Shannon

Running head: SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING LITERATURE REVIEW                                             1

Self-Directed Learning Literature Review

                                                                       

Name		Commented On
Shannon Staller		Ezohn Smith
Shannon Staller		Tashianna Avery

Introduction

     Self-directed learning happens when people encounter a problem that they would like to solve, and they usually use a variety of skills.  While most learners use self-directed learning to solve problems, adult learners have an advantage over younger learners, because they have a varied and usually greater amount of past experiences to draw from which helps them find answers to their problems. As an adult educator, I feel that I should be a facilitator of self-directed learning by helping adult learners discover the benefits of becoming self-directed learners and hopefully enable them to become life long learners. I will discuss three themes of self-directed learning which are among the following:  self-directed learning as a process, self-directed learning skills, and self-directed learning in a higher education setting. Following the summarization of these themes, I will give suggestions based on my review to how practitioners could apply them in practice. Next, I will describe the highlights or most significant parts of my assignment along with the process that I chose to complete the assignment. The final portion of my paper will contain a table describing the main themes that I summarized from literature and how to apply the main ideas in practice.

General Themes

Self-directed learning as a learning process

    

   

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      Malcolm Knowles held the belief that adult learners are self-directing, and he built his andragogical model around this belief (Knowles, 1975,1980). While Knowles focused on the adult learner’s life situation, Philip Candy focused his explanation of the process that adult learners went through to gain knowledge as “…a process of negotiation, involving the construction and exchange of personally relevant and viable meanings.” (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner 2007). Philip Candy also described four different areas which the adult learner obtains those viable meanings, and they are personal autonomy, self-management, learner control, and autodidaxy (Candy, 1991). Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner describe self-directed learning as a process of learning, in which people take the primary initiative for planning, carrying out, and evaluating their own experiences (2007). Brockett and Hiemstra (1991) proposed that self-directed learning involves a process that centers on the learners assessing their learning needs, securing the relevant learning resources and activities, conducting the planned learning activities, and assessing their resultant learning.

Self-directed learning skills

     Doyle (2008, p.69) identified a number of important personal skills that self-directed leaners should master which are among the following: finding and evaluating quality sources of information, organizing information in meaningful ways, writing reports and papers, managing time, and monitoring one’s own learning (meta-cognition). Another skill that would be useful to the self-directed learner was described by Jossberger, Brand-Gruwel, Boshuizen and Wiel (2010) that a self-directed learner can self-regulate their learning. Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner

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describe one of the four major variables that have the most influence on whether an adult learner will exhibit autonomous behavior in learning situations as their technical skills related to the the

learning process (2007). Learners who make use of self-access centers have the potential to become able to take responsibility for their own learning, to develop effective strategies for independent learning, and to devise their own programs of study (Littlewood, 1997; Sheerin 1997).

Self-directed learning as an educational tool

     “From a learning theory perspective, humanism emphasizes that perceptions are centered in experience, and it also emphasizes the freedom and responsibility to become what one is capable of becoming” (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner, 2007). Abraham Maslow was the founder of humanistic psychology, and he believed that self-actualization was the goal of learning, “…and educators should strive to bring this about” (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner 2007). Carl Roger’s humanistic view is centered around education and therapy where “significant learning” leads to personal growth and development (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner, 2007). According to Elias and Merriam (2005) this humanistic view of adult education is quite popular in the United States and ‘”Educational activities must meet the needs of adult learners in order to survive. Practical considerations thus necessitate an emphasis upon individual needs and interests”’ (p.144) (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner 2007).

Implications

Describe self-directed learning process

     Adult educators will have to be aware that some of their learners will have mastered different parts of the self-directed learning process and some may have not mastered any part of the self-

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directed learning process at all. The adult educator should explain that all of the class has probably used self-directed learning at some point in their lives. Then she should give examples of times that she had used self-directed learning and the steps in the process that she found were easiest to complete and the steps in the process that were most challenging. Next, she should ask the class to share ways that they had used self-directed learning in the past and ask which steps were easy and which steps where challenging in their learning process. Finally, the adult educator should explain the different steps in the self-directed learning process and assign different activities for each step to enable the adult learners to practice self-directed learning.

