Adult education
Adult education is when adults gain new attitudes, knowledge, skills, or values through systematic educating activities. It includes any form of learning adults engage in beyond traditional schooling, from basic literacy to developing self-actualization as a lifelong learner. "t reflects a specific philosophy about learning and teaching based on the assumption that adults can and want to learn, that they are able and willing to take responsibility for that learning, and that the learning itself should respond to their needs." Their end goal, available opportunities, and how they learns are affected by demographics, globalization and technology.
Adult learning, which can has a large variance in how it is accomplished, can be in any and multiple of these three contexts:
- Formal – Structured learning that typically takes place in an education or training institution, usually with a set curriculum and carries credentials;
- Non-formal – Learning that is organized by educational institutions but non credential. Non-formal learning opportunities may be provided in the workplace and through the activities of civil society organizations and groups;
- Informal education – Learning that goes on all the time, resulting from daily life activities related to work, family, community or leisure.
Characteristics
The practice of adult education is referred to as andragogy to distinguish it from the traditional school-based education for children. The purposes and methods of adult education are diverse. In a college or university the aim is typically related to personal growth or learning skills to improve employment options. Adult education that focuses specifically on the workplace is often referred to as human resource development. Another possible motivation is to challenge or sustain certain values for their democratic society. Outside of required training for specific employee positions adult education is voluntary.Availability
In countries with advanced systems of adult education, professional development is available through post-secondary institutions and provide professional development through their ministry of education or school boards and through nongovernmental organizations. In addition, there are programs about adult education for existing and aspiring practitioners offered, at various academic levels, by universities, colleges, and professional organizations.Adult educators have long maintained commitments to racial justice and other forms of social justice struggle which included extensive work at Freedom Schools during the Civil Rights Movement. Contemporary commitments to racial justice in adult education include initiatives in the workplace and beyond.
Advantages
Educating adults differs from educating children in several ways given that adults have accumulated knowledge and work experience which can add to the learning experience.Cognitive differences
In a study, Greenberg compared the orthographic and phonological skills of functionally illiterate adults and children. The study found that although functionally illiterate adults performed similarly in reading tasks, children were more successful in vocabulary and spelling tests. This means that functional illiterate adults are at a similar level of education as children, yet they differ in strengths of different skills.Disadvantages
Adults "are more likely to experience this fear of failure, which can heighten anxiety, especially if experience of education in the past was not always positive."Objectives
Adult education can be for vocational, social, recreational, or self-development. It can also be a form of social justice to provide accessible education to the disadvantaged. Adult education is based on a government's social policies. Continuing education can help adults maintain certifications, fulfill job requirements, and stay up-to-date on new developments in their field.As the socio-economics of society progress so does the requirements of human quality. In the 1960s, the proposition of "lifelong education" was put forward, which led to the change of contemporary educational concepts. Therefore, its ultimate goal might be to achieve human fulfillment. The goal might also be to achieve an institution's needs. For example, this might include improving its operational effectiveness and productivity. A larger scale goal of adult education may be the growth of society by enabling its citizens to keep up with societal change and maintain good social order.
One fast-growing sector of adult education is English for speakers of other languages, also referred to as English as a second language or English language learners. These courses are key in assisting immigrants with not only the acquisition of the English language, but the acclimation process to the culture of the United States as well as other English speaking countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Theories
Eduard C. Lindeman's theories
was the first expert who gave a systematic account of adult education. In his theory of education, education is regarded as a lifelong process. He pointed out that due to the constant development and change of social life and the surrounding environment, knowledge, and information are in a cycle of constant transmission, supplement and update, which requires people to keep learning to adapt to the changes in the outside world. At the same time, he believes that adult learners should not only learn for the needs of work and survival, but also have the opportunity to enrich themselves. He insists that adult education is an inspiring life-changing tool. Adult education should not only help people improve their skills and abilities in work, but also guide people to find happiness outside work.Otherwise, Lindeman also proposed that the most valuable resource for adult learners is the learner's experience. He believes that the purpose of adult education is to give meaning to all kinds of experience. Experience can enhance learners' autonomous learning and cognitive ability.
In addition, Lindeman believes that adult education is an important means of improving society. The basic function of adult education is to promote the physical and mental development of adult learners. He argues that adult education is a powerful tool for social activists. Through adult education, the personal code of conduct and cultural knowledge of adult learners should be improved to gradually improve the social atmosphere and order.
