Alexander Kapp (1800–1869) was a German educator and editor, brother of Ernst Kapp. In 1833, he originally introduced the term ''

andragogy Andragogy refers to methods and principles used in adult education. The word comes from the Ancient Greek, Greek ἀνδρ- (''andr-''), meaning "adult male", and ἀγωγός (''agogos''), meaning "leader of". Therefore, andragogy literally means ...

''. Andragogy consists of

learning Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, Attitude (psychology), attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, non-human animals, and ...

strategies focused on

adult An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social an ...

s. It is often interpreted as the process of engaging adult learners in the structure of the learning experience. Later, the term ''andragogy'' developed into a theory of adult education by the American educator,

Malcolm Knowles Malcolm Shepherd Knowles (August 24, 1913 – November 27, 1997) was an American Adult education, adult educator, famous for the adoption of the theory of andragogy—initially a term coined by the German teacher Alexander Kapp (German educator ...

. Kapp used ''

'' to describe elements of

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

education theory Education sciences, also known as education studies or education theory, and traditionally called ''pedagogy'', seek to describe, understand, and prescribe education including education policy. Subfields include comparative education, education ...

. Andragogy (andr- meaning 'man') could be contrasted with pedagogy (paid- meaning 'child' and agogos meaning 'leading') (see Davenport 1993: 114) Although Kapp's use of andragogy had some currency, it was disputed, and its use ground to a halt. In 1921, the term reappeared in a report by Rosenstock in which he argued that 'adult education required special teachers, methods and philosophy, and he used the term andragogy to refer collectively to these special requirements' (Nottingham Andragogy Group 1983: v). Smith, M. K. (1996; 1999
'Andragogy'
the encyclopaedia of informal education. Last update: February 05, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapp, Alexander 19th-century German educational theorists German editors 1799 births 1869 deaths Place of birth missing Place of death missing