Using learning model to evaluate

     In order for the adult educator to determine what area that the adult learner has mastered in the learning process, she will need to determine what stage of learning that they are in. Grow’s  Staged Self-Directed Learning model describes four distinct stages of learners and they are among the following: dependent learner, interested learner involved learner, and self-directed learner (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner 2007). Knowing what stage her adult learners are in will allow her to give more control of their learning to the self-directed learners. For example, an independent project might be a good assignment for a self-directed learner while critical thinking activities would be appropriate for the involved learners. A classroom centered around lecture and discussion would be ideal for the interested learner and lectures would be a better teaching tool for a dependent learner.

Goal of promoting emancipatory learning and social action

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     One way for the adult educator to use self-directed learning as an educational tool is to encourage her adult learners to take a big role in their education. The instructional model formed by Hammond and Collins (1991) ” …addresses the goal of promoting emancipatory learning and social action as a central tenet of self-directed learning” (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner 2007). The adult educator could encourage the learners to examine what influences their education by looking at the social, political and environmental influences in their area. By getting the adult learners to examine these influences, they might be more aware of ways that they could improve their conditions “’…under which they and those around them live and work’” (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner 2007).

Reflection

     The highlight to this assignment was learning the process of writing a literature review. This was my first review, and it was interesting to compile all if the data and compare the findings of many theorist of self-directed learning. The most significant part of my assignment was the vast amount of information that has been published on self-directed learning. It was interesting to learn about how the different theorist viewed the self-directed learner. As an adult learner myself, I related most to the self-directed learning process that allowed for the greatest amount of input into assignments. I appreciated learning that this is what I have enjoyed in the past as an adult learner and that I can strive to foster self-directed learning in the adult learners that I teach by giving them a bigger say in how the lessons are structured. The process that I chose was to look for articles that included ways that I could teach by adult learners to become self-directed learners. I reread the chapter in our book on self-directed learning. I managed my time well by getting articles ahead of time and reading them thoroughly. Also, I read all of the literature

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reviews that were posted from past students. Unfortunately, my brother passed during the process of writing my paper and I had to ask the professor for an extension on the due date of my paper. Consequently, I do not think that this is the best paper that I have ever written, because I have not been able to focus and give all of my attention to my project like I normally would have. I have learned that our professor is very understanding when there is a major life event in our lives.

Table

Themes	Application of Theme
Self-directed learning as a process	Describe self-directed learning process
Self-directed learning skills	Use learning model to evaluate
Self-directed learning as an educational tool	Emancipatory learning and Social Action

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References

Brockett, R. G., Hiemstra, R. (1991). Self-direction in learning: Perspectives in theory, research, and practice. Routledge: London.

Candy, P. C. (1991). Self-direction for lifelong learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Doyle, T. (2008). Helping students learn in a learner-centered environment. a guide to facilitating learning in higher education. Sterling: Stylus.

Jossberger, H., Brand-Gruwel, S., Boshuizen, H., & Weil, M. (2010). The challenge of self-directed and self-regulated learning in vocational education: A theoretical analysis and synthesis of requirements. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 62, no. 4, 415-440.

Littlewood, W. (1997). Self access: Why do we want it and what can it do?. In P. Benson & P. Voller (Eds.) Autonomy & independencein language leaning (p. 79-92). London and New York: Longman.

Merriam, S., Caffarella, R., & Baumgartner, L. (Eds.) (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Sheerin, S. (1997). Teaching and learning in self-access centers: Changing roles. In P. Benson & P. Voller (Eds.) Autonomy & independence in language learning (p 54-65). London and New York: Longman.

Knowles, M. (1975).  Self-directed Learning (New York, Association Press).

Knowles, M. (1980).  The Modern Practice of Adult Education (New York, Association Press).