Malcolm Shepherd Knowles was a key writer and theorist in the field of adult education in the United States. He died in 1997 and left a large legacy of books and journal articles. This thesis traced the development of his thinking over the 46-year period from 1950 to 1995. It examined the 25 works authored, co-authored, edited, reissued and revised by him during that period. The writings were scrutinised using a literature research methodology to expose the theoretical content, and a history of thought lens to identify and account for the development of major ideas. The methodology enabled a gradual unfolding of the history. A broadly-consistent and sequential pattern of thought focusing on the notion of andragogy emerged. The study revealed that after the initial phases of exploratory thinking, Knowles developed a practical-theoretical framework he believed could function as a comprehensive theory of adult learning. As his thinking progressed, his theory developed into a unified framework for human resource development and, later, into a model for the development of self-directed lifelong learners. The study traced the development of Knowles’ thinking through the phases of thought, identified the writings that belonged within each phase and produced a series of diagrammatic representations showing the evolution of his conceptual framework. The production of a history of the development of Knowles’ thought is the major outcome of the study. In addition to plotting the narrative sequence of thought-events, the history helps to explicate the factors and conditions that influenced Knowles’ thinking and to show the interrelationships between ideas. The study should help practitioners in their use and appreciation of Knowles’ works.

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This study examines the strategies used by facilitators at Adult Basic Education and Training Centre in order to determine whether the facilitators are responsive to adult learning principle and practices. If inappropriate strategies for the facilitation of learning are used, adult learners are likely to become bored, frustrated, overwhelmed or unable to cope with the challenges of learning. This may contribute to the high drop-out rate that many adult education programmes face. The failure to retain adult learners in ABET programmes may result in adult learners relapsing into illiteracy, which then poses a problem as the overarching goal of the South African government is to eradicate illiteracy. This study aims at answering the following research questions: <ul> <li>What are the perceptions of adult learners of the facilitation of learning in the programmes they are enrolled for?</li> <li>What are the strategies used by ABET facilitators to promote cooperative learning?</il> <li>How do ABET facilitators promote self-directed learning among adult learners?</li> </ul> The theoretical framework on which this study is based is constructivism. Constructivist theory advocates a paradigm shift from traditional methods of teaching to a more learner-centred approach of instruction and learning. Thus, constructivist theory embraces Outcomes-based Education that emphasises that active participation by learners should be the backbone of all learning activities. Both facilitators and learners are required to focus on the outcomes that should be achieved during each learning activity. This study employs a mixed-methods approach that includes quantitative and qualitative research methods. The research design for this study is the case study method. The population of this study comprises adult learners and facilitators at Gaegolelwe Adult Centre. A simple random sampling was used to select forty-seven adult learners to participate in this study. Convenience sampling was used to select 4 facilitators. The methods of data collection used were questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and observations. The findings of this study are the following: <ul> <li>Facilitators at Gaegolelwe Adult Centre cater moderately for learners with different learning styles.</li> <li>Learners are engaged in different learning activities, such as completing tasks individually, in pairs or in groups and are involved in research orientated activities in order to discover things for themselves.</li> <li>Facilitators promote active participation during learning opportunities.</li> <li>Most adult learners demonstrate responsibility towards their own work. However, some do not, and this may be attributed to many competing social roles that must be balanced against the demands of learning.</li> <li>Learners are challenged to develop critical thinking, problem-solving and higher order reasoning skills.</li> <li>Cooperative learning as one strategy of facilitating learning is not utilised to the maximum.</li> <li>It has been observed that the lecture method is predominantly used by facilitators; this is not in line with constructivist learning theory as the latter emphasises the use of different methods of facilitation in order to accommodate learners with diverse learning styles.</li> </ul> The following recommendations have been made: <ul> <li>Facilitators with extensive teaching experience should be engaged to facilitate adult learning. However, they should be educated and trained in methods of facilitating adult learners.</li> <li>Male adults need to be mobilised through mass literacy campaigns to join ABET programmes.</li> <li>Learners should be given the opportunity to make an input in the development of strategies for facilitating learning.</li></ul> Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Early Childhood Education / unrestricted

