- Adults learn most deeply from experience and reflection. The Leadership Academy uses problem-based and action learning methodologies, inspired by the belief that adults learn best from real-life, job-relevant problems and experiences. There is a difference between “thinking” something and “knowing” it—the first associated with intellect, the second informed by intellect, but located in feeling and emotions in the body. Learning-by-doing allows adults to experience knowledge in their bodies as well as their minds and thus to own that knowledge in a different way. In addition, when paired with reflection, problem-based learning offers opportunities to identify tacit knowledge and the mental models that support them which then are available for further examination and change.
- Learning is a social process. The Leadership Academy emphasizes team-based approach to learning. Collective knowledge is always greater than what resides in an individual. Working with thought-partners and groups provides opportunities to increase individual and system-wide knowledge. In addition, adults are more likely to understand their own "meaning-making" processes when asked to make them transparent by articulating them in the course of collaboration around a task.
- Adults have a high capacity to learn from the discomfort inherent in moving from the known to the unknown and in taking risks. The Leadership Academy’s belief is that adults learn most effectively when motivated by the discomfort of the unknown in practical, applied contexts. Learning is embedded in a continuous process of moving from the known to the unknown, under a persistent dissatisfaction with the status quo.
- Adults learn by creating and revising stories in order to develop a context in which to operate, viewing the world as material out of which to make "meaning stories". They select particular data from that environment, and construct a narrative or story that explains the relationship between otherwise disparate pieces of data. They filter particular information—the building-blocks of their narratives—based on unique experiences, personalities, and evolving mental models of how the world works. An adult’s learning is furthered and demonstrated by the capacity to see the stories of others as valid, or at least to understand the logic upon which they were constructed, and by the ability to revise one’s own stories in order both to craft and to represent one’s evolving relationship with and understanding of the world.
- Adults learn best in an environment of structured freedom created by thoughtful attention to a variety of factors, including space, time, questioning and assignments in which they feel supported, respected and accountable, but not confined. Considered attention to time boundaries, without rigidity or condescension, conveys respect for participants’ lives and work. Adults learn best from facilitators who are confident in their authority—but not authoritarian—who create questions and activities that are structured enough to provide an edge against which to define ideas, but that capture the complexity of real life and are thus open to a multiplicity of answers and solutions. Adults learn best when an environment of structured freedom invites them to bring to bear the full range of their intelligence, experience and capacity for self-determination.
*The essential beliefs about adult learning are informed by the works of: Donovan, M., Bransford, J.D., & Pelligrino, J. (1999). How people learn: Bridging research and practice. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; Drago-Severson, E. (2004). Becoming adult learners: Principles and practices for effective development. New York, NY: Teachers College Press; Fink, L.D. (1999, July 19). Active learning. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachti... Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy, and civic courage. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; Lieb, S. (1991, Fall). Principles of adult learning. Vision. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachti... Zemke, R., & Zemke, S. (1984). 30 things we know for sure about adult learning. Innovation Abstracts, 6(8). Retrieved August 28, 2008, from http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/adults-3.htm
©2008 NYC Leadership Academy