A Glidepath from Pedagogy to Andragogy

 When thinking about moving from pedagogy to andragogy I really like the idea of a glide path from pedagogical principles to andragogical principles. 

I think as andragogical principles become more accepted and formal, then establishing the techniques that can help bridge students from pedagogy to andragogy will become more scheduled, formal, and measured.

It's all grey areas and variable based on the learner's perspective.  But I love the idea of a glidepath that helps develop students and learners and take them from being more accepting of pedagogical techniques to being more accepting of andragogical techniques. I get the opportunity to talk with Andrew Parzyck quite often and his area of interest is right at this hand-off between highschool and college, so incoming freshmen to college classes. He's focused on androgogical principles and how the instructors see them and how the students see them. Having that "glidepath" so to speak would help make that transition more manageable and understandable. 

There is no binary or black-and-white answer to the question. Some learners may become 100% adult learners at 18 or 19 (or younger depending on the individual) and some may need a longer glide path to go from pedagogy to andragogical principles and may never find a more andragogical approach to be beneficial to them. 

Add to this the fact that in my classes, we have learners who are of various ages, as well as different experience and education levels and we have a whole class like that. For some they'll need a more pedagogical approach, others will be more comfortable with andragogical principles and techniques, and the trainer will have to be dynamic enough to deal with them all. 

So not only are there several shades of grey with individual learners but there are shades of grey into the class, and among different subjects, etc. Like you, I support the perspective that recognizes adult learners as a unique population that requires specific approaches but also recognizes that it's a process, not a light switch and it's a process for each learner as well.