Andragogy
In the 1970s Malcolm Knowles introduced andragogy as the central theory of adult learning, defining andragogy as “the art and science of helping adults learn. Andragogy is based on using the neurological and cultural differences in how adults learn to improve the quality of their education.Knowles's andragogy theory helps adults create new and strengthen current knowledge from previous experiences. Andragogy involves planning coursework directly related to how it will the student will apply the content in their life. This brings an ever-expanding experience to use as an educational resource. Teachers who use andragogy theory to design coursework find their students progress faster and are more successful in reaching their goals.
Andragogy proposes six main assumptions about adults learners:
- As people mature, their self-concept moves from dependence toward self-direction;
- Adults have accumulated rich experiences through family responsibilities, work-related activities, and prior education;
- Adults' readiness to learn is closely connected to the developmental tasks of his or her social role;
- Adult learners prefer immediate application of knowledge;
- Adults' motivation to learn derive from internal drives rather than external ones;
- Adults need to know why they need to learn something.
He also proposed a model of self-directed learning. In Knowles's view, self-directed learning is a process in which individuals actively diagnose their learning needs, propose learning goals, select and implement appropriate learning strategies, and evaluate learning results.
Challenges and motivating factors
Characteristics of non-participating adults in education
Previous research findings suggest that as adults get older, they are less likely to participate in AE. The International Adult Literacy Survey, nationally representative samples of adults aged 16–65 in 23 OECD countries, has found that older age groups had lower participation rates than younger age groups. Particularly, adults aged 16 to 25 were on average about three times more likely to participate than older adults aged 56 to 65.Eurobarometer survey, national representative samples of adult aged 15 to 65 of European Union countries, also revealed that adults in the three youngest age groups examined were more likely to participate in AE than age group of 55+. Moreover, the Eurobarometer survey shows that participation rate declined from younger to older adults. Participation rate of European countries was 59% for adults aged 15–24. The rate began to decline 38% for adults aged 25–39 and it also fell down to 31% for adults aged 40–54. Participation rate was 17% for adults above 55. Reason of why older adults' participation declined relates mainly to lack of promotion and support. When people get old, their chances to take promotion for any AE programs are reduced.
In many OECD and European countries, employers often support their workers to attend in AE programs since they consider that workers with higher-educated and skilled are crucial indicators of development for companies. Therefore, older adults cannot get promotions from their employers because of the gradual loss of seniority, learning ability and performance. Since older adults are rarely offered a promotion from their employers, and the cost would be an obstacle for participation, they are unable to take the courses even if they wanted to take part in programs. Moreover, lack of motivation and unavailability of learning opportunities could be additional reasons of older adults' low-participation).
Findings of previous research are quite mixed when participation in AE comes to gender. According to the IALS, there is no a statistically significant difference between men and women in AE. However, the average participation rate of men was a bit higher than women. It was 38.7% for men and 37.9% for women. The Eurobarometer survey shows a similar result to the IALS data. Specifically the average participation of males was 35%; while, it was 30% for females. Women's low participation is mainly resulted from family burdens and lack of financial support. However, an opposite tendency can be observed in the US. A study based on National Household Education Survey in 2001 revealed that although gender difference did not exist much, females were more likely to participate in AE than males in the US. The participation rate was 49% for women and 43% for men.
Educational attainment is determined as the most important factor in predicting participation in AE. It is known that those with higher levels of educational attainment participate more in AE programs.
The IALS showed that there was a clear relationship between previous educational attainment and participation in AE. The data found those with low educational background were less likely to participate in OECD countries. Specifically, the participation rate was 57.6% for adults who completed college or university education; while, it was 15.5% for adults who did not complete high school.
The Eurobarometer survey also showed that 87% of low-educated people belonged to the non-participant group. Reason of low or non-participation of the less-educated can be explained from perspectives of individual and employers. Individual point illustrated that low self-confidence regarding the learning, which mainly derived from previous bad educational experiences, could be a major obstacle for the less-educated. Apart from low self-confidence, those less-educated might not perceive their need of participation or might actually not have a need to participate. Yet, employers' view was apparent that they tended to support high-educated because they were more trainable than the low-educated. Therefore, the participation of the less-educated was low since they could not get promotions from their employers.
Finally, adults who come from a better socio-economic background tend to participate more in AE programs. The OECD data showed that higher the parent' educational level could produce the higher participation rate.
Summarizing above findings, people, those are young and men, with high levels of education, high-status of jobs are more likely to take part in any form of education and training. On the contrary, typical non-participants tend to be women, older, less educated, and coming from poor socio-economic backgrounds. In addition, less-skilled, unemployed, immigrants, language minorities, and rural residents are less likely to participate in AE programs.