Below is the first annotation I ever wrote. I didn't know what an annotation was, and I had to look through quite a few examples before I could figure out what I was supposed to do. For this assignment, I was to choose an article from a scholarly journal that dealt with an issue in the wider field of adult education. I choose D. S. Murray's "Navigating Toward Andragogy," cited below.
This proved an interesting choice for me, not only in a professional context (i.e., "Am I really being helpful in how I speak to my students?") but for personal reflection. I have all the markings of a poor student: I don't sit still very well, very impatient, and not at all punctual. When I was in fifth grade, I spent at least two days a week in detention for not bringing in my homework on time (or at all). As I read the samples from Murray's interviews, I flashed back to my own undergraduate experience, all the times I asked for an extension, attempted to excuse myself for missed pop quizzes. I wondered if this time around would be any different, if I'd approached "andragogy" at all. I wanted to believe I had, I hoped I had.
This proved an interesting choice for me, not only in a professional context (i.e., "Am I really being helpful in how I speak to my students?") but for personal reflection. I have all the markings of a poor student: I don't sit still very well, very impatient, and not at all punctual. When I was in fifth grade, I spent at least two days a week in detention for not bringing in my homework on time (or at all). As I read the samples from Murray's interviews, I flashed back to my own undergraduate experience, all the times I asked for an extension, attempted to excuse myself for missed pop quizzes. I wondered if this time around would be any different, if I'd approached "andragogy" at all. I wanted to believe I had, I hoped I had.
Murray, D. S. (2014). Navigating toward andragogy: Coordination and management of student–professor conversations. Western Journal of Communication, 78(3), 310–336. doi:10.1080/10570314.2013.866687
Dr. Darrin Murray, graduate of Fielding Graduate University and adjunct professor at Layola Marymount University and California State University, presents qualitative research concerning definition and classification of student-professor conversations that drives andragogical learning among students. Citing limited research in the area of dyadic communication, especially regarding learning strategies, within the student-professor relationship, Murray explains that research related to the transition between pedagogy and andragogy is undervalued in the field of Communication Studies because it is often perceived as irrelevant. However, he asserts the research is relevant because pedagogy and andragogy exist on a continuum and transitions are enacted through communicative acts between students and instructors. Through interviews, related documentation, and ethnographic observations, Murray assembles recalled conversations, as well as collaborative analysis of the conversations, from students and professors. He finds that student-professor conversations are often filled with friction due to professors’ expectation that students will demonstrate adult-like learning behaviors and students’ dual desire to utilize both pedagogical (i.e. teacher-directed, authoritarian) and andragogical (i.e., self-directed, intrinsically motivated) learning strategies. Murray categorizes professors’ responses into explicit and implicit interventions that push the student towards the desired behavior. He offers his findings as a launching point for others in the field to continue considering the intersection of andragogy and communication. This work is of interest to me as an adult educator and program administrator because it explores relationships beyond the classroom, and provides a framework for analyzing instructors’ responses to student behaviors. Although the pedagogy-andragogy continuum suggests exclusivity of andragogical over pedagogical strategies, instead of suggesting a balance of the two, Murray’s findings are useful to explain differing expectations within student-instructor relationships, and begins to develop a case study on the resulting communicative acts. This research also affirms a holistic approach to programming that not only provides content instruction, but coaching and mentoring as well.
