Brookfield's framework for understanding adult learning advantages and strategies

Adult Learning: An Overview (Brookfield, 1995) provides an outline of the major concepts in adult education. The most general issue is the notion that "adult learning" is somehow different from learning. In all likelihood, learning is probably substantially the same at any age; if anything, adult learners may have several specific advantages over younger learners. For one thing, older students are more independently motivated than they were as adolescents or pre-adolescents and they are likely to be more self-directed as learners. This makes sense to me because, for one thing, adult learners generally return to school by their own choice whereas primary and secondary school is mandatory.

Critical Reflection and Experiential Learning

I can also understand why the author refers to critical reflection as such an important distinction between younger learners and adult learners because critical reflection is simply not a skill that is common for many people when they are of school age. As an adult learner, I believe that I am much better at recognizing my relative strengths and weaknesses as well as better able to make realistic decisions about my goals and about commitments and time management issues. The author refers to experiential learning which has significance to me as well, although I am not sure how it necessarily relates to returning to school. I now that there have been many occasions where I learned very quickly from the process of doing things that I realized would have taken me much longer to learn through traditional methods such as textbooks and lecture. In fact, I am particularly hopeful that I will have opportunities to learn in what the author calls "experiential" situations.

Distance Learning

Finally, the author discusses distance learning; that is something that I am the most enthusiastic about. Ever since I began using computers, I have always thought about how much easier school would have been with the benefit of the modern computer and Internet connectivity. I realize that distance learning pertains mainly to the electronic interaction between learners and instructors and to the mode of assignment submission. However, I am extremely enthusiastic about the prospect of doing academic research online instead of in person in libraries. In general, I am looking forward to the opportunity to resume my education but I have to admit that using computers in that respect is one of the things that I am looking forward to the most.