Malcolm Knowles’six core principlesof andragogy

Adults want to understand why they're learning something before they invest effort in it, unlike children who often accept a teacher's rationale on faith. In practice, this means opening any adult training session with a clear statement of the real-world benefit — for example, telling a group learning SQL that this specific skill will let them pull their own reports instead of waiting on a data team. Skipping this step is one of the most common reasons adult training sessions lose engagement early.