An adult educator is one who practices the profession of facilitating the learning of adults by applying the principles of androgogy. The broader term of trainer is sometimes used for an adult educator when listing job categories. However, a trainer is not necessarily an adult educator. As Malcolm Knowles

Malcolm Knowles

Malcolm Shepherd Knowles was an American Adult Educator, famous for the adoption of the theory of Andragogy—initially a term coined by the German teacher Alexander Kapp...

 proposes, to be a successful adult educator, one must recognize that adult learner

Adult learner

Adult learner or mature learner is a term used to describe any person socially accepted as an adult who is in a learning process, whether it is formal education, informal learning, or corporate-sponsored learning.Adult learners are considered distinct from child learners due...

s are self-directed. That is, they know basically what they need to learn at a given point in their career and seek to engage in the process of their learning through active participation.

Work

The adult educator applies the principles of adult learning to the six phases of course development: determining learner needs; writing learning objectives to fulfill those needs; creating a learning plan; selecting learning methodologies geared to the adult learner; implementing the learning plan; and evaluating the degree to which the learning objectives have been met. Central to the creation of the learning plan is the realization of how adults learn most naturally and incorporating that knowledge into every aspect of the practice of adult education

Adult education

Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. Adult education takes place in the workplace, through 'extension' school or 'school of continuing education' . Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers...

.

Adult learners tend to be very practical learners. That is, they wish to see the application of their learning almost immediately. To better insure that this happens, the adult educator must understand the basics of the work, the work environment

Social environment

The social environment of an individual, also called social context or milieu, is the culture that s/he was educated or lives in, and the people and institutions with whom the person interacts....

 and the challenges facing the adults engaged in that work. This information is obtained during the needs assessment phase of course development.

Knowles' theories on adult education were further enhanced by the work of David A. Kolb

David A. Kolb

David A. Kolb is an American educational theorist whose interests and publications focus on experiential learning, the individual and social change, career development, and executive and professional education...

. Kolb proposes that adult learners learn through reflective observation, abstract

Abstraction

Abstraction is a process by which higher concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts, first principles, or other methods....

 conceptualization, active experimentation, and concrete experience. Kolb recommends that adult educators create learning plans that incorporate the four learning styles so as to make learning more successful.

We see adult educators in many contexts. They teach adults in university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 settings, in government organizations and in for profit

Profit (accounting)

In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...

 companies. When Knowles wrote about adult education in the 1950’s, he was referring to the classroom environment. Today with the opportunities presented through elearning, the adult educator can reach adult learners virtually any time, anywhere.

The term is attributed to Malcolm Knowles, an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

educator, who wrote The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Androgogy (1980).

Kolb identifies four basic ways adults learn through his studies of how adults take-in (prehend) knowledge and how they apply (transform) knowledge into practice.