Achieving a Balance between Self-Directed and Required Learning

Abstract

This paper holds the view that professional schools in the future will not include required courses, only required content, in the curriculum. Adult learners will plan and design their own courses. For the present, neither educators nor students are fully prepared for what Malcolm Knowles calls an “andragogical experience.” Meanwhile, the most productive application of adult learning concepts and principles is to strike a balance between that knowledge and responsibility deemed essential by the school and that which the learner considers important. If we can achieve such a balance, professional education will continue to move forward in self-directed learning.