Adult Education Philosophy

Philosophy is the way of life, the ability to look at what is happening around you and responding to it logically. Philosophy does not change situations but try to better and improve the situation at hand. According to Mastin,(2008) philosophy originated from the Greek word “philosophia” which is made up of two words, “phileo” which means love and “sophia” meaning wisdom. It is also a set of beliefs, norms and values that can guide, instruct and judge the way of doing things. Philosophy of adult education helps both the adult educators and adult learners to reflect on what is happening around them, to guide the adult educators in such a way that they choose the right approaches in order to persuade the adult learners to reach their goals. This

Firstly, Metaphysics- which is the study of human beings and also the way they live, it is the ability to question whether the world around us is real or merely an illusion. Metaphysics is an aspect that helps us question oursleves, to help us see things in the world from different perspectives, it also helps us learn to understand why we breathe or why human beings interact with one another. Secondly, Epistemology, which is the study of knowledge; it mainly involves thoughts, ideas, memories, emotions and all mental things. The creation of knowledge makes this philosophy important to education when teaching and learning activities. This branch criticizes if whether what the adult learner is learning is applicable to their daily routines and whether it will benefit them in the future. Thirdly, Ethics, the study of what is regarded as good or bad, righteous or wicked. Ethics is part of our everyday life. Adult learners often learn how to tackle different situations and how they should behave or conduct themselves towards that situation. Forthly, Logic, the science of reasoning, forms of thinking and judgments. Obeying the rules and moving according to the system. Lastly, aesthetics, the way people react towards beauty and art. Students are therefore inspired and motivated to become creative and innovative especially in their learning

One stating that no education is ever neutral, this means education either domesticates or liberates. It domesticates in the sense that adult learners do not want to change situations in their lives, rather they stick to their cultural beliefs and values. Liberates in the other hand means the ability to become creative, free, self-reliant and change situations not only for the benefit of themselves, but also for the community they belong to. Second being relavancy, which is defined as the way people see things from their own perspectives. Adult learners are mostly motivated to work hard as they believe education is applicable and will help them succeed in life. The third principle is dialogue wherby the adult learner expects two-way communication, the adult learner would want to ask the educator when he or she does not understand something; and expects to get feedback in return. Finally problem-solving, here the adult educator should learn to observe their learners and try to figure out where there is a problem. Sometimes adult learners want help but are unable to ask for it, they offen have personal problems and would want to be taught how to come up with a solution; in most cases they use what they learn in the classroom to associate with what is happening around them