Application of 'Principles' of Adult Development and Learning to Distance Education. Working Papers in Distance Education No. 2.

The theoretical fields of adult developmental psychology and andragogy provide some principles or rules for action that may lead to useful improvements in course organization and teaching methodology. An analysis of the principles and the likely effects of their implementation has led to the following speculation: principles that are not likely to disrupt bureaucratic structures within distance education when applied are more likely to be accepted; principles viewed as being potentially disruptive to the power and professional exclusivity of the bureaucracies of administrators and teachers will almost certainly be rejected. Students would benefit from the application of the principles identified. Distance educators have demonstrated that they have the welfare of their students at heart. They must be willing to adopt and implement those outcomes of research that will almost certainly come into conflict with the standardizing, ordering, and controlling practices of the bureaucratic system. (YLB)