Background

Malcolm Shepherd Knowles was born on August 24, 1913, in Livingston, Montana, United States. He was the son of Albert Dixon Knowles and Marion (Straton) Knowles.

Education

Knowles was educated at the Palm Beach High School. He then received Bachelor of Arts degree from the Harvard University in 1934, as well as Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago in 1949. In 1960 he obtained Doctor of Philosophy degree in Education from the University of Chicago. Knowles received honorary doctorates from several institutions.

Career

Early in his career, Knowles served as deputy state administrator for the National Youth Administration in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1940 he became the adult education director at Boston’s Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). Later work included stints with the YMCA in Chicago, from 1945 to 1951, as well as serving as founding executive secretary of the Adult Education Association of the United States, from 1951 to 1959.

His academic career began as professor and chairman of the adult education graduate program at Boston University in 1959, Knowles continued his professorial and administrative duties at Boston University until 1974. In that year, Knowles became a professor in the Department of Adult and Community College Education at North Carolina State University, Raleigh. His retirement from that position came in 1979, but he remained active as professor emeritus.

For more than 50 years Knowles served as an adult education consultant for hundreds of public and private sector organizations on local, state, national and international levels.

Much of his early writing drew upon his academic preparation in history and commitment to the emerging field of adult education. These writings included Informal Adult Education (1950); The Adult Education Movement in the U. S. (1962); Higher Adult Education in the U. S. (1969); and History of Adult Education in the U. S. (1972). Woven within his early career were writings and a television film series concerned with leadership and group dynamics in adult education. Examples of these are: How to Develop Better Leaders (1955); Introduction to Group Dynamics (with Hulda Knowles) (1959); and The Dynamics of Leadership Series (1962).

The major focus of his career, however, manifested in his writings, academic role, and work with adult education practitioners, was upon the principles of andragogy.

His writings focused on the adult as a learner include The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy vs. Pedagogy (1980); The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (1973, 1978, 1984); Lifelong Learning: A Guide for Teachers and Learners (1975); Self-Directed Learning (1975); Andragogy in Action (1984); and Using Learning Contracts (1986). Perhaps his most influential book, The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species was issued in a third edition in 1984.

In addition to his numerous books, he authored hundreds of book chapters, articles for scholarly journals, and articles for lay publications.

In later years Knowles drew upon his rich experiences to explore learning in retirement and shared his own developmental steps as an adult educator in The Making of an Adult Educator: an Autobiographical Journey (1989).

Achievements

• Knowles was instrumental in creating programs for older students and is considered to be the founder of adult education. He coined the term “andragogy”—a concept which explained that older students needed specific types of and approaches to learning. Much evidence of Knowles' influence and the widespread recognition of his name, was found in the annual reports, in informational brochures and in catalogs of many major adult education organizations worldwide.

Works

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  • History of the Adult Education Movement in the United States

    (This history of the adult education movement is liberally...)

  • Higher adult education in the United States;: The current picture, trends, and issues;

    (Written in the 1960's, this book represents an interestin...)

  • Andragogy in Action: Applying Modern Principles of Adult Learning (The Jossey-Bass Management Series)

    (Provides over thirty case examples from a variety of sett...)

  • The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy

    (Complete guide to the technology of adult education, offe...)

  • Introduction to group dynamics

    (A broad survey of the origins, main ideas, language, and ...)

  • The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (Building Blocks of Human Potential)

    (This edition reflects the latest work and advances in adu...)

  • How To Develop Better Leaders

    (Book by Knowles, Malcolm Shepherd, Knowles, Hulda)

  • Self-directed learning: A guide for learners and teachers

    (Book by Knowles, Malcolm Shepherd)

  • The Making of an Adult Educator: An Autobiographical Journey (Jossey Bass Higher & Adult Education Series)

    (Malcolm S. Knowles tells the story of his professional ca...)

  • Using Learning Contracts: Practical Approaches to Individualizing and Structuring Learning (Jossey-Bass Higher Education Series/Jossey-Bass Management Series)

Views

When Knowles began his earliest work in adult education, adult learners were almost universally taught with the methods of pedagogy, the education of children. Knowles was viewed as the person most responsible for achieving wide acceptance by adult educators of such concepts as the following: 1) adults will pursue learning that they believe they need; 2) instructors of adults should approach their role as facilitators, catalysts, and guides; 3) adults should have control over their own approach to learning in an adult-oriented, cooperative, non-authoritarian setting and climate; 4) learner involvement approaches to learning should be followed; 5) the adult should be viewed as a responsible, independent individual responsive to interdependent learning opportunities; and 6) in addition to shared control and relevance, adult education should be based on authenticity of participants, instructors, procedures, and goals. Knowles viewed andragogy as discovery learning in which the adult learner grew through insight and direct, early application of learning.

Quotations: "The idea that turned my life around I got from Carl Rogers in the early 1950's: that the mission of a leader (parent, manager, teacher) is to release human energy, not control it."

Connections

On August 20, 1935, Knowles married Hulda Elisabet Fornell. That marriage produced 2 children - Eric Stuart Knowles and Barbara Elizabeth Knowles Hartl.

Father:

Albert Dixon Knowles

Mother:

Marion (Straton) Knowles

child:

Eric Stuart Knowles

child:

Barbara Elizabeth Knowles Hartl

Wife:

Hulda Elisabet Fornell

References

• Malcolm Shepherd Knowles: A History of His Thought (Education in a Competitive and Globalizing World)