Why has the world responded in multiple ways to COVID-19

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Aniruddha Ganguly, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.

The current global pandemic is making us learn and unlearn at a frenetic pace. How do adults really learn? Much research has gone into adult learning (andragogy) as compared to the way children learn (pedagogy). Malcolm Knowles was a pioneer in the field of andragogy, which finds extensive usage in evidence based coaching. How have the six characteristics of adult learning that Knowles professed, manifested in the current turmoil?
1. “Adults learn best if they know why they need to learn.” – Epidemiologists across the globe advised us that COVID-19 was life threatening and highly infectious. So, some of us have understood why we have to wear masks, sanitize our hands and maintain physical distance. Some adults, of course, haven’t perceived the need!
2. “Adults prefer to feel in control of their learning.” – COVID-19 came as a shock and most of us were compelled to learn the new way and felt not in control. So, in some quarters, there has been resentment against the lockdown. Some others just got it!
3. “Adults’ own life experiences are a rich source of learning.” – The experience of the current pandemic is totally unprecedented in its global spread and reproduction number (RO) of 2 and 2.5 compared to 1.4 to 1.6 for swine flu. There is not much life experience to draw from!
4. “Adults learn when they really feel they need it.” – Case fatality rate is a very small percentage and fatality per million population is even lower. Though the experts have been cautioning us, large communities and nations have felt no need for caution and so have been violating medical protocol!
5. “Adults want to see that their learning has practical application.” – Some have felt that the learning of precautions has no practical application (“it won’t happen to me”), so flouted all rules!
6. “Adults are motivated to learn if the learning helps them grow, develop or make progress.” – Would I avoid impending sickness or death by adopting a new way of life? Am not sure!

Knowles’ lens gives us one of several ways of trying to understand why people, communities and countries have responded in widely different ways to the common threat.