According to the foundation of adult education topic, the technique was founded based on the progressivism of Dewey, Classical Humanism, and Humanism and Behaviorism theories. The philosophical orientations of this learning are humanist, progressive, liberal, behaviorist, and radical placements.
The reading reveals that these philosophies are grounded in the belief that people are independent thinkers and, therefore, education should focus on the interests and needs of students. The course has taught me that the theory of learning, andragogy, has a long-standing history of controversy and instructional use. Lastly, I learned that pursuing social justice in adult education is a long, evolving journey that needs commitment.
The readings that were most beneficial to me were “Intersection between Andragogy and Transformative Learning” and the “A mentoring approach: Fostering transformative learning in adult graduate education” articles. I found these articles most interesting because they discuss how transformative learning can be co-joined with andragogy and incorporated into adult learning practices.
The readings establish that Transformative learning, as a science and art, enhances adults’ psych and psychosocial cognitive developments. Therefore, as an educator, it is imperative to establish an ideal surrounding for students to critically internalize their knowledge acquisition during the transformational learning process.
I will implement the information gained from the articles to develop an open, democratic, and inclusive learning environment that encourages and fosters transformational instruction for students. Besides, promoting such a learning situation makes students feel free and more comfortable reflecting on their past experiences. One way of creating such an environment is by allowing collaboration, exploration, and participation and providing mechanisms for verbal feedback.
I will have improved my practice as an adult educator by doing this. A suggestion for improving this course is implementing a mentoring approach to enhancing transformative learning. The instructor should focus more on processing learners’ collaboratively transformational learning experiences. Consequently, this will improve mutual understanding and respect between students in an inclusive environment.