After combing through the readings on Pedagogy and Andragogy given in a Workshop I’m taking for Professional Development, I took a break before answering the above question (“Do children and adults learn differently, and thus require different teaching strategies?”) and went into the dining room, where my husband sat on the phone with the concrete contractor from the job site where he, my husband Patrick, is the superintendent. I busied myself while he ended the phone call, and then I took a seat when the call was over to hear about his day and why it was culminating in a terse phone call like that. He talked about employees and workers who do things their own way no matter how often they’ve been directed another way until the necessity for that direction they’ve been challenging or ignoring becomes clear. Patrick said, “You can’t teach them anything if their minds aren’t on the learning” (Cunningham).  My mind exploded, and I jumped up and said, “I’m writing that down! You just said what I’ve been reading!” I told him I was going to quote him for this assignment, and I have. It is a true statement. “You can’t teach them anything if their minds aren’t on the learning.”

The article “Andragogy, Not Pedagogy” from Seattle Colleges states, “Adult students must be in a state where they are ready to learn. Adult learners must be able to see the connection between what they are learning now and some immediate application.”  Sounds eerily similar to what my Construction Superintendent husband said, who’s not had a lick of college or training on Andragogy or Pedagogy but plenty of experience “teaching” in the real world outside of Academia.

Learners across the board achieve more if their minds are on learning – regardless of which pedagogical method is chosen for the classroom.  A foundation has to be laid in any classroom, despite the age of the learner. Students need to know they are safe, as talked about in the article “Educating Adult Learners: Bridging Learner’s Characteristics and the Learning Sciences.”  This involves knowing they are important and cared for – children and adults alike – and more for adults, they need to understand WHY the lessons coming their way are important. The same article mentioned above states Knowles’ assumptions about adult learners … “Adult learners need to know the rationale of why they are learning something.” This is foundational to a successful classroom.  Because of this, the first week of my class – no matter the subject – is spent orienting the student to who I am and why they can trust me to bring them the materials, and it is spent orienting them to the environment of the learning – establishing safety, warmth, communication means, and always the WHY we will learn the materials coming in the semester – with English classes, I tell them it all comes down to $$. How motivated are you to be successful in your career? This class will give you the soft skills to achieve that success! I also give them articles that back up this insight from the business world – including Forbes and HR specialists who lead employee trainings. 89% of the time that people fail or quit a job, it is because of a lack of soft skills – according to “Hire For Attitude,” – an interview of Mark Murphy completed by Dan Schawbel for Forbes Magazine. In my classes, motivation is given in the first week, and students rise to the sound of $$ in their futures. They tend to listen. This is my experience – no matter the age range. For my online classes, I ensure the first week of class, they have a warm, friendly, funny video lecture to watch that is specifically detailed with the “WHY” of the coming materials thoroughly explained. Truthfully, I do for them what I want done for me.

For many semesters the age range in my classrooms (online and in-person) ranges from 16 to 60. I do have both children and adults in the same room, and therefore, I have to provide a caring atmosphere (the course climate according to “Educating Adult Learners: Bridging Learners’ Characteristics and the Learning Sciences”) with a clear explanation of how the lesson materials can and will shape and challenge and improve their lives.  I often refer to myself as an “Edutainer” because I must engage my students so that their minds can be on the learning … It is on me, the facilitator/professor, to engage my students, no matter their age or their background. This requires energy and alertness on my part to the diversity in my classroom (Let’s call this the pedagogical angle). This requires that I am willing to meet the students at their needs. Therefore … we spend a week or two setting the stage for the remainder of the learning.  I just realized I said “we” … this is Andragogy … the learners and I set the stage together.  I welcome them into the atmosphere I desire, and we have conversations (lessons) – and in an online course, this translates into strong discussion threads where students are required to respond to a minimum of 5 classmates’ posts. Conversations tend to pick up on their own, and I have discovered that online students sometimes form their own study groups and friendships/connections outside of class as a result of a well-established course climate.

So, to answer the question, “Do children and adults learn differently and thus require different teaching strategies?” a concoction of both Pedagogy and Andragogy is required, in my experience, to achieve the best results for the classroom – with the definition of “best results” being whatever a successful outcome is per student.  ELM Learning, in the article “Pedagogy vs. Andragogy: Where Many Get it Wrong in Their Learning Strategy,” points out that in Pedagogy, “the learner comes to the table with little life experience.” They are a “blank slate,” whereas Andragogy states, “The learner uses life experience as a foundation.” In their comparison/contrast of Advantages and Disadvantages in the ELM articles, they state that Pedagogy provides “more structure and guidance for learners,” whereas Andragogy “allows learners to take control and be more independent.” Pedagogy “can be more efficient in terms of time and resources,” whereas Andragogy “encourages problem-solving.” A structured environment that allows learners to take control and gain independence and encourages problem-solving works for every age.  I used to teach 2 year-olds in a preschool while working towards my Master’s degree, and I’ve often said it’s not too different from teaching adults.  Motivate your learners.  Provide them with safety and care and a strong WHY. Engage them. This uses both learning method models. 

My Concrete Superintendent husband shared this quote with me also regarding learning. He quoted Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist, sociologist, and anthropologist. “There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance – that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”

Regardless of age, students and teachers must recognize this ‘contempt prior to investigation’ that exists in people, be willing to encounter new ideas and means/methods of teaching, be honest about themselves and their biases, and be open-minded to all learning processes so that the best outcomes are achieved. What works for one may not work for another. Openness to change and adaptability in learning methods is essential for educators. 

Christopher Emdin is my education guru. His teaching philosophy is what he calls “Reality Pedagogy.” Columbia University, where Emdin is a professor in their Teachers College, wrote an article, “A Call for Reality Pedagogy,” about Emdin’s perspectives. “Emdin calls for a ‘reality pedagogy’ that ‘involves connecting academic content to what’s happening in the world that affects students’ and ‘making sure that their lives and backgrounds are reflected in the curriculum and in classroom conversations.'” He speaks on knowing the chaos of our students’ lives and where they’re coming from (the real world outside of Academia – much like my husband) before thinking we have the insight to even begin to be effective educators. His ideas blew me away during the time I was teaching in an urban environment in North City St. Louis, where often my entire classroom was 100% ‘black’ or ‘brown.’ I was challenged and changed, and I became an “Edutainer” and someone who took time to know about their students, incorporating their experiences into the classroom. Ahhhh, Mr. Emdin. Love that guy. https://lenazyslife.home.blog/2019/01/17/i-am-an-edutainer/. Links to an external site.

I love the insight of my Concrete Superintendent husband too. 

Works Cited:

Andragogy, not pedagogy. Faculty Development. (n.d.). http://facdev.seattlecolleges.edu/adultlearner/andragogypedagogy/Links to an external site.

Cunningham, D. (2023, July 13). Conversation in the Dining Room with Patrick Cunningham. personal.

ELM Learning. (2023a, April 24). Pedagogy vs. andragogy: Fix your learning strategy. ELM Learning. https://elmlearning.com/blog/pedagogy-vs-andragogy/Links to an external site.

Ho, Y. Y., & Lim, W. Y. R. (1970, January 1). Educating adult learners: Bridging learners’ characteristics and the Learning Sciences. SpringerLink. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-1628-3_4Links to an external site.

Important Books. (2013). In Alcoholics Anonymous: The story of how many thousands of men and women have recovered from alcoholism (p. 568). quote – Herbert Spencer.

Schawbel, D. (2013, December 17). Hire For Attitude – Interview with Mark Murphy. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2012/01/23/89-of-new-hires-fail-because-of-their-attitude/?sh=473fcaed137a