 35(5), 90-1. doi.org/10.1111/1469-5812.00007

Wilson, T. (1999).  Introduction to privilege, poverty, and power: Remembering Paulo Freire's work. Democracy & Education. 13(1),  2.