Andragogy

Andragogy refers to methods and principles used in adult education. From the Greek, "andr-", meaning "man", and "agogus", meaning "leader of", it literally means "leader of man", whereas "pedagogy" literally means "leading children". However, pedagogy concerns the theory and practice of educating people of all ages.

Two primary understandings of "andragogy" exist:

Interpreted broadly throughout academic literature, the term also invites other definitions such as "adult education practice", "desirable values", "specific teaching methods", "reflections", and "academic discipline", with many authors claiming it to be better than traditional adult education.

The term has been used by some to allow discussion of contrast between self-directed and self-taught education.

The term was originally coined by German educator Alexander Kapp in 1833. Andragogy was developed into a theory of adult education by . It later became very popular in the US by the American educator Malcolm Knowles. Knowles asserted that andragogy (Greek: "man-leading") should be distinguished from the more commonly used term pedagogy (Greek: "child-leading").

Knowles collected ideas about a theory of adult education from the end of World War II until he was introduced to the term "andragogy". In 1966, Knowles met Dusan Savicevic in Boston. Savicevic was the one who shared the term andragogy with Knowles and explained how it was used in the European context. In 1967, Knowles made use of the term "androgogy" to explain his theory of adult education. Then after consulting with Merriam-Webster, he corrected the spelling of the term to "andragogy" and continued to make use of the term to explain his multiple ideas about adult learning.

Knowles' theory can be stated with six assumptions related to motivation of adult learning:

In most European countries, the Knowles discussion played at best, a marginal role. "Andragogy" was, from 1970 on, connected with emerging academic and professional institutions, publications, or programs, triggered by a similar growth of adult education in practice and theory as in the United States. "Andragogy" functioned here as a header for (places of) systematic reflections, parallel to other academic headers like "biology", "medicine", and "physics".

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