What-a-gogy?

Here are three words for your consideration:

Pedagogy = Others-directed learning = the skills/process of directing the learning of others, deciding what they will learn and how they will learn it.

Andragogy = Self-directed learning = the skills/processes of deciding what others will learn, then allowing them great autonomy in reaching those outcomes.

Heutagogy = Self-determined learning = the learner decides what is to be learned and how to engage in that learning process.

On a continuum, they look like this:

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Pedagogy                                  Andragogy                                    Heutagogy

(others-directed)                        (self-directed)                         (self-determined)

As you think back on the stuff you’ve learned over the years 

(like riding a bike, constructing sentences, the quadratic formula, how to garden, the state capitals, playing bridge, the periodic table, bow hunting, etc.), 

you have engaged in all three of the “gogys” at some point in time.

Here’s the question:  Which of those “gogys” provides the learner with the highest levels of engagement and interest?

If you’re like most folks, the further to the right you move on the continuum, the greater your level of interest/engagement in the learning task.

For those of us who make learning happen for a living, there are real implications for how we hone our craft.