Biography of Malcolm Knowles Essay

IntroductionOne send awaynot mention braggy raising without making fate to the internationally reputable magnanimous educationist by the name of Malcolm ward Knowles. Malcolm is renowned for leading both as an academician and practiti wizardr who contend a crucial role in the buzz offment and the application of big learning across the globe (George, 2011).BackgroundMalcolm Shepherded Knowles was born in frightful 24, 1913 in Livingstone, Montana. His parents were Dr. and Mrs. Dr. A. D. Knowles. He loved to participate in sports and outdoor activities from an earlyish age. In addition to this, he was an avid scout during his youthful years. He was as well an academically astute student. This was made evident when he gradational at the top of his class from the Palm Beach High work in 1930. Consequently, he was admitted to the distinguished Harvard University where he gradatory with a unmarried man of Arts degree in 1934.During his stay at this prestigious institution, he took courses in philosophy, literature, history, political science, ethics and international law (George, 2011). He was overly fascinated with extracurricular activities. This made him to be appointed the president of the Harvard disinterested Club, general secretary of the New England Model League of Nations, and President of the Phillips stand House. His involvement in voluntary service for the latter got him working with boys gild and this formed a crucial platform for his fruitful career in vainglorious education and social service.CareerMalcolm Knowles went on to work with the national Youth Administration in Massachu decoratets where he was responsible for establishing the skills requirements for local anaesthetic employers and establish a course for the entire study body and watch those skills to the young people. In the course of this work he met Professor Eduard Lindeman who went on to become Malcolms mentor in swel take education. As he continued in this work he married Hulda Fornell whom he had met at Harvard. In 1940, he assumed the role of Director of Adult Education. This enabled him to set up an association school for adults at the Boston YMCA. It is from this gear up that he was drafted into the Second World War in 1943. In 1946, he took the position of Director of Adult Education at the YMCA. He proceeded to pursue his everyplacepowers degree in Arts at the University of Chicago and graduated in 1949. Under the mentorship of Cyril O.Houle he became executive director of the Adult Education Association of the USA which had been newly formed. He joined the Boston University in 1959 as an associate professor. During this time, he was very instrumental in founding a new graduate program in the surface area of adult education. He later joined the Fielding Graduate University in mum where he continued to teach until his retirement in 1979 (George, 2011). Despite the incident that he had retired, Knowles had already achieved his P hD continued to be involved in the field of Adult Education. During this time he became a Professor Emeritus at the North Carolina State University where he continued to write books and articles regarding adult education. Dr. Knowles passed forward on Thanksgiving Day in 1997 at his home in Fayetteville, Arkansas due to stroke.Malcolm Knowless ContributionsMalcolms contributions in education can never go unmentioned in especially in the field of adult education. He created a model which is still in use immediately in the field of adult education. This was the theory of andragogy. This theory was establish on the differences in the learning styles between the children and the adults. This theory was developed after a thorough study of humanistic clinical psychology and the relationships which were derived from it. Thus, this theory was based on five basic assumptions about the consumes of adult learners (Malcolm, 1950). These features brought out a very different view from the fea tures which were observed in children. These features included the hobby aspects (Malcolm, 1950) the self-concept which is a person usually, matures over time from possessing a dependent reputation towards one of being a self-directed one. Experience this is the second feature which usually brings with it a huge amount of experience that an individual has gained over time.Readiness to learn the primary motivation for a persons readiness to earn may change from being one of rapture of knowledge in his youth to one of eagerness to develop their social standing. Lastly, orientation to learning, as a person matures, his perspective of problems and urgencies shift to one of a frantic nature. Thus a person starts focusing more than on his problems than the subject of his problems. Dr. Malcolm grounded the concept of adult education by de give outrance on board the principle of Adult Education. This came to the fore as part o his Masters thesis as he was probing for a coherent and comprehensive theory of adult learning when he hit upon the informal theory of adult education. He held the opinion that an create course was usually better for new learning of an intensive nature while an informal association or club provided the best probability for practicing and refining the things which were taught (Malcolm, 1950).Dr. Malcolm spent a further fourteen years producing major texts in the field of adult education. His works include the Modern institutionalise of Adult Education (1970) and The Adult Learner (1973). These texts help to establish him as a central figure in adult education in the United States of America. Through them, the theory of andragogy was further popularized. He also accept the value and the importance of learning communication skills. This is because he believed that humans cede to interact with each other on a daily basis, and then the knowledge of communication should be included as part of their curriculum. In order to aid an adult i n the society, Dr. Malcolm believed that adult education should be able to enable the adults to develop a clear understanding of them by dint of learning about their own needs and selves.Secondly, adults should cultivate a outlook of acceptance, love and respect towards others. This would help them to establish healthy relationships with others in the society. Adults should also possess an accepting attitude towards change. Adults should also figure out solutions to a general cause instead of fretting over the cause itself. This would help them to develop what he called an active and logical mind that would help them to make some(prenominal) situation and make it better. Adults should also have an understanding of the society and be proactive in instituting social change. This can be done by making every adult aware of the important issues such as political, economic, international affairs and the business aspects of life.ConclusionIn conclusion, Dr. Malcolm Shepherd Knowles play a major role in the phylogenesis and establishment of adult education. Despite the fact that he is no longer alive, his work, ideas and innovations still live on and inspire more strategies in adult learning. His efforts led to the development of the Theories of Andragogy and Self-Directed Learning (George, 2011). In addition to this, he was the first person to chart the rise and progress of the entire adult education front line which took center stage in the United States of America. This informed the process that led to the development of general theory and practice of informal adult education. Dr. Knowles trunk to be a great inspiration to many academicians who have benefited from his ideas as well as the professionals in the field of adult education.ReferencesGeorge, W. (2011). Malcolm Shepherd Knowles A History of His Thought (Education in aCompetitive and Globalizing World). London Nova Science . Malcolm, S. K. (1950). Informal Adult Education. Chicago Association Press.