Self-Directed Adult Learning: A Critical Paradigm

Abstract

Research into self-directed learning constitutes a chief growth area in the field of adult education research in the last decade. This paper argues that the propensity and capacity of many adults to conduct self-directed learning projects is now well proven, and that researchers should now infuse a spirit of self-critical scrutiny into this developing field of research. The paper advances four criticisms regarding the current state of self-directed learning research and offers suggestion for shifts in the research paradigm governing this field. The criticisms voiced refer to (1) the emphasis on middle class adults as the sampling frame for studies of this mode of learning, (2) the almost exclusive use of quantitative or quasi-quantitative measures in assessing the extent of learning and the concomitant lack of attention to its quality, (3) the emphasis on the individual dimensions of such learning to the exclusion of any consideration of the social context in which it occurs and, finally, (4) to the absence of any extended discussion of the considerable implications raised by these studies for questions of social and political change.