Beyond the Rival Paradigms Narrative in Adult Learning: A Hybridised and Harmonised Andragogical Model for the Twenty-First Century

Demographic ageing and accelerating technological change have made the learning of adults a strategic priority for Europe, yet adult learning theory remains organised around paradigms—pedagogy, andragogy, and heutagogy—that are routinely presented as hierarchically ordered and mutually exclusive. Drawing on a critical review of the literature on andragogy and heutagogy and a cross-case analysis of sixteen training practices collected across the partner countries of the To Switch project, an Erasmus+ strategic partnership, this conceptual article argues that the ideal–typical comparison of these paradigms has reached an impasse—one symptom of which is a proliferation of derivative paradigm labels—and proposes a ‘hybridised and harmonised’ andragogical model built on their convergences. The model is operationalised through learning contracts and a modular sequence inspired by problem solving in technology-rich environments, dynamised by double-loop learning. Implications for the design of adult learning provision and for the competence profile of professionals in adult education and learning are discussed.