I’ve seen multiple memes that include middle and/or high school students asking the popular question, “when am I ever going to use algebra as an adult?”  And there are many adults, years after graduating high school still wonder why they were ever made to endure those algebra courses. (Giggle) Remember,  in grade school the emphasis was on content and not primarily solving real-life problems, unlike, let’s say, how to write a check for a bill or file taxes each year. That’s the difference between pedagogy and andragogy.

Although the term andragogy was first coined by Alexander Kapp in 1833 to describe the education theory developed by Plato. The concept of andragogy was more recently popularized by Malcolm Knowles in his 1970 book, The Modern Practice of Adult Education. Knowles’ theory of andragogy was an attempt to create a theory to differentiate the learning that takes place in childhood (pedagogy, “the art and science of helping children learn”) from learning in adulthood (andragogy, “the art and science of helping adults learn”). 

Andragogy is the specialized art of effective learning, designs, instructions, and delivery for adults to streamline the learning process that helps them meet their needs and achieve their goals. Adult learning theory is a combination of different theories where all of them have one definite goal to streamline the adult learning process (Andragogy=experiential learning, transformational learning, self-directed learning, Neuroscience). Knowles’ concept of andragogy presents the adult learner as one who is autonomous, free and growth-oriented.