Adult Education Essay

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MODULE: TDLAEDL ASSIGNMENT NUMBER: 01 UNIQUE NUMBER: 744241 TOTAL MARKS: 100 DATE: 26TH APRIL 2013 NAME: MS BRIGITTE LOOSZ Question 1.1 - Explain the meaning of Adult Education Adult Education is understood to be distinct from Childhood education, in that it is adults who are involved in the learning process. The term “Adult” is ascribed to those who have passed from the phase of Childhood and Youth and are functioning members of society. These adults very often have children of their own. The field of adult education has been termed as Andragogy by Knowles (Merriam, Caffarella and Baumgartner, 2007:84) as opposed to Pedagogy, which is understood as the education of children. Adult Education is the process by which adults continue to learn and become knowledgeful throughout their lives. It is an education which is considered to be life-long learning (Coombs, as cited by Merriam et al, 2007:29). It is a field in which the growth and development of adult learners is the primary consideration. This life-long learning can occur in three contexts: formal, non-formal and informal. Formal is understood to be through institutions, non-formal settings like community or indigenous settings and informal simply through the process of life itself. Adult education is characterised by the need of the adult to learn and grow and develop through life’s circumstances. Adult education recognises that learning continues throughout one’s life and does not end when leaving school, college or university. When involved in the education of adults, facilitators need to be recognise the prior learning of the adults and take into consideration the vast wealth of experience and knowledge that the adults have accumulated through their lives. Question 1.2 - Explain why Adults participate in adult learning programs From the day we are born, we begin learning, and

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