Encouraging Participation - How Adults Learn

Here is a brief summary of Malcolm Knowles’s principles of adult learning, honed over 40 years, and bolstered by recent research into how the brain functions and how it learns. Consider the following principles of adult learning when planning meetings and interactive webinars for a community of practice.

Adults:

• want to know “What is in it for me? How will this learning experience be personally relevant?”
• want to make connections between what they already know and the new things they are learning
• want opportunities for practical application
• bring their life experience to any learning opportunity; as a result they have a lot to contribute and given the right opportunities, they will contribute to others’ learning
• generally consider themselves self-directed and responsible; they want to have at least some control over their learning experience, and want to be treated with respect