As part of the Modern Learning Leader Programme, Stella Collins delivered a webinar on Adult Learning Theories.

Stella opened with “androgogy vs pedagogy” asking why do they have to be “versus rather than and” and what the differences are.

I stated in the webinar chat: I like pedagogy as there are so many different psychology and research approaches to learning, that can be proven, disproved and updated. For me pedagogy is about teaching generally, though is usually more academic or theoretical. I use it in the sense of HOW am I teaching something.

From Steve Wheeler’s blog about pedagogy: “True pedagogy is far more than someone instructing. Pedagogy is leading people to a place where they can learn for themselves.”

On another post from Steve about androgogy: “[Malcolm] Knowles had made the distinction between children’s learning and adult learning on the basis of adult motivation for learning being different from that of children. So does the concept of Andragogy add any value to our understanding of learning? For me, the answer is no.”

You can read much, much more on this from Steve in his fabulous book Learning with ‘e’s: educational theory and practice in the digital age.

You can read my other Modern Learning Leader blog posts

  1. What is a Modern Learning Leader?
  2. The human condition
  3. The human condition – faces and social learning
  4. Instructional design – reminder notes
  5. What sUX about L&D design?