I. Lytovchenko
National Technical University of Ukraine “Kiev
Polytechnic Institute”, Ukraine
THE NEW ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN THE SCIENTIFIC-PEDAGOGICAL HERITAGE OF M.
KNOWLES
The rapid changes which take place in
all spheres of life at the present stage of social development lead to
strengthening the role of adult education as an important factor of social and
economic progress. The
teaching practice is being reoriented so as to perceive the human being as
the highest value. The relationships are being changed between the student and the
teacher, as well as the role of the teacher, who must create favorable
conditions for the learner’s self-fulfillment. In this
regard, the study of ideas and practical experience of Malcolm Knowles, an
outstanding American scientist and the founder of the science of andragogy, is
of considerable interest.
Analysis of pedagogical works by M.
Knowles shows that the problem of the new role of the teacher as facilitator of
learning occupies an important place in the scientific heritage of the
scientist, and he repeatedly returns to this theme in his works. In this context, of great interest is first of
all M. Knowles’ personal experience of becoming a facilitator, since he was among
those who first brought the idea of facilitation into practice and gave it a
theoretical foundation.
For the first time M. Knowles
describes the process of his transition from acting as a teacher (which is
traditionally associated with transmitting information) to performing the role
of facilitator in his book “Self-directed learning”. Subsequently, in the 3 rd
and 4 th editions of “The adult learner”, M. Knowles returns to this
theme and explains that such a radical change in the perception of his own role
in the learning process took place under the influence of his attending the
workshop conducted by Professor Arthur Shedlin, an associate of Carl Rogers, in the University of Chicago.
Working in small groups, friendly,
informal atmosphere made such a deep impression on M. Knowles that the
following week he read all the books by C. Rogers. The future andragog also mentioned that never before
in his life had he read so much and worked so hard as while participating in
this seminar. Also he had never felt so much responsibility for his own
learning. M. Knowles wrote that it was an exciting
experience, and he felt for the first time “what it means to get turned on to
learning” [Knowles, 1990, p. 180].
It was after participating in A.
Shedlin’s and then C. Houle’s seminars that M. Knowles decided to stop being a
teacher and become a facilitator of learning. Now his main function was not planning and transmitting
content, but designing and managing the learning process, which involved building
friendly relations with students, assessing their needs, engaging students in
planning the learning activities, linking them to learning resources,
and encouraging student initiative [Knowles, 1990, p. 181].
It is worthy of note that from the performance of the
role of facilitator, M. Knowles received “psychic rewards” of a different
nature than from performing the role of a teacher [Knowles, 1990, p. 181]. He wrote: “I had
replaced getting my rewards from controlling students with getting my rewards
from releasing students. And I found the latter
rewards much more satisfying” [Knowles, 1990, p. 181].
The problem of releasing students from control and by
so doing releasing their creative energy is also connected with M. Knowles’ reconsideration
of the role of leader, which he sees primarily in facilitation. (To the
category of leaders M. Knowles refers teachers, business executives, educational
administrators, organizational and political leaders [Knowles, 1990, p. 183].)
The scientist firmly believes in the falsehood of the generally accepted idea
that the role of leader is controlling his followers or subordinates, as in this case the
output is limited only by the vision and ability of the leader. Therefore,
according to M. Knowles, the main function of the leader is “releasing the
energy of the people in the system and managing the process for giving that
energy the direction toward mutually beneficial goals” [Knowles, 1990, p. 183].
This form of leadership is considered by the scientist to be creative, because
it creates conditions for realization of creative potential of all
participants.
The importance of the problem of
control in the heritage of M. Knowles is evidenced by the fact that it is brought
up in a whole number of his works (“Informal adult education”, “How to develop
better leaders”, “Modern practice of adult education”, “Adult learner”). Particularly
in the book “How to develop better leaders”, the author contends that to become
a good leader one had to “lose control” [Knowles, 1955, p. 12], but at the same time assist the group and guide its work.
Based on his personal observations and results of
scientific research, M Knowles identified eight characteristics that
distinguished creative leaders from “controlling leaders” [Knowles, 1990, p. 183-190]:
1. Creative leaders, in
contrast to controlling leaders, trust in the positive nature of human beings. They have faith in
people, offer them challenging opportunities, and delegate responsibility to
them;
2. Creative
leaders accept as a law of human nature that people are committed to a decision
in proportion to the extent of their participation in making it;
3. Creative
leaders believe in and use the power of self-fulfilling prophecy of their
followers. They understand that people tend to come up to other people’s
expectations for them;
4. Creative leaders highly appreciate
the individuality of learners. They feel that people perform better if they make use of
their unique talents and strengths;
5. Creative leaders
encourage and reward creativity. They allow people
experimenting and treating failures as opportunities to learn rather than as
acts to be punished;
6. Creative leaders
recognize the need for continuous change and are skillful in managing it;
7. Creative leaders emphasize
internal over external factors of motivation;
8. Creative leaders encourage
people to be self-directing, because they realize that self-directedness is a
universal characteristic of the maturation process.
M. Knowles recognizes that this list
is not exhaustive and includes only the main features of behavior which he
observed in creative leaders personally, and which are distinguished in the
scientific literature. However,
he said, that he had seen “wonderful things happen when they have been put into
practice” [Knowles, 1990, p. 190].
The results of the study suggest
that, according to M. Knowles, a leader, especially a teacher, should be
primarily a facilitator of learning. He must manage the learning process in
such a way as to create conditions for realization of the creative potential of
all its participants.
References
1. Knowles, M.
S., & Knowles, H. F. (1955). How to
develop better leaders. New York: Association Press.
2. Knowles, M.
S. (1990). The adult learner: A neglected species (4th ed.). Houston, London, Paris, Zurich,
Tokyo: Gulf Publishing Company.