Teachers as adult learners: their knowledge of their own learning and implications for teaching

Abstract

This paper is a description of the structural organization, conceptions and knowledge of their own learning possessed by 40 teachers ranging in age from 23 to 53 years, studying as adult learners in an inservice course concerned with adult learning. It is based on their written statements about learning at the beginning of a one semester subject. The statements were categorised by structural organization according to a modification of the SOLO Taxonomy for tertiary students' knowledge of learning and the content at each level of the Taxonomy was analysed. Eighty percent of the students gave responses at the multistructural level. The content of responses fell into four categories; beliefs about learning; factors influencing learning; learning processes; and learning outcomes. The content of responses varied between SOLO levels. Very little mention was made in any of the responses of factors considered to be typical of adult learning. The results suggest that even teachers such as these need to learn more about learning in order to become independent self-directed learners.