Impact of Self-Awareness on Employee Learning and Development

This essay explores the impact of self-directed learning and motivation on employee development, drawing from Malcolm Knowles' adult learning principles. It highlights the significance of internal motivation, relevance, and goal-oriented learning in adult education. The author reflects on personal learning experiences, emphasizing the effectiveness of self-paced online courses and the importance of aligning learning with professional goals. The essay also references the role of social psychology in understanding learning behaviors and underscores the value of both formal and informal learning methods in achieving professional milestones. Desklib offers a variety of solved assignments and resources for students.

Employee learning and development
Malcolm Knowles (1977) suggested in his six principles of adult learning that “adults are
internally motivated and self-directed.” In my significant learning experience, I mentioned
learning more about self-awareness while working with my team members. This principle of
high internal motivation to learn, keen desire to excel, and taking an initiative along with the
principles of being focused on goals for personal development and learning only that which is
relevant for individual use have had the most impact on my learning. As an adult, I take
responsibility of my learning and am interested in learning things that add value.
In my experience of learning, I have leaned more towards learning methods, formal and
informal, where I was invested in the learning process and found the material to be relevant.
For example, in the classroom training provided in a structured format, I was always
interested in knowing about history, space, language, and arithmetic. As an adult, I engage in
class interactions and team learning when the course content or subject matter is something
that I am really interested in. I have formed certain milestones for myself that I wish to
accomplish in my professional career. I understand I would need formal training for some of
these while for certain things, my life experiences would be the best teacher. I had taken an
online course on ‘social psychology’ via the MOOC method. I found the online method of
training for the subject to be quite engaging owing to the self-paced learning. I was
interested in knowing more about social psychology and had hence taken up the course on
my own accord (Arghode, Brieger, & McLean, 2017). I completed the course requirements
at my pace with maximum retention along with understanding the practical relevance of the
concepts and principles discussed in the course.

References
Arghode, V., Brieger, E. W., & McLean, G. N. (2017). Adult learning theories: implications
for online instruction. European Journal of Training and Development.
Knowles, M. (1977). Adult learning processes: Pedagogy and andragogy. Religious
Education, 72(2), 202-211.