Four Reflective Journal Analysis

I went back to each of the four reflective journal entries submitted to date in order to see the journey through this class on adult learning. The class started out very different than my expectations and ended up being one of my favorite classes to date in my Master’s Degree program. Adult learning has many different facets and the access to adult learning is important to people of all socioeconomic levels, albeit at times for reasons that run along a continuum from basic survival in a new environment, to enhancing skills for better job opportunities, to the desire to learn about travel destinations in retirement, or simply just for the insatiable desire to learn. Each of the context noted above are unique and deserve special attention …show more content…
In the book, Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education, Kasworm, Rose, and Ross-Gordon discussed the three main groups of adult learners based on their motivation or reason for participating in a learning activity (pg. 15-16). The three groups are goal-oriented learners, activity-oriented learners and learning-oriented learners. The goal- oriented learner is looking to achieve a specific goal, maybe a GED, an accreditation for work, a professional license or advanced educational degree, among others. The activity-oriented learner is not as interested in what is being taught as they are in the opportunity to be active and involved with other people that are interested in learning and socializing. Some of the activities that might fall into the category of activity-oriented learning might be classes built around cooking, flower arranging, photography, new computer software, travel. These classes can be either formal or informal. The third category of learners, learning-oriented, simply love to learn and they might be involved in any of the above learning situations or they may have a special interest in history, religion, art or another topic and will pursue a deep understanding in a particular area of interest. A teacher may have students from each of the three groups in one class and knowing the motivation of each learner will help the teacher modify lessons …show more content…
That being said, the various readings and activities we did on planning provided me with a new perspective on how to plan for adults in a learning environment. The Interactive Model of Program Planning provided insight into a thorough process for planning in almost any environment. What struck me initially after reading about this model was the complete lack of planning that I have seen in many adult education environments that I have participated in over the years. It is often hard to determine why a program is successful or unsuccessful but after learning about the various planning models, I will venture to say that the majority of the unsuccessful programs are due to lack of adequate planning. Adults are quite aware when things do not seem to be organized and they feel their time is being wasted. While it isn’t fair to put children through a poorly planned activity either, often times children go along because they are being respectful or they simply do not know better. This will not work with adults. Adults come to the table with a great deal of experience and we must strive to plan to a degree that gives adults the comfort that they are spending their time wisely. Adults have a host of other responsibilities or activities they can pursue with their time and chances are you will not encourage their pursuit of learning if you do not take it seriously. Each step in the