Heutagogical Approach Essay

The twenty first century higher education sector has come a long way after undergoing continuous metamorphosis from pedagogy to andragogy. Most of the educational approaches adopted in medical schools are directed towards developing competency, but not capability, that is, the ability to use competence in novel contexts, in medical students.

Competencies alone are not sufficient to thrive in the present day work place as the profession subsumes complex contexts and that being the situation, medical educators are entrusted with the challenging task of developing ‘capable learners’. In this regard, since

2000, the concept of heutagogy or self-determined learning has been the new wave in higher education. In the heutagogical approach, learners

As emphasized by some researchers8 the ‘power to learn’ is in the hands of the learner. In this regard, since 2000, the concept of heutagogy has been the new wave in higher education. Heutagogy or self-determined learning is an educational approach first described in the context of vocational education by Hase & Kenyon. 1,2A heutagogical approach expects the learners to evaluate the goal setting process itself and also reflect and revise on the process based on their learning experiences. Learning is a continuous process and should happen in a changing world by the learners adapting to the changes. To achieve this,

 we need to involve the learners in designing their own learning contracts or learner generated contexts 10,11,12 (learning content, learning context, assessment) with the help of teachers.  make the curriculum as well as assessment more flexible2,13,14

The concept of heutagogy is one step forward in shifting the control of learning to the learners and enabling them to engage in life-long learning.15 Heutagogy relies on

The affordances of social media makes it a suitable medium for the application of heutagogy.22 A recent case study by

Blanschke21 at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) conducted for an online course of Master of Distance Education and E-learning (MDE) program revealed that a blended approach based on heutagogy, using the affordances of social media could provide learners with a learning environment that nurtures cognitive and metacognitive skills. The application of a heutagogical approach in a teacher education program at

University of Western Sydney in New South Wales has been described by Ashton & Newman and Ashton & Elliot. 6,23 They observed a spectrum of positive learning outcomes that included better teacher outcomes, increased capability among teachers (learners), increased learner confidence etc. Heutagogical principles has been found to stimulate students’ confidence in utilizing learning opportunities in unfamiliar and complex situations in a nursing program.15

Relevance of heutagogy in the undergraduate medical curriculum – a case study