In the broad field of education, studies have been done to understand the ways in which adult learning, development, and transformation are fostered in travel contexts. Such studies mainly used the experiential learning and transformational learning theoretical frameworks to look at participants’ lived learning experiences from travel. However, there is a void when one searches for studies that examine the intersection of self-directed learning and travel. This study used self-directed learning theory to explore the essence of learning from foreign travel experiences. The aim of this study was to understand the role of self-directed learning as a learning process that adults use to design and pursue learning and personal enrichment experiences in foreign travel contexts. This was about understanding the ways in which adults find joy in travel through creating their own learning environments. Qualitative interviews were gathered from participants who wished to share their experiences and conclusions were reported following a phenomenological framework. Today, becoming a self-directed learner is more important and prevalent than ever. Especially with the improved ease of use with technology to find and/or create learning opportunities and the availability of a multitude of travel options, information and experience-seekers have today a variety of ways to satisfy their hunger for personal enrichment. In an age when more adult learners are taking learning experiences into their own hands and looking to explore the foreign destinations that they might have only read about in books, or searched for online, it is important for travel-related providers and academic thought-leaders to understand the self-directed learning process as it relates to adult learners in foreign travel contexts. The findings of this study show that Knowles’ self-directed learning theory can be an applicable and advantageous learning framework to be utilized during foreign travel experiences and that traveling with learning goals and strategies enhances such experiences. My personal goal with this project was to give readers a better understanding of how self-directed individuals learn through travel and an applicable construct with which to do so.

This study examines how conative factors contribute to effective e-learning for corporate and academic learners. Inference of what effective e-learning activities are were traced during a focus group session, a question on a discussion list, validation of information from different sources such as observers, the verifier, the de-brief session, the scribe, the video and audio recordings and correlation with current literature. Effective learning (self-direction and collaboration), techno- and information literacy and an effective learning environment are the strongest predictors of effective e-learning. The combination of intention (motivation) and action (volition) are the two descriptive factors for conation. The study highlights existing models of conative factors and learner motivation as well as the relationships between conative factors with special reference to internal (pulling) and external (pushing) driving forces. In conclusion, the role of the conative domain in e-learning is seen as being the psychological link between the physical learning environment and effective e-learning. / Dissertation (MEd (Computer-Integrated Education))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

L’unschooling (ou la « non-scolarisation ») est une option éducative marginale, mais en constante évolution au Canada et ailleurs dans le monde. Au vu du développement de ce mouvement en éducation, des enjeux concernant le suivi des apprentissages réalisés par les enfants unschoolers prennent de l’importance. La rareté des écrits portant spécifiquement sur le suivi des apprentissages informels et les risques associés à une absence de suivi, particulièrement auprès des enfants plus vulnérables, nous amènent à poser cette question générale de recherche: Quel suivi de l’apprentissage en famille serait souhaitable dans un contexte d’unschooling, en prenant en compte le point de vue des parents unschoolers et le droit de l’enfant à l’éducation ? Pour répondre à cette question, 25 parents unschoolers répartis en quatre groupes, ont réfléchi au type de suivi qu’ils jugent le mieux adapté à leur réalité éducative. L’analyse thématique du contenu de leurs échanges a fait ressortir une proposition globale de suivi constituée de trois approches différentes : 1- l’approche « aucune interaction », visant le respect de l’autonomie des familles; 2- l’approche « offre de soutien », visant la réponse aux besoins exprimés par les familles; et 3- l’approche « appréciation de l’expérience éducative » pouvant viser le dépistage de l’expérience éducative ou l’accompagnement des familles. Cette proposition de suivi a ensuite été analysée à l’aide d’un cadre conceptuel relatif au droit de l’enfant à l’éducation, composé de cinq conditions du respect de ce droit et de leurs indicateurs. Cette analyse a permis d’évaluer le potentiel de chacune des trois approches à protéger le droit à l’éducation des enfants évoluant dans un cadre éducatif de type unschooling. La troisième approche, soit l’appréciation de l’expérience éducative, apparaît à la fois acceptable du point de vue des parents unschoolers et du point de vue du droit de l’enfant à l’éducation. Selon la proposition des parents, elle peut s’effectuer au moyen de l’appréciation d’un portfolio, d’une discussion informelle ou de la visite du domicile, permettant d’apprécier l’expérience éducative de l’enfant par la voie de l’environnement éducatif qui lui est offert ou de son parcours éducatif. / Unschooling is an uncommon but continually evolving educational option in Canada and around the world. Given the development of this movement in education, issues concerning the monitoring of learning by unschooled children are gaining importance. The scarcity of published studies specifically related to the monitoring of informal learning and the risks associated with a lack of follow-up, particularly among the most vulnerable children, lead us to ask this general research question: What follow-up of family-based learning would be desirable in a context of unschooling, respecting the point of view of unschoolers parents and the right of the child to an education? To answer this question, 25 unschooled parents were divided into four groups and reflected on the type of follow-up they consider best suited to their educational reality. By choosing a qualitative methodological approach and using a thematic analysis, the data drawn from these exchanges enabled us to build a follow-up proposal consisting of three approaches: "no interaction", "support offered" and "appreciation of the educational experience ". This follow-up proposal was then analyzed using a conceptual framework of the child's right to education composed of five conditions of respect for the child's right to education, inspired by the United Nations (1999a, 1999b). This analysis assessed the potential of each of the three approaches to protecting the right to an education for all children in an unschooling educational setting. The third approach, "appreciation of the educational experience", appears to be an approach that is both acceptable from the point of view of unschooling parents and from the point of view of the child's right to education.

