The Application of Andragogical Patterns to Programmer Training in South Africa

Introduction

Andragogy refers to the art and science of facilitating adult learning. It is a concept popularised by Malcolm Knowles, and is based on a set of assumptions about the way adults learn. Although widely accepted, some of these assumptions have been challenged in more recent years. We would like to comment on three of the assumptions at the heart of andragogy, based on our experience of more than 30 combined years of teaching programming courses to more than 2500 adults in South Africa.

Self-directed Learning

The andragogical premise:

Adults are autonomous and self-directed, and as such prefer to take control of their own learning, including setting learning goals, determining learning methods and evaluating progress.

The South African reality:

For many South African learners, school was an environment in which they were expected to accept what they were taught without questioning it - either as a result of cultural norms, or because inadequately skilled teachers could not handle challenge and therefore prohibited it. The habits instilled after more than a decade of formal education are not easily changed. These learners have difficulty asking questions, requesting assistance or participating in content discussions.

The technical reality:

Greater demands are placed on the technical trainer, who must find other ways of determining whether the learner has truly understood the concept. Programming is not about learning a set of facts: it is about understanding and applying a limited set of "tools" (programming concepts, standard libraries, data types, etc.) to an infinite range of problems to find a solution. Facilitators need to have extensive subject-matter knowledge and practical experience, so that they can identify problems from an examination of the practical work of these learners.

Experiential Learning

The andragogical premise:

Adults have accumulated a wealth of life experience and knowledge. This experience is a valuable learning resource, and also creates the framework that affects how they learn new skills.

The South African reality:

Life experience is neither objective nor neutral, but coloured by our religious and cultural beliefs, and subject to varying interpretation. In a society of such diverse cultures as ours, this experience can create additional barriers to learning.

The technical reality:

In most areas of personal development, previous experience in a related area is valuable. But the rate of change in computer technology can nullify this. Consider, for example, the experienced senior mainframe programmer who is required to make the transition to object-orientation and a language like Java or C#. His extensive experience now becomes a liability as he is forced to consciously abandon many long-held concepts. Add to this the emotional stress of his status change from a well-regarded expert to a struggling beginner, and the frustration of being out-performed during the course by a relatively inexperienced programmer who just happens to have had more exposure to these concepts.

Relevancy-directed Learning

The andragogical premise:

Adults are problem-centred rather than content-centred: they must see a reason for learning, and they want to learn practical applications.

The South African reality:

In recent years there has been an unfortunate emphasis in training on the "how to" approach to programming. Increasingly, beginners are taught to program only within the constraints of a GUI environment such as Visual Basic and Delphi.

The technical reality:

GUI tools are excellent for enhanced productivity and faster development times. But when used as training tools, the real risk is that fundamental programming concepts are ignored because of the ease with which a pretty form can be generated. We see an increasing number of "qualified" programmers who have not grasped the concept or the use of fundamental concepts like variables, data types, structured programming and the like.

Conclusion

Andragogical patterns have certainly been valuable in many areas. We need, however, to recognise that training, especially of programmers, in South Africa has its unique challenges.

Jacqui Coosner: 2005

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