Critique Program Development Models-Adult Education Essay

Critique Program Development Models-Adult Education - Essay Example g and implementing educational strategies should culminate in behavioural change in individual learners and within learner groups and systems (Boone et al, 2002). The purpose of adult education programs is to enhance adults’ capacity to participate in society and improve their lives. An adult education program development model should have a clear statement of mission, philosophy, and goals that guides all aspects of program services. Further, it has to meet the needs of the program’s community, as well as the policies of its state and national funding agencies (Comings et al, 2006). The two theorists of adult education selected are: Stephen Brookfield (1986) and Malcolm Shepherd Knowles (1988). The program development models conceptualized by the above theorists are compared and contrasted below. According to Brookfield (1986), facilitators of adult learning should not adopt formulaic responses to widely varying situations. Avoiding orthodoxy, creative application of theory to the unique circumstances of the practice setting is advocated. The institutional model comprises of basic tenets of instructor-learner relationship, in whch the learner is in a submissive position, and is completely dependent on the instructor for achieving learning outcomes. In Knowles’ (1988) andragogical model of program development, there is shift in research and practice from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning. Thus a new emphasis on education was introduced, as a process of facilitating self-directed learning. Another principle is that life-long learning is considered as the organising principle for all education. Institutional culture, politics and technology will all play a part in impacting the program development process (Brookfield, 1986). Brookfield’s (1985) liberal model of adult education is institution-bound because it emphasizes principles of program design and the best use of available delivery systems, to plan a program to meet everyone’s needs.