Human Capital MBA

Adult Learning Theory at Work: What Andragogy, Kolb's Experiential Cycle and Self-Directed Learning Can and Cannot Prove

Why Malcolm Knowles' six adult-learner assumptions were never actually tested as a distinct theory separate from how anyone learns, what Kolb's experiential learning cycle gets right and where its own critics find the model thin, why the belief that people have a fixed visual, auditory or kinesthetic learning style keeps shaping corporate training despite the evidence against it, and what self-directed learning readiness means once the instruments built to measure it are examined closely.

2 Nov 2026 · 23 min read