Foundations of Adult Education

AEIT 101: Foundations of Adult Education
In order to build any solid structure, a good foundation is required. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a foundation is “an underlying base or support, especially the whole substructure of a building, a body or ground upon which something is built” (www.m-w.com). Foundations must be durable to support the structure that is built above. For this reason, the Foundations of Adult Education course delves into various philosophical approaches to adult education and learning. Investigation of behavior theories helps the adult education instructor or trainer develop his or her approach to methods of instruction. In this foundational course on adult education, it is important to discuss the definition of what exactly is meant by ‘adult education’ as well as its purpose and how that has changed throughout its history.
Before we look into the term ’adult education’ and what exactly that means, it important to reflect on your connection and interest in the field of adult education. Why are you studying this course? What does ‘adult education’ mean to you? The definition of ‘adult education’ is not clear and concise and seems to change with time and location. Continuing education for faculty and staff can be considered adult education. A job skills training program or corporate training sessions for management can, also, be considered adult education. On the other hand, a community yoga class could be considered adult education to some. What seems to be the common thread throughout all the mentioned activities? All are organized activities, classes or training seminars, involving adults being trained or taught.
Since the founding of America, the pursuit of religious freedom has been foundational. As a result, the first and foremost purpose of adult education in colonial days was to receive salvation. The Bible was the text used for education in that era. Following the Revolutionary War, there was a need for leaders to be developed to govern the new democracy.
Therefore, the need for civic responsibility superseded the religious emphasis in adult education.
The concept of adulthood, actually, did not enter American society until after the Civil War (1861-1865). In colonial times, an individual reached adulthood at the ‘age of discretion.’ This was based on the English common law which was determined by principles established through a long history of judicial decisions. These resolutions were, in turn, based on the custom and values of the society which created them. The ‘age of discretion’ was 14 for males and 12 for females. Therefore, back in those days, any form of education intended for people above the ages of 12-14 was considered ‘adult education.’
Today, a 14 year old can be tried in the judicial system as an adult. One can make the decision to leave mandatory school at the age of sixteen. Voting is permitted at age eighteen. The age of legal alcohol consumption in the United States, for the most part, is 21 (although in 19 states, individuals under the age of 21 can consume alcohol legally under certain conditions). Many cultures consider puberty the entrance to adulthood. Although one’s chronological age is a key factor in determining adulthood, that age varies according to the culture. The answer to when adulthood begins, therefore, is determined by one’s culture and the society one lives in.
In recent U.S. history, laws have been passed to protect the privacy of patients (HIPAA) and students (FERPA) who are 18 years old and older and consider the age of 18 to be a legal age of adulthood. One thing is factual – adults are older than children. There are behavioral expectations of adults that vary according to the environment and culture. There is quite a variety of habits, character traits, tastes, intelligence levels, and beliefs throughout the span of adults in society. Adults are expected to be more responsible than children although maturity does not, necessarily, come with age.
There is great worth in examining the history of adult education in the United States. Looking back throughout the rich past of adult education can help us form a clearer picture of our own practice as an adult instructor or trainer. The information from the past years can provide insight and inspiration for our present and future in adult education.
In 1874, a training school was founded in Chautauqua, New York to educate adults as Sunday school teachers. The response to the program was so terrific that it grew to include a wide range of subjects for adults. One of the school’s earliest presidents, William Rainey Harper, later introduced adult correspondence study at the University of Chicago while he was president there. The institution continues to flourish to the present day as a major hub for adult education. It is one of the few institutions that was designed for adult education from its conception.
In 1917, The Smith-Hughes Act launched vocational education in public schools for adults and youth above age fourteen. The National Education Association created the Department of Adult Education in 1924. At first, the aim of the department was focused on educating Americans who were foreign born, but later the scope grew to all adult education interests. The American Association of Adult Education (A.A.A.E.) was organized in 1926. This was the first organization to give structure and visibility to adult education as a profession.
In 1932, in the Tennessee hills, Myles Horton founded the Highlander Folk School, now called the Highlander Center for Research and Education. He began with labor education classes to help adults be more capable in their work and lives. Later, classes focused more on citizenship, voter education, and the civil rights movement. Horton organized workshops for the purpose of destroying racial segregation. Forty years before segregation laws were repealed, Blacks and Whites were studying and living on campus together at Highlander. Famous social activists such as Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr. studied at the Highlander Center for Research and Education. The school continues to be a catalyst for social reform.
Horton created the school to help solve problems through experiential learning. He believed that the purpose of education is to help the individual do something for others. Horton had a "two-eye" approach to teaching – with one eye, he would try to see the student as he or she was; with the other eye, he would see what he or she could become. In his autobiography, Horton said, "My job as a gardener or educator is to know that the potential is there and that it will unfold. People have a potential for growth; it's inside, it's in the seed" (1990, p. 33).
The term ‘adult education’ was not established as a profession until after World War I. As society changed, adult education seemed to respond to the specific needs within that society. After the Civil War, the purpose of adult education was for the developing of morally responsible leaders. In more recent years, it is necessary for the retraining of adults in new vocations. One of the reasons for adult education in America today is related to the movement away from an industrial economy and toward a more information-based economy. In order to compete with the current global economy American adults are being trained and retrained. The explosion of technology has launched the need for ‘distance education,’ an entire new field within, but not limited to, adult education. Busy adults can access the class at anytime, day or night, at their convenience. This can provide an excellent learning opportunity for the student if the instructor and institution are learner-centered and do all that is necessary to assist the student.
In 1970, Malcolm Knowles, brought the term ‘androgogy’ to life even though Alexander Kapp of Germany actually coined the term in 1833 (Merriam and Brockett, 2007). Knowles originally saw andragogy as the opposite of pedagogy, the process of helping children learn (1970). He viewed the mission of adult education as that of satisfying "the needs of individuals, institutions, and society." According to John A. Henschke ‘andragogy’ is “defined as a scientific discipline for study of the research, theory, processes, technology, practice, and anything else of value and benefit including learning, teaching, instructing, guiding, leading, and modeling/exemplifying a way of life, which would help to facilitate and bring adults to their full degree of humaneness.” (http://www.lindenwood.edu/education/andragogy.cfm) Simply stated, andragogy is “a set of assumptions and methods pertaining to the process of helping adults learn” (Darkenwald and Merriam, 1982). Andragogy is seen as part of the broader field of adult education, human resource development, and lifelong learning.
The term ‘lifelong learning’ (LLL) refers to people desiring to learn throughout the course of life. This desire to be educated in certain areas is voluntary and can be for occupational reasons and/or personal development. Learning can take place throughout one’s lifespan in many, different environments according to the philosophy of lifelong learning. According to the European Commission for Education and Training, lifelong learning is crucial to economic success and essential for individuals to fully participate in society.
Although self-directed learning received significant attention from the 1970s to the 1990s, its concept is as old as the hills. Self-directed learning refers to "a process in which an individual takes the initiative, with or without the help of others," to determine one’s learning needs, create learning goals, find resources for learning, implement strategies, and evaluate outcomes (Knowles, 1975). An estimated 70 percent of adult learning is self-directed learning (Cross 1981).
Adult education is intentional, purposeful, and organized. It involves a planned class/training session or series of systematic classes/training sessions intended to spawn learning. The immediate goal is to change or increase the student’s knowledge or ability. In adult education, the teacher/trainer is to provide new information to the student in an organized format in such a way that learning of the new skills and/or knowledge can occur.