Adaptivity through self-directed learning to meet the challenges of our ever-changing world

Fostering adult learners’ competence to adapt appropriately to our ever-changing world is a primary concern of adult education. The purpose of the present article is novel and examines whether the consideration of modes of learning (instruction, performance, and inquiry) could assist in the design of adult education that facilitates self-directed learning and enables learners to think and perform adaptively. The concept of modes of learning originated from the typology of Houle. However, to date, no study has reached beyond this typology, especially concerning the potential of using modes of learning in the design of adult education. Specifically, an apparent oversight in adult learning theory is the foremost importance of the consideration of whether inquiry is included in the learning process: its inclusion potentially differentiates the purpose of instruction, the nature of learners’ performance, and the underlying epistemological positioning. To redress this concern, two models of modes of learning are proposed and contrasted. The reinforcing model of modes of learning (instruction, performance, without inquiry) promotes teacher-directed learning. A key consequence of employing this model in adult education is that learners may become accustomed to habitually reinforcing patterns of perceiving, thinking, judging, feeling, and acting—performance that may be rather inflexible and represented by a distinct lack of a perceived need to adapt to social contextual changes: a lack of motivation for self-directed learning. Rather, the adapting model of modes of learning (instruction, performance, with inquiry) may facilitate learners to be adaptive in their performance—by encouraging an enhanced learner sensitivity toward changing social contextual conditions: potentially enhancing learners’ motivation for self-directed learning

Vocational education of young adults in England: a systemic analysis of teaching–learning transactions that facilitate self-directed learning

Fostering the skills necessary for self-directed learning is an important endeavour of vocational education and training in many contexts internationally. However, there is a distinct lack of studies that investigate the extent to which facilitation of self-directed learning is present within vocational education and training in different contexts. An exploratory thematic qualitative analysis of inspectors’ comments within general Further Education college Ofsted inspection reports was conducted to investigate the balance of control of the learning process between teacher and learner within vocational education and training of young adults in England. A clear difference between outstanding and inadequate provision is reported. Inadequate provision was overwhelmingly teacher-directed. Outstanding provision reflected a collaborative relationship between teacher and learner in directing the learning process, despite the Ofsted framework not explicitly identifying the need for learner involvement in directing the learning process. The present paper offers insight into the understanding of how an effective balance of control of learning between teacher and learner may be realised in vocational education and training settings and highlights the need to consider the modulating role of contextual factors

An analysis of Rolf Arnold's systemic-constructivist perspective on self-directed learning

Rolf Arnold is a renowned German professor of adult and vocational education. This chapter presents an analysis of Arnold’s systemic-constructivist perspective on selfdirected learning in comparison to international perspectives on self-directed learning and its facilitation in formal educational settings. Arnold’s thesis highlights that competence development must be considered from a holistic perspective. That is, educational experiences from birth may strongly shape one’s inclinations, preferences, and competencies in adult life. In order to facilitate the fostering of self-directed learning competence and in order to prepare learners for working and living in a modern world, it is discussed that an educational system needs to function holistically toward the goal of competence development across learners’ life course. Practical implications and further research directions are given

Experiential learning – a systematic review and revision of Kolb’s model

Kolb’s experiential learning cycle is perhaps the most scholarly influential and cited model regarding experiential learning theory. However, a key issue in interpreting Kolb’s model concerns a lack of clarity regarding what constitutes a concrete experience, exactly. A systematic literature review was conducted in order to examine: what constitutes a concrete experience and what is the nature of treatment of a concrete experience in experiential learning? The analysis revealed five themes: learners are involved, active, participants; knowledge is situated in place and time; learners are exposed to novel experiences, which involves risk; learning demands inquiry to specific real-world problems; and critical reflection acts as a mediator of meaningful learning. Accordingly, a revision to Kolb’s model is proposed: experiential learning consists of contextually rich concrete experience, critical reflective observation, contextual-specific abstract conceptualization, and pragmatic active experimentation. Further empirical studies are required to test the model proposed

Creativity through self-directed learning: three distinct dimensions of teacher support

Self-directed learning and creativity are critical workplace competences that are important to foster in formal educational settings. Previous studies have identified a relationship between self-directed learning and creativity, but the specific nature of this relationship is unclear. The purpose of the present theoretical paper is to examine through a literature review the possibility that creative learning outcomes can be supported through a self-directed learning process. The importance of considering self-directed learning in the context of adult learning – as a pragmatic learning process – is outlined. A conclusion is drawn that (1) creative learning outcomes are potentially supported through self-directed learning, and (2) in the process, teachers can provide support to learners in three distinct different ways. A variety of pragmatic educational activities that may enable self-directed learning and creative learning outcomes are discussed, including experiential learning; workplace simulations; and problem-, case-, and (e-) portfolio-based learning. In these activities, teacher support seems advantageous for many learners. The three distinct dimensions of teacher support identified in the present paper are important to consider in further empirical studies on self-directed learning

