Educational Theories
Reviewed: January 2008
This page has been kept for reference.
It will no longer be updated by ICVET.
Anyone who has done tertiary study in the field of education will be aware that there is a very large body of information and research to draw from. Educational theories are common and sometimes conflicting. For the novice and experienced educators alike, finding your way through the maze of information can be confusing.
Educational theories underpin our teaching practice through grounding our actions and assisting us to evaluate our outcomes. As educationalists, the theories help us to reflect upon our teaching approach and to understand why our approach did or did not work.
One of the central notions of adult education is that adults learn in a different way than children. While this is still contested by some, there is no doubt that adults have different motivations for learning, have life experience to draw on, and generally learn for a purpose.
In 1833 the German educator Alexander Kapp coined the term 'Andragogik' to describe elements of Plato’s education theory. Today we use the term andragogy to mean the art and science of teaching adults as distinct from pedagogy, which usually refers to the art and science of teaching children.
This topic provides links to web sites that help explain the many educational theories.
Websites
Andragogy.net
ANDRAGOGY.net
is operated by Prof Dr Jost Reischmann, Chair of Andragogy, Bamberg University,
Germany. The site supports 'international colleagues working
at universities and colleges in the subject of adult and continuing education'.
Here you will find a history of andragogy, its meaning, context and function along with a list of mainly paper based references and further readings. A good starting point for an insight into the theories on adult learning.
Explorations in Learning & Instruction: The Theory Into Practice Database
Wow! 50 learning theories in one site. All you have to do is scroll down the list, click on the one that interests you and bingo - there is the explanation. You’ll also find heaps of information on learning concepts and domains. I guarantee there’s loads of information here that you never knew you didn’t know!
Learning Theories
I challenge anyone to find a more comprehensive list of learning theories. This one has everything (and I mean everything!) that you could ever need to know on learning theories and those who developed them.
The Encyclopedia of Educational Technology
Click on the Table of Contents link to access a collection of short multimedia articles on a variety of topics related to the fields of instructional design and education and training. The primary audiences for the EET are students and novices to intermediate practitioners in these fields, who need a brief overview as a starting point to further research on specific topics.
Hermeneutics
If you’d like to find out exactly what hermeneutics means and its relationship to education – follow this link.
How Adults Learn
This is a terrific site if you’re looking for an explanation of how adults learn, what is andragogy, learning styles, learning resources and all sorts of other goodies. Take your time to browse through the links – there’s a lot to discover.
jasonOhler.com Wisdom Lists - Education, kids, media
Read about important ideas, theories, events and timelines collected over many years. Part I covers education researchers and theorists while Part II covers education practitioners and prognosticators.
A Critique of Andragogy
Prepared by Mark K. Smith First listing: July 1996. Last update: April 08, 2000 - this article points out some inconsistencies in Malcolm Knowles version of andragogy and contests many of his assumptions about adult learners and learning.
Publications
BROOKFIELD, SD 2004, The power of critical theory : Liberating adult learning and teaching. Jossey-Bass Higher Education Series, California.
The book presents powerful arguments for the importance of critical theory in fostering the kind of learning that leads to a truly democratic society, and it explores a number of tasks for adult learners including learning to challenge ideology, contest hegemony, unmask power, overcome alienation, learn liberation, reclaim reason, and practice democracy.
BROOKFIELD, SD 1991, Understanding and facilitating adult learning: A comprehensive analysis of principles and effective practices. Jossey-Bass Higher Education Series, California.
'When adults teach and learn in one another's company, they find themselves engaging in a challenging, passionate, and creative activity...' Brookfield takes a fresh look at critical reflection and offers a comprehensive review of the research on how adults learn. This is the first book to receive both the Imogene Okes Award and the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education.
CHAPPELL,
Clive and Hawke, Geof 2003, An
Industry-Led System: Issues for Policy, Practice and Practitioners,
Report 7 - Integrating Report, OVAL Research.
This synthesis report brings together the key findings from all stages of the research and outlines the key issues for contemporary VET policy, practice and practitioners that emerge.
Changing
pedagogy working paper series index. OVAL Research Publications
A series of eight working papers commissioned by OVAL in 2003, the papers explore change through the lens of pedagogy and vocational learning.
HUITT, W 1999 Conation as an important factor of mind. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta State University.
If you’ve been involved in adult education during the past 10 or 15 years then you will have heard of the three domains of learning – cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Recently a fourth domain has emerged - the conative domain, which deals with a person’s will or volition to engage in something. It includes motivation and related ideas about why people do things. It is the link between a person knowing something, having feelings about that knowledge and actually doing something with it.
MEZIROW, J 2000, Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series, California.
Mezirow explores the impact of transformative learning on the theory and practice of adult education. “This book is a must read for adult educators seeking to understand and facilitate transformational learning.”
MERRIAM, S B (Ed) 2001, The New Update on Adult Learning Theory: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, No. 89, Jossey-Bass, USA.
Exploring a variety of frameworks, including context-based learning, informal and incidental learning, somatic learning, and narrative learning; the authors analyse recent additions to well-established theories and discuss the potential impact of these approaches.