Adult education is all the deliberate efforts by which men and women attempt to satisfy their thirst for knowledge, to equip themselves for their responsibilities as citizens and members of society or to find opportunities for self expression. Adult education takes a central idea in the education management structure these days. It involves participation of both business sector and the government policy. It ensures the social protection of individuals who face the burden of professional inappropriateness, lack of foreign literary, economic struggles and problems of self realization.
Government officials of western European countries are making strategies of adult education promotion, stressing the importance of digital accessibility of educational content as a bulk of public awareness of the course proposed to adult students and their financing(European Commission 2012; Eurostat Statistics expanded 2015).
Tracing back into history of humanity one may remember the ancient philosophers (Alexamenus of Teos, Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, Pythagoras, Socrates, Seneca, Cicero etc.) who undertook the roles of pedagogues while sharing their revolutionary ideas with mankind