The Andragogic Learning Center by Sonnheim Moshe;Lehman Shlomit; & Shlomit Lehman

Author:Sonnheim, Moshe;Lehman, Shlomit; & Shlomit Lehman [Sonnheim, Moshe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 480087
Publisher: University Press of America, Incorporated

A. THE LEARNER

The learner in social work is a young adult (Lennon, 2004, 36). In the past decades, however, “mature” learners increasingly have been admitted to schools of social work, particularly at the Masters’ and Doctoral levels (Marschak, 1991, 295–300). We know that adult learning demands a different approach than from child learning (although, we think andragogy is appropriate for all age groups-children as well). Learning style, therefore, varies not only according to individual but also according to age.

As mentioned earlier, Wrightsman (1994,115), discusses the dilemma of young people who want autonomy but also want “the comforting assurance that parents will always be there to help and guide” (McCrae and Costa,1990, 145 as cited in Wrightsman, 1994). They possess “condensed energy looking for a direction” but they fear that if they express their true feelings, they will not be loved.

These statements contain three concepts basic to young adult learners, which we have explored earlier in our discussion of andragogy and role theory. The young adult learner (generally between the ages of 18 and 22) wants both autonomy and direction as well as “love.”

How does social work education deal with these needs (if at all!). Foeckler and Boynton (1976), in their analogy of adult learning and teaching to a railway system, state categorically that “social work education, like most American adult education, consists of a pattern of structure and expectations that is based on the experience and assumptions of elementary education.” They continue, “because this idea has been extended into adult education, this process is unnecessarily rigid and highly authoritarian” (37, 38). Furthermore, “the traditional focus on information clearly predetermined the teacher’s role as ‘knower’ and ‘authority’ while the role of student was that of a passive recipient of knowledge” (38).

Lowy (1978), likewise comparing andragogy and pedagogy, relates to the andragogical model. First, “an individual psychologically becomes an adult at the point at which a self’concept of essential self-direction is achieved” (3). Second, “as people mature, they accumulate an expanding reservoir of experience which become a resource for learning and at the same time provide a broadening base to which new learning can be related” (4). When that experience “is devalued or ignored, this is perceived not just as rejection of the experience, but as rejection of the adult as a person” (4). Third, time perspective between children and adults differs (4). The child’s time perspective toward learning is one of postponed application, whereas adults “want to apply tomorrow what they learn today.” Thus, they “enter into education with a greater problem-centered orientation to learning” (4). Fourth, Lowy then proposes a change model (“agogik”) for social work practice which views social work education as a change process. The first step in this model is motivation for learning (5–7). An important part of this step is modeling. The teacher in social work education, for instance, “demonstrates by listening emphathetically to students, how they can listen empathetically to one another”. (p5). Or “the teacher communicates the art of giving and receiving feedback by inviting criticism” (p6).

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