Learning Journal 1

Learning Journal 1

I have been engaged in program planning since my first day in school and that was 22 years ago. But it was only in the year 2000, when I was designated as our university’s Director for Research and Extension that I did actual program planning and implementation related activities. What I did then was basically to coordinate our university’s research output in small scale business industries towards entrepreunaral activities for the non working wives from our immediate community.
That was eight years ago and it took quite a while for me to be able to remember the so many details that we went into to be able to plan and implement the program of activities that we have designed in cooperation with the local government of our town in Dasmarinas, Cavite in the Philippines. Making a three dimensional logic design model out of that activity was a real challenge for. It’s only thru reading Sork’s theories in planning that I was able to recollect the series of activities that went through. The purposes, contents, methods and evaluations and the details that went with this various stages of program planning. One very fascinating note that he did mentioned was when he cited Knowles, who said that ‘ programs should address the needs of learners and suggested an approach to planning conducting instructions that put the interest and experiences of learners in the foreground’. As I remember it we did get the bio data of all the participants but we did not gave in sincere efforts towards their prior knowledge or experience towards designing the program.
One thing that comes prominently to mind was the teaching methodology that we have adopted when we worked with the local NGO’s other government institutions and also with other university’s engaged in extension in our province. We didn’t know then of ‘andragogy’ as an alternative educational process to ‘pedagogy’. We did know that learning should empower the learners. Knowles’ approach of using ‘andragogy’ rather ‘pedagogy’ in approaching teaching and learning differences was an eye opener for me. More so when he revised his position when started writing ‘pedagogy to andragogy’. Giving more credence to the idea that the learning teaching process is a continuum rather than a transition from one stage to another.


Alberto T Mansilla
February, 2009