No description available.

L'entrepreneur, grand absent du paysage économique pendant une grande partie du vingtième siècle, est de retour. Le profil de l'entrepreneur contemporain est étroitement lié aux caractéristiques de l'individu hypermoderne : un sujet mobile, qui exige sa liberté, qui construit ses propres réseaux, qui a ses propres aspirations. La motivation dans l'acte entrepreneurial n'est pas uniquement le profit, elle peut varier entre la recherche d'épanouissement, et la création de son propre emploi. Les dispositifs d'accompagnement à la création d'entreprise se sont multipliés et l'enseignement de l'entrepreneuriat est devenu une priorité. L'objectif de cette recherche est l'étude du processus d'apprentissage de l'entrepreneuriat dans une approche biographique, mettant l'accent sur les apprentissages informels. Le groupe des entrepreneurs n'étant pas une catégorie sociale homogène, l'échantillon a été construit à partir d'un seul domaine d'activité, la cosmétique biologique. La recherche repose sur l'étude de récits de vie de six entrepreneurs spécialisés dans ce secteur. Cette étude met en évidence trois types de phénomènes qui apportent un éclairage sur le processus d'apprentissage de l'entrepreneuriat : des phénomènes spécifiques au monde de la cosmétique biologique, des phénomènes communs à tous les entrepreneurs mais qui prennent une forme différente en fonction de l'histoire personnelle de celui-ci, et des phénomènes spécifiques à chaque entrepreneur, qui montrent l'influence biographique sur la manière d'entreprendre. Cette thèse ouvre, en conclusion, des perspectives sur l'utilisation des histoires de vie comme méthode de soutien à la création d'entreprise. / The entrepreneur, who has been missing from the economic landscape for the majority of the twentieth century, is back. The profile of the contemporary entrepreneur is closely linked to the characteristics of the hypermodern individual : a mobile person demanding their freedom, and constructing their own network, with their own ambitions. The motivation behind the creation of a business is not only making profit; it can vary from the pursuit of personal fulfilment to the necessary creation of one’s own job. Mechanisms to support setting up new businesses have proliferated, and teaching entrepreneurship nowadays has become a priority.The goal of this research is to study the entrepreneurial learning process within a biographical approach, stressing informal learning. As the entrepreneurs do not form a homogenous social category, the sample was created from one activity domain : organic cosmetics. This research is based on the study of life-stories of six entrepreneurs specialising in this domain. This study shows three types of phenomena, shedding light on the entrepreneurial learning process: phenomena that are specific to the biological cosmetics domain, phenomena shared by all entrepreneurs but taking different shapes according to their personal story, and phenomena specific to each entrepreneur showing the biographical influence on the learning method. This thesis opens new perspectives on the possible uses of accounts of life as a method to assist in setting up new businesses.

