The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development » (6th Edition)

The late Malcolm S. Knowles, Ph.D., was one of the leading authorities on adult education in the second half of the twentieth century. He wrote the first major accounts of informal adult education and the history of adult education in the United States, authoring more than 200 articles and 18 books. He is famous for his adaptation of the theory of Andragogy as a conceptual basis for adult education and learning, and was a significant force in reorienting adult educators from 'educating people' to 'helping them learn'.

Elwood F. "Ed" Holton holds an impressive record of accomplishments in adult and continuing education and human resource development. He is the founding editor of Human Resource Development Review, a past president of the Academy of Human Resource Development and author of over 200 publications, including academic and professional articles in HRD, performance improvement and psychology journals. In addition to his academic role as the Jones S. Davis Distinguished Professor of Human Resource, Leadership and Organization Development at Louisiana State University, he has more than twenty years' HRD and performance improvement consulting experience with a wide variety of private, public, and non-profit organizations.

Richard Swanson is a past president of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD), founding editor of Advances in Developing Human Resources, a scholarly journal sponsored by AHRD, and founding editor of the Human Resource Development Quarterly, the research journal of AHRD and American Society for Training and Development. The AHRD presented him with the Outstanding HRD Scholar Award in 2000 and in 2001 he was inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame. In 2004, he was inducted into AHRD's Human Resource Development Scholar Hall of Fame. He has performed consulting work for leading US corporations and is an internationally recognized authority on organizational change, performance improvement and financial analysis of human capital investments.

[back jacket] Sixth Edition

Adult Education/Human Resource Management

The Adult Learner,
The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development

Elwood F. Holton, Richard A. Swanson, and Malcolm S. Knowles

"A great update of a classic. Should be required reading for anyone involved with adult learning in schools, businesses and communities."
— Sam Stern, Professor & Dean, School of Education, Oregon State University

This much acclaimed text has been fully updated to incorporate the latest advances in the field. As leading authorities on adult education and training, Elwood Holton and Richard Swanson have revised this edition building on the work of the late Malcolm Knowles.

Keeping to the practical format of the last edition, The Adult Learner, Sixth Edition is divided into three parts. The first part contains the classic chapters that describe the roots and principles of andragogy, including a new chapter, which presents Knowles’ program planning model. The second part focuses on the advancements in adult learning with each chapter fully revised, incorporating a major expansion of Andragogy in Practice. The last part of the book contains an updated selection of topical readings that advance the theory and will include the HRD style inventory developed by Malcolm Knowles.

The Adult Learner, Sixth Edition is essential reading for adult learning practitioners, students and HRD professionals. It provides a theoretical framework for understanding the adult learning issues both in the teaching and workplace environments.

Elwood F. Holton is Jones S. Davis Distinguished Professor of Human Resource,
Leadership and Organization Development, School of Human Resource Education, Louisiana State University.
Richard A. Swanson is Professor of Human Resource Development and Adult Education, University of Minnesota.
Malcolm S. Knowles was one of the nation’s leading authorities on adult education and training. He was the founding executive director of the Adult Education Association, and Professor of Adult and Community College Education at North Carolina State University.