It's Andragogy, Not Pedagogy

I cringe every time I hear an educator or administrator in higher education use the word pedagogy when referring to instruction of students.  For a long time, I thought it was just me who felt this way, but as I did research for this article, I found others with the same ear for differentiation between the two 'gogy' terms.  My favorite review was done by Forrest and Peterson (2006) in their article "It's Called Andragogy" that appeared in the Management Learning & Education Journal.  I agree and sympathise with their andragogy plight.  Even the spell checker in blogger.com doesn't recognize the word!  For me, it was one of my "ah ha" moments in my PhD education and now it is a passion of mine to identify the differences between the two philosophies as a way to improve my teaching techniques.

The difference between these two words should be critical to educators.  "Peda" meaning 'child' and "andra" meaning 'adult'.  Pedagogy originates from the word pedagogue, which according to Websters is a "dull, formal, or pedantic teacher".  Further origins relate to the original Greek translation of the word paidagogos which means to lead the child.  Interestingly the word Pedagogy was originated by monks between the seventh and twelfth centuries as a means to train young boys (Kelly & Perkett, n.d.).  The monks used repetition as a means to educate the boys.

Andragogy has had an oppositional history.  Early documented uses of this word leads us to a German Teacher - Alexander Knapp (Kelly & Perkett, n.d.).  Knapp used the word to help develop the understandings of the differences in education in relation to Plato and his adult theories on education. These theories were controversial for his time so the word had limited exposure, and hence has been overshadowed by the much overused - Pedagogy.

Why is the difference between adult and child (or andra and peda) so important to educators in higher education?   It deals with the way we educate adults versus the way we can educate children.  Adults bring lived experiences with them into the classroom.  They often have their own judgements and perceptions about the world that they gained through these lived experiences. "Learning is not an isolated experience but it is inextricably bound up with other life experiences" (Bloomer & Hodkinson, 2000, p. 3).  In other words, we can not ignore the adult learner's lived experiences when we educate.  What shocked me most about this transition from peda to andra is the age in which it happens. Many researchers cite the ages of 19 - 24, however some identify ages as young as 15.  As an undergraduate educator, these are the ages I work with everyday.

It is important to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our adult learners in the classroom.  Merriam's research identifies that adults, as they increase in maturity, increase in their desire for self-directed learning (2004).  They have the desire and motivation for results and are more intrinsically motivated.  Pedagogy, and the focus on the child learner, uses techniques in the classroom that may attempt to appeal to the student, however they are based on the traditional use of lecture, repetition and directed learning.  Instructors who use the andragogy philosophy look to emphasize the "why" in the objectives, provide more facilitation than direction, and encourage collaboration and sharing of student's experiences.  We find ways to incorporate lived experiences into the learning process and promote self-directed learning.

These techniques include discussions, collaborative learning environments, challenging case and topic analysis.  It also includes the ability for adult learners to identify with the topic, finding how this relates to their current career, future career, etc.  Allowing the adult learner to express their own experience and knowledge of a topic in the classroom helps develop the trust and relationship, and allows the adult learner to develop a relationship between the material being taught and their life.  This relationship helps the adult learner identify application potential.

It is not enough to only design classroom techniques to appeal to one age group or another.  As I mentioned earlier, we transition from childhood learning to adulthood learning between the ages of 19-24.  Most of the students in undergraduate courses are within this age range so we must, as educators, consider the needs of all learners.  We face a classroom of students in which some want to be directed and some want to be facilitated.  It can be a challenge to incorporate both extremes in the same learning environment.  Careful consideration must be made on the appropriate level of lecture vs. the appropriate level of application and discussion.  Finding this right balance will help all your students gain as much as possible from the material.

Finally, using the term pedagogy as a 'catch all' for all teaching philosophies is not appropriate.  We must identify that there are differences in the way our students learn and retain the materials we are teaching.  This difference is best described by the separation of andragogy and pedagogy teaching techniques.  By helping educators realize that there is a difference may help them develop alternative techniques in the classroom that help all levels of our students.