Self-directed experiential learning to meet ever-changing entrepreneurship demands

Purpose:- Policy makers have called for more entrepreneurship throughout societies as a response to the digital transformation. This paper argues that the rapidly changing conditions of the digital age indeed mark a change in the bases of entrepreneurship. Specifically, as adaptivity becomes key, a learning capacity and general ability to adapt becomes a critical factor in entrepreneurial activity. The paper identifies self-directed learning as a fundamental competence in this regard and examines its role for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial competence. Design/methodology/approach:- The paper develops a theoretical framework for the role of self-directed learning in entrepreneurship through a process of systematic review of previous studies that have linked self-directed learning to entrepreneurship. Findings:- The formulated theoretical framework shows how self-directed learning competence combines with experiential learning in supporting the kind of adaptivity needed for entrepreneurial competence, especially under more rapidly changing conditions. Self-directed learning competence also gains wider importance through enabling individuals to meet the demands of organizational changes in our highly volatile world. Practical implications:- Self-directed learning competence prepares individuals for entrepreneurship and resilience in face of rapid changes as well as for being more entrepreneurial in the conduct of their lives more generally. Fostering self-directed learning competence can thus be regarded as an important objective of entrepreneurship education. Originality/value:- The described Self-directed Experiential Learning Cycle offers a novel perspective that clarifies how both self-directed and experiential learning competences are integral for understanding the basis of adaptiveness in entrepreneurial activity

Digitization bolstering self-directed learning for information literate adults – a systematic review

Learning skills are fundamental 21st century skills that enable people to thrive in an increasingly uncertain future. Digitization and the current COVID-19 pandemic have been key drivers of uncertainty and changing conditions. In the face of change and uncertainty, self-directed learning is a fundamental competence. However, to date there is a dearth of understanding regarding how digital technologies are supporting or affecting self-directed learning in adulthood. In order to address this, the objective of the present study was to examine through a systematic literature review what is known to date regarding – how can digital technologies support self-directed learning in adult learning and education? The novel findings of the present study suggest digitization has transformed opportunities for self-directed learning in informal, non-formal, and in formal educational settings. However, a key finding of this present study was that the affordances of digital technologies might be described as a double edged sword: (1) digital technologies provide convenient accessibility to information, which acts as an enabler of self-directed learning; but (2) the increasing volume of available information demands additional learner skill in information literacy – part of being a competent self-directed learner – in order to navigate information in a meaningful way. These two concomitant phenomena might in part explain the widening digital divide that has been recorded in recent years

'Moralising' welfare and migration in austerity Britain: a backdrop to Brexit

This article begins by examining UK government discourse on welfare and migration for the period 2010-2016, viewed here as the expression of a distinctive process of moralisation. This discourse is characterised by claims to fairness, responsibility, and austerity, and explicitly sets domestic welfare dependency and migration in opposition to each other. Its operationalisation is traced through a formal mapping of civic stratification in relation to both domestic welfare and freedom of movement within the European Union, while also noting the absence of supporting empirical evidence. The article then looks to the informal aspect of civic stratification, and the role of political discourse in negatively shaping the moral standing of both domestic welfare recipients and EU migrants. Together with the uneven impact of welfare reform, their discursive opposition provides an important amplification of common understandings of the Brexit vote as delivered by the ‘left behind’ (Goodwin and Heath, 2016)

Empirical validation of the InVEST water yield ecosystem service model at a national scale

A variety of tools have emerged with the goal of mapping the current delivery of ecosystem services and quantifying the impact of environmental changes. An important and often overlooked question is how accurate the outputs of these models are in relation to empirical observations. In this paper we validate a hydrological ecosystem service model (InVEST Water Yield Model) using widely available data. We modelled annual water yield in 22 UK catchments with widely varying land cover, population and geology, and compared model outputs with gauged river flow data from the UK National River Flow Archive. Values for input parameters were selected from existing literature to reflect conditions in the UK and were subjected to sensitivity analyses. We also compared model performance between precipitation and potential evapotranspiration data sourced from global- and UK-scale datasets. We then tested the transferability of the results within the UK by additional validation in a further 20 catchments. Whilst the model performed only moderately with global-scale data (linear regression of modelled total water yield against empirical data; slope = 0.763, intercept = 54.45, R2 = 0.963) with wide variation in performance between catchments, the model performed much better when using UK-scale input data, with closer fit to the observed data (slope = 1.07, intercept = 3.07, R2 = 0.990). With UK data the majority of catchments showed less than 10% difference between measured and modelled water yield but there was a minor but consistent overestimate per hectare (86 m3/ha/year). Additional validation on a further 20 UK catchments was similarly robust, indicating that these results are transferable within the UK. These results suggest that relatively simple models can give accurate measures of ecosystem services. However, the choice of input data is critical and there is a need for further validation in other parts of the worl