Introduction
The issue concerning adult education is one of the most controversial and significant. Allen Tough, a Canadian scholar and educator, made a valuable contribution to the development of teaching projects. The researcher highlights the importance of education, proving that learning is not about age, but motivation and desire.
Main body
Tough is considered to be a pioneer scholar in the field of adult education, personal change, and self-development. Self-directed learning is viewed as the central concept in the training. Allen Tough is the author of numerous books and papers. The understanding that the number of adults who showed interest in education and development was significant helped Tough to carry a study concerning education.
The book, The Adult’s Learning Projects Tough raises different questions, such as why people want to continue their studying, what should they focus on, what trainees usually start with, and what can be done to provide individual learners with the necessary information. According to Tough, to gain real awareness adults usually undertake at least 5 learning efforts a year (Tough, 1979, p. 1). That is the primary concern of the book is learning projects and motivation. The most influential aspects that can affect the learning process are previous experience, psychological characteristics, community, and societal factors (Tough, 1979, p. 187). The author logically describes the relationship between helper and learner; makes an accent on the role and function of a teacher.
An Evaluation of the Content
The book consists of 16 chapters, an appendix, and a references list. In the first chapters, the author makes an accent on reasons why people want to study, highlights the issue concerning common and significant learning projects, and describes the information and material that people usually want to learn. Furthermore, Allen Tough deduces that it is crucial for adults to understand their learning motivation and to see the main approaches and benefits that the individual will get through the learning project. The author is successful in proving his ideas not only with examples but also in providing surveys that give a detailed analysis of how adults are motivated in the learning process, how types of jobs and self-development are connected, whether gender is a predominant factor in one’s desire for self-education (Tough, 1979, p. 19).
In the next five chapters, the author points out the fact that it is significant to understand where to start and what knowledge to obtain first. To organize the working process correctly, individuals are supposed to use the planner. It should be stressed that the concept of planning is about the understanding of what information should be involved in the learning process (for example what vocabulary or grammar topics should be learned while learning languages). Likewise, there can be different types of planners, namely the learner itself, the nonhuman resource (such as instruction book, programs), communication partner (professor, consultant, doctor), and the last possibility for learners to organize their learning process is attending groups. The author makes no doubts that the best results may be achieved only by combining all types of planners (Tough, 1979, p. 104).
Consequently, the author moves on to the difficulties that learners may face and to the factors that influence their studying process. Tough makes an accent on the advantages and disadvantages of working in groups and provides the reader with the most significant information concerning the characteristic of the leader. He stresses the importance of the diversity of methods and activities in achieving prolific results. The appendix comprises three parts that include brief and significant information from the book that can help in better understanding of the content.
The information in the book The Adult’s Learning Projects is organized logically and documented appropriately. It should be stated that generalizations are well supported with quotations and examples. The author describes the main concern of the book in a very detailed way using a wide range of examples that help to see how learning projects function in real life. Allen Tough is considered to be a pioneer in the field of adult education, and this fact is reflected in the book by providing the reader with all the necessary explanations and thoughts of a famous scholar.
Recommendation
The book The Adult’s Learning Projects by Allen Tough can be recommended not only to those who study education theories but, also, to everyone who is sure that progress cannot be made without training, development, and motivation. The book is aimed to help individuals in understanding their learning perspective, as well as the process of education itself. The main strength of the book is that the work The Adult’s Learning Projects is a relevant example of how theory and practice can be accommodated in one book; examples here are provided not only to paint a picture of adult’s education but, also to illustrate how learning projects work under different circumstances.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is to be stated that Allen Tough proves the idea that it is never late to study. Humanity should pay a lot of attention to the educational process, as it does not stop after graduating from school or college.
References
Tough, A. (1979). The adult’s learning projects: A fresh approach to theory and practice in adult learning. Toronto, Canada: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.