Building a Model of Employee Training through Holistic Analysis of Biological, Psychological, and Sociocultural Factors

Introduction

Views about what constitutes an adult learner often differ considerably depending upon the social and cultural contexts in which the term is defined (Hansman & Mott, 2010). American society legally defines an adult to be 18 years of age, while researchers such as Johnstone and Rivera (1965) define it as someone who is twenty-one years or older, married, or the head of the household. Still others, such as Knowles (1975), have attempted to define adults as human beings who have reached maturity. This view is in stark contrast to that of Houde (2006), who describes adulthood not through age and maturity accumulated from birth, but through proximity to death and immediacy of educational goals.

In reality, disparities of definitions reflect major issues within the andragogical field that must be resolved. The contemporary corpus of educational literature does not include enough empirical evidence to clearly define adulthood, nor does it provide the data necessary to firmly establish the importance of andragogy as a discipline (Clardy, 2005; Taylor & Kroth, 2009). More quantitative and experimental research must be conducted to establish clear influences of age on the learning process. As a first step, a more objective and operationalizable definition about what constitutes adulthood must be developed. Contemporary descriptions that utilize age or marital status are purely arbitrary, man-made measures, while those utilizing maturity level are far too simplistic to accurately assess the process of human development. Furthermore, past definitions have treated maturity as a binary variable which may immediately be triggered, propelling the learner from childhood to adulthood. Concepts concerning adult growth are actually continuous variables which range in degree along a continuum. Individuals may develop along this continuum at different rates, explaining why universities offer both highly dependent (pedagogical) and self-directed (andragogical) curricula to members of the same university population (Yoshimoto, Inenaga, & Yamada, 2007). Because growth and maturity of an individual may vary according to a variety of biological, psychological, or sociocultural factors, it is essential that more holistic research be conducted. Such inquiry may allow educators to tailor instruction to the unique needs of each adult learner.