Der Weg hin zum kompetenzorientierten Lehren und Lernen und damit die Einführung von Bildungsstandards steht im Zentrum gegenwärtiger schultheoretischer Diskussionen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird dieser Diskurs aufgegriffen und gezeigt, dass die schulpraktische Umsetzung dieser „Outputorientierung“ eine vielschichtige und komplexe ist. Im Fokus der theoretischen Betrachtungen der Arbeit stehen die Themen Selbststeuerung und Selbstorganisation beim Lernen, Lernziele, Bildungsstandards und Kompetenzorientierung. Die empirische Studie analysiert, basierend auf den theoretischen Erörterungen, die Möglichkeiten der Steigerung der Fremdsprachenkompetenz von Schülerinnen und Schülern. Erforscht wird dies am Beispiel des webbasierten adaptiven Systems des Englisch-Assistenten bzw. Englisch.Digital. Es wurden fünf Explorationen auf Basis von drei Fragebogenuntersuchungen sowie Informelle Kompetenzmessungen (IKM) mit 75 Schüler/‑innen zweier österreichischer Hauptschulen der achten Schulstufe durchgeführt. Die Untersuchung richtete sich auf die hypothesentestende Exploration von vier Konstrukten (Allgemeine Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung – Selbsteinschätzung, Spezielle Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung im Unterrichtsfach Englisch im Bereich Lesen – Selbsteinschätzung, Selbstregulation – Selbsteinschätzung und spezielle Fremdsprachenkompetenz im Bereich Lesen – Selbsteinschätzung und Informelle Kompetenzmessung). Die Untersuchung zeigt ein differenziertes Bild in Bezug darauf, welche Schülergruppen vom digitalen Medienangebot des Englisch-Assistenten (Englisch.Digital) am stärksten profitieren, durchgehend signifikante Ergebnisse konnten in den fünf Explorationen nicht erzielt werden, was unterschiedliche Gründe haben kann (z. B. Unterschiede in den individuellen Wirkungen oder in den Unterrichtsprozessen oder auch Beschränkungen des Studiendesigns). Zusammenfassend kann festgestellt werden, dass die Frage nach den Wirkungen von digitalen Medien einer weiteren Ausdifferenzierung bedarf und keine allgemeingültigen Aussagen diesbezüglich getroffen werden können, dass digitale Medien per se eine bestimmte Lernwirkung erzeugen. Es ist festzuhalten, dass es nicht ausreichen wird, neue Technologien zu den traditionellen Lehr- und Lernmethoden lediglich hinzuzufügen, es hat auch ein Wandel der Unterrichtsstruktur zu erfolgen (vgl. Dittler, 2003, S. 193 und Lembke & Leipner, 2015, S. 181). Eine Möglichkeit für dies und für die Umsetzung bzw. Anwendung von Informationskompetenz bietet der in dieser Arbeit analysierte Englisch-Assistent (Englisch.Digital). / The road to competency-based teaching and learning, and thus the introduction of educational standards, is at the heart of current educational debate. This doctoral dissertation takes up this discussion and shows that the practical implementation in schools is a multi-layered, multi-faceted and complex one. The focus of the theoretical discussion of the current paper is the fields of self-control and self-organization of learning, learning objectives, educational standards and competence orientation. The empirical study analyses, based on the theoretical considerations, the opportunities for developing pupils’ skills in the foreign language (English). This is explored using the web-based adaptive version of the “English Assistant” or “Englisch.Digital”. Five explorations based on three questionnaires and informal competence measurements (IKM) with 75 pupils (grade eight) were carried out at two Austrian secondary schools. The empirical study focused on (the hypothesis testing) exploration of four constructs (self-assessment of general self-efficacy, self-assessment of special self-efficacy in reading, self-assessment of self-regulation and self-assessment and informal competence measurements of specific skills in reading in the foreign language). The study shows a mixed picture with respect to which groups of students benefit the most from the digital media offer of Englisch.Digital. Consistent significant results in the five explorations could not be obtained, which may be due to any of a number of different reasons (e.g. differences in individual effects/reactions, the teaching processes or limitations of the study design). To summarise, it can be stated that the question of the effects of digital media requires further differentiation and no general conclusions can be drawn with respect to the supposition that digital media produce a certain learning effect per se. It should be noted that it will not suffice to merely add new technologies to the traditional teaching and learning methods, changes to teaching structures will also have to be made (cf. Dittler, 2003, p. 193 and Lembke & Leipner, 2015, p. 181). The English Assistant (Englisch.Digital) analysed in this dissertation offers one possible solution for this and also the problem of the transposition or implementation of information literacy.

Selbstgesteuertes Lernen – Das Konzept wird in Forschung und Politik häufig gefordert, in der Praxis wird es jedoch bisher nur sehr vereinzelt umgesetzt, und es existiert bisher kein einheitliches Verständnis, was darunter zu verstehen ist. Welche Bedeutung hat also das selbstgesteuerte Lernen für die Praxis der beruflichen Weiterbildung? Unter welchen Bedingungen kann es realisiert werden? Und was ist für seine Verankerung in der Praxis notwendig? Die vorliegende Broschüre adressiert diese Fragen auf Grundlage von Erfahrungen im vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) geförderten Projekt „Weiterbildung selbstorganisiert!“. Sie bündelt einen kurzen theoretischen Abriss mit dem Erfahrungsbericht der VHS Dreiländereck über die Erprobung von Methoden selbstgesteuerten Lernens (SGL) in einigen Kursen und die im Projekt entwickelten Handlungsempfehlungen für Institutionen der beruflichen Weiterbildung.:05 Präambel 06 Definition 08 Gründe für selbstgesteuertes Lernen 10 Methodenkoffer für selbstgesteuertes Lernen 13 Erfahrungsbericht der VHS Dreiländereck zur Erprobung des selbstgesteuerten Lernens 47 Handlungsempfehlungen für die Verbreitung von Lernangeboten mit hohen Selbststeuerungsanteilen in Weiterbildungsinstitutionen 69 Autoreninformationen 71 Projektinformationen