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Tough: self education and learning projects
Various studies show learning
is undertaken outside of formal education provision on a
substantial scale. Sargant's UK study revealed that one in six people
are trying to learn about or teach themselves something informally - at
home, at work, or elsewhere (1991: 15).
Alan Tough, in a famous American study
(1967), first described
this as 'self-teaching'. Learners assumed responsibility for
planning and directing the course of study. Tough reconceptualized this
approach in terms of learning projects.
He first defined a learning project as
a 'series of related episodes, adding up to at least seven hours' where
'more than half the person's total motivation is to gain and retain
certain clear knowledge and skill, or to produce some other lasting change
in himself' (1971: 7).
His 'typical' adult had
been involved in around 8 learning projects during the year
prior to the interviews. Later research (using a slightly different
definition) estimated that ‘90 per cent of the population
participate in at least one self-directed learning activity per year’
(Tough 1978).
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