What is the Difference? A New Critique of Adult Learning and Teaching

This book explores the ongoing dilemma that has plagued many educators for generations – is adult learning and the teaching of adults the same or different from that of younger persons? Rogers examines what is meant by learning. He proposes that there are two distinct forms of learning common to both older and younger persons – ‘task-conscious learning’ and ‘learning-conscious learning’. Expanding this concept, he argues that the uniqueness of adult teaching lies not in the different ways in which adults and children learn, but in the sense of identity that learners bring to their learning and the relationships between teacher and learner.

Rogers believes that if we are to be effective in the way we teach adults, we need to understand and build upon adults’ natural learning practices and processes and the identities they are creating. This book offers a distinctive approach to adult learning and the effects this could, or should have on teaching.