Best Practice

Andragogy vs pedagogy: Which approach is best in the post-16 classroom?

Post-16 Pedagogy
Teachers are masters of pedagogy, but as students move into post-16 education, should we also move to considering the merits of andragogy? Debbie Tremble compares andragogical and pedagogical approaches in the key stage 5 classroom
Image: Adobe Stock -

The students who received their A level results in 2023 will perhaps be remembered as the Covid cohort the most disadvantaged – sitting exams at pre-pandemic standards yet having never taken a public examination before, not to mention having had two formative years of learning disrupted by the virus.

This has further compounded the disadvantage gap. As Professor Becky Francis, CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation has said: “We know gaps in outcomes between socio-economically disadvantaged pupils and their classmates grow as they progress through school which means they are at their widest when students enter post-16 education.” (EEF, 2023)

Furthermore, an Education Policy Institute report – Measuring the disadvantage gap 16-19 (Tucket et al, 2021) – found that “the gap in educational attainment between poorer students and their peers is substantial during the 16-19 education phase, with poorer students continuing to see far worse educational outcomes than their better off peers”.

This has only been exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic. The report also found that academic qualifications show the largest gap, with disadvantaged students – on average – receiving half a grade lower than their peers.

The report recommends increasing funding for post-16 disadvantaged learners, but what else can be done to support these students and their peers? What is in the teacher’s toolkit to help close the gap? Could choosing the right teaching model for this age group have a positive impact for all students and help prepare them for the next phase of their education?

 

Pedagogy vs andragogy

Teachers are well-versed with the concept of pedagogy, broadly referring to the methods, strategies, and practices of teaching. The word pedagogy has its roots in ancient Greek – “paidagōgos”, from “pais” meaning child and “agōgos” meaning leader or guide.

In modern day teaching, pedagogical practices are increasing influenced by research and can vary depending on student age and phase. Research (see Husbands & Pearce, 2021) tells us these nine characteristics make effective pedagogy:

  1. Prioritise pupil voice in effective pedagogies.
  2. Depend on teacher behaviour, knowledge, and beliefs.
  3. Balance short-term goals with long-term outcomes.
  4. Build on prior learning and experiences.
  5. Scaffold pupil learning effectively.
  6. Utilise various techniques – whole-class, group work, guided learning, and individual tasks.
  7. Foster higher-order thinking, metacognition, and meaningful dialogue.
  8. Incorporate assessment for learning.
  9. Address diverse learner needs and equity.

Andragogy is lesser known. It specifies the practices of teaching adults (“andros” meaning “man” or “adult”). Andragogy has limited evidence-base and little research. However, andragogy has value in understanding adult learning, and the direction post-16 students are heading when moving into higher education or employment.

The concept of andragogy originated from Malcolm Knowles in the 1960s (see Knowles, 1984). Its features are:

  • Self-directed learning: Adults are more likely to take responsibility for their own learning and prefer to have a say in what and how they learn.
  • Experience: Adults bring a wealth of life experiences to their learning, which can be used as a resource for education.
  • Relevance: Adults are motivated to learn when they see the direct relevance of the material to their life or work.
  • Problem-centred: Adult learners are more interested in solving real-life problems and applying what they learn in practical situations.
  • Internal motivation: Adults are driven by their internal motivations and goals rather than external pressures.
  • Readiness to learn: Adults are ready to learn when they perceive a need for it, often related to their life stage or career.

In other words, adults learn best when they are self-directed, drawing on their life and find the material relevant to their lives or work. They thrive in problem-centred, practical learning situations driven by internal motivations and readiness linked to their life stage or career.

Furthermore, Knowles’ andragogical theory is based on characteristics of the adult learner (see Holmes & Abington-Cooper, 2000):

  • Their self-concept moves from that of a dependent personality toward one of increasing self-directedness.
  • They accumulate a growing reservoir of experience that becomes a rich resource for learning and a broad base upon which they can relate new leanings.
  • Their readiness to learn becomes increasingly more oriented to the developmental tasks of their social roles and not the product of biological development and academic pressure.
  • Their time perspective changes from one of future application of knowledge to one of immediate application, giving them a problem-centred rather than subject-centred orientation to learning.

