Moravian University

David Castañeda

David Castañeda, Ed.D., is the Director of Online Education at Moravian University. With expertise in digital learning and instructional design, he leads initiatives to enhance online education and expand access to innovative learning experiences. Driven by a passion for student success, he integrates technology and pedagogy to create engaging, high-quality online programs.

Through this article, Castañeda highlights the need to rethink the traditional divide between pedagogy and andragogy, arguing that digital learning tools and evolving educational environments suggest a continuum of learning approaches rather than a strict separation between teaching methods for children and adults.

Among curriculum and instructional design professionals in higher education, a frequent practical consideration is establishing a guiding learning theory. Specifically, we need to decide if we want to engage in pedagogical or andragogical methods when developing learning experiences. This consideration is especially present when designing for graduate or continuing education learners since they are considered full adults. Thus, it may need an andragogical approach (pedagogy is still mostly the default). However, introducing digital learning platforms and tools and their embedded methods across all learning levels has brought about an interesting mix of these learning theories. This mix challenges the strict dichotomy of learning theories. It suggests it may be time to consider these two learning theories as a continuum rather than two separate concepts.

"Achievement is often internally motivated by goals that the learner has for themselves. When we take this approach, we want students to explore knowledge, internalize it for themselves, unlearn perspectives, and assume they know things that may help or interfere with our topic."

As part of this argument, consider first what each “agogy” is about:

Pedagogy, which has the root meaning of teaching children, is the most widespread approach to teaching and is usually associated with K-12 education. This approach is rooted in the assumption that the learner does not know much about the topic and has little experience in it. Thus, pedagogical methods start by providing the learner with all new concepts. To achieve this, teachers plan front-of-the-room presentations and lectures, create structured exercises and activities, and develop assessments with mostly concrete right or wrong answers. The teacher wants to help the students learn by giving them the correct information. Pedagogical approaches typically are about ensuring the student understands long-standing truths from the topic. Learning typically occurs within a structured environment with clear rules, expectations, and routines. Pedagogical achievement is often motivated by external rewards such as grades, praise, and tangible items. When we take this approach, we want students to get up to speed on what others in the topic already know, and we assume our students do not know much about it yet.

Andragogy, which has the root meaning of teaching adults, is usually more associated with college-level and professional training. This approach assumes that the adult learner already has much-lived experience, a stronger sense of personal autonomy, and a wealth of knowledge. Thus, andragogical methods give learners agency and opportunities to connect materials with their experiences and focus more on real-world problems and challenges. Andragogical teaching emphasizes learner-centered activities, experiential learning assignments, building competency, problem-based learning, and opportunities for self-direction. Achievement is often internally motivated by goals that the learner has for themselves. When we take this approach, we want students to explore knowledge, internalize it for themselves, unlearn perspectives, and assume they know things that may help or interfere with our topic.

Yet, changing trends in educational environments and the inclusion of digital learning tools across all age levels have shown us that engaging in just one learning theory may not be the best approach. Adults and children can benefit from elements from each learning theory. For example, elementary schools have incorporated digital tools that provide competency-based learning activities for their students. These tools offer learning environments where students can explore and advance at their own pace and according to their interests. Inquiry-based learning (IBL) has also gained traction in K-12 environments. IBL gives the learner the agency to explore their curiosity by actively participating in asking their questions and finding solutions. Both are examples of andragogical methods.

Concurrently, in adult education, adults often ask for concepts to be explained in a straightforward manner. The popular #ELI5, Explain Like I’m 5 (years old) search parameter and the presence of explainer videos on YouTube reinforce that sometimes adult learners need a pedagogical approach, too. It is also common within professional training environments that adults often need structured training and straightforward assessment to build their knowledge and skills capacity. Often, professional training is infused with ‘knowledge-checks’ or other straightforward quizzing to help reinforce concepts for adult learners.

Finally, the abundance of information and experiences available through digital environments should challenge some of our assumptions about the amount of information and knowledge people may already have in any given subject across the age spectrum. This digital reality and the already-happening mixing of teaching methods suggest that it is time to stop creating such a hard boundary between pedagogy and andragogy and instead move towards a continuum of learning. It is not pedagogy, not andragogy, but instead a “Laikos-agogy” (from the Greek “laikos,” meaning people), perhaps? We can workshop the name, but it seems apparent that both methods can benefit learners of all ages.