Leading Change: TRAINING

The Fundamentals of Adult Learning

There is a discipline for teaching adults new information, knowledge, or skills. Although learning has always been a part of the human experience—sometimes through necessity as much as desire or aspiration—some broad principles for guiding and facilitating adult learning have emerged over the past 40 years. Drawn from the work of Knowles, Brookfield, and others, these core principles, along with implications and suggestions for the learning and teaching environment, are outlined in table 4-1 (on the next three pages).

Table 4-1. Key Principles of Adult Learning and Their Implications for Teaching/Training Design

ADULT LEARNING PRINCIPLE	IMPLICATION FOR TEACHING/TRAINING DESIGN
Adults bring life experience and ...