Taxonomy and Adult Education: Reimagining Lifelong Learning for Marginalized Communities
OBJECTIVE:
To adapt standard learning models (like Bloom’s) to the specific needs of Adult Learners in rural transitions, validating their lived experience.
1. Introduction: Not an Empty Vessel
When we walk into a classroom of children, we often assume they are Tabula Rasa—blank slates waiting to be written upon. But when we walk into a room of adult learners—farmers, artisans, or laborers—we face a very different reality.
These individuals may be illiterate in the alphabet, but they are highly literate in life. They understand the seasons, the soil, the marketplace, and the dynamics of their community. Yet, traditional adult education programs often treat them like “big children.” We force them to chant “A for Apple” when they are worried about “L for Loan.”
If a farmer knows how to grow the food I eat, who am I to call him “uneducated”? Maybe he is just “uncertified.”
This misalignment leads to high dropout rates in adult literacy programs. The pedagogy (child-leading) doesn’t fit the needs of the adult. We need Andragogy (adult-leading).
This article proposes a reimagining of learning taxonomies. We cannot start with “Remembering” (rote memorization). For the marginalized adult fighting for survival, learning must start with Experience and end with Action.
2. Analysis: Flipping the Pyramid
The Failure of Bloom’s Taxonomy for Adults
Benjamin Bloom’s famous taxonomy places “Remembering” at the bottom (foundation) and “Creating/Evaluating” at the top. For a child, this makes sense. You need to remember facts before you can analyze them.
But for an adult learner in a rural context, this is insulting and ineffective. They already have the facts of their reality. They don’t need to memorize the definition of a “Bank”; they need to analyze why the bank rejects their loan and create a strategy to access it.
Andragogy: Malcolm Knowles’ Insight
Knowles identified that adults learn differently. They are:
- Self-Directed: They want control over what they learn.
- Problem-Centered: They want to solve immediate problems (e.g., pests in the field), not learn subjects (e.g., Biology).
- Experience-Rich: Their past is a resource, not a hurdle.
PEDAGOGY (Child)
Motivation: External (Grades/Parents).
Role: Dependent on Teacher.
Content: Subject-based logic.
ANDRAGOGY (Adult)
Motivation: Internal (Better life/skills).
Role: Mutual Partner.
Content: Life-centered tasks.
A Proposed “Livelihood Taxonomy”
For marginalized communities, education is not a luxury; it is a survival strategy. Therefore, the taxonomy must be inverted. We propose a Praxis-Based Model:
Step 1: Experience (The Anchor). Start with what they know. “How do you currently save money?” Validate their method (e.g., hiding it in rice jars).
Step 2: Reflection (The Gap). “What are the risks of the rice jar method? Rats? Theft?” This creates the need to learn.
Step 3: Innovation/Action (The Skill). “Let’s learn how to use an ATM card.” This is the “new knowledge.”
Step 4: Theory (The Context). Only now do we explain “Interest Rates” or “Banking Systems.” The theory explains the action, rather than preceding it.
Case Study: The SHG Digital Literacy Project
In a project with Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in Bihar, trainers initially tried to teach “Parts of a Phone” (Screen, Battery, SIM). The women were bored.
The trainers switched tactics. They started with a problem: “How can you talk to your son in Delhi without paying a shopkeeper?”
Suddenly, the women were engaged. They learned to unlock the phone, open WhatsApp, and make a video call. In the process, they learned “touchscreen,” “data,” and “network”—but as tools to solve a problem, not as vocabulary words to be memorized.
Freire: Reading the World
Paulo Freire reminds us that adult education is political. It is about Conscientization. Literacy should help a farmer read a pesticide label to see if it’s poison, or read a contract to see if it’s exploitative. It is about shifting from being an object of history to a subject of history.
3. Conclusion: From Remedial to Transformational
We must stop viewing adult education as “remedial”—a way to fix broken people. We must view it as “transformational”—a way to unleash the potential of experienced citizens.
The Shift Required:
- Validate: Start every class by asking, “What do you already know about this?”
- Immediate Utility: If they can’t use it tomorrow, don’t teach it today.
- Co-Creation: Let the learners design the curriculum. “What do you need to learn?”
When we respect the adult learner, we do not just teach them literacy; we give them dignity. And a dignified mind is the fertile soil from which true development grows.