As teachers, we would hope and expect our sixth-form students to move from dependency toward independency; to grow in experiences; be motivated intrinsically rather than due to outside factors and the purpose of what they are learning outside of just to pass the examination.

However, it is naïve to suppose that this is always the case and to assume so when designing and delivering the curriculum can cause gaps to widen.

 

An age-appropriate approach

Knowles himself conceded that pedagogy and andragogy are more like ends of a spectrum, both useful in different situations. Arguably, post-16 is the bridge between the pedagogical approaches to teaching in key stage 4 and the very independent style of university study/skills of the workplace.

Managing this transition is complex. Post-16 education brings with it other challenges, such as fewer subjects in more depth, non-examination assessment (many students won’t have completed coursework at key stage 4), greater freedoms such as non-teaching hours on their timetables, and out of school influences such as part-time jobs and driving lessons.

With these challenges, it is important to consider the point at which we transition from pedagogy to andragogy considering the cognitive, emotional, and social development of this group.

It is also key to keep in mind the further challenges faced by disadvantaged students for they may lack the “life experiences” – Bourdieu’s “cultural capital” – to foster an andragogical approach.

Arguably, our post-16 students still require explicit instruction due to the growth in complexity of qualifications after GCSE and certainly need teacher guidance to build self-efficacy in their new subjects: “To move from novice to expert, our pupils need to know how an expert athlete, artist, historian, or scientist habitually thinks and acts – we need to make these largely implicit processes explicit to our novice learners.” (Quigley et al, 2021).

However, in some cases, students are becoming more expert in their subjects when moving from GCSE to A level and thus may become frustrated with the pedagogical approach. Here, we need to consider which model is more appropriate to suit the needs of the learners.

 

A false dichotomy?

Geraldine Holmes and Michele Abington-Cooper (2000) argue that andragogy may just be progressive pedagogy applied to adults and that research shows learning approach selection depends more on variables like style, goals, content rather than just age.

While post-16 students say they favour a more independent style of learning (research by Lynda Swanson Wilson (2005) suggests it does impact student satisfaction), they may fall victim to the “planning fallacy” – a phenomenon where students underestimate the time it takes to complete a task.

While all students overestimate their confidence and competence levels (Roberts, 2022), moving to an andragogical teaching style may leave students floundering if they are not already strong self-regulators or metacognitive.

Furthermore, students with higher key stage 4 attainment are more likely to be "returned and retained" compared to disadvantaged students with lower attainment (Thomson, 2017) – these students are much less likely to succeed without clear teacher-led instruction.

Often there is a lack of focus on literacy skills post-16. Students who begin their post-16 qualifications encounter the challenge of grappling with increasingly complex texts along with the assumption that they will make sense of these texts independently.

As noted in research conducted by the Department for Education – Participating in learning post-16: Effective practice in schools (DfE, 2012): “Pupils who started secondary school with an insecure grasp of literacy and numeracy were sometimes susceptible to disengagement later in the key stage.”

Here, direct instruction and teacher-centred approaches, such as specific vocabulary instruction, would benefit learners, especially disadvantaged students, taking academic qualifications as the word gap widens further.

Furthermore, higher prior attaining disadvantaged students need more support to keep up (Thomson, 2015). Therefore, to adopt andragogical approaches may not help them.

 

Final thoughts

Post-16 education is a transitional phase where students are moving from dependency towards independence. However, this transition is complex, given the unique challenges and responsibilities that come with post-16 education.

The optimal teaching approach for post-16 education should strike a balance between pedagogical and andragogical elements, taking into account the specific needs and characteristics of the students.

While some may thrive in a more self-directed learning environment, others may require structured guidance and support. Flexibility and adaptability in teaching methods are key to addressing the diverse needs of post-16 learners, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

  • Debbie Tremble is assistant headteacher for teaching and learning at John Taylor High School in Staffordshire. She has 20 years’ experience in education, undertaking a variety of roles including head of English and trust lead for English and literacy. Debbie is an SLE for English, ELE for Staffordshire Research School, and is currently partaking in an NPQLTD. Follow her on X (Twitter) @mrs_tremble. Find her previous articles and webinar appearances for SecEd via www.sec-ed.co.uk/authors/debbie-tremble

 

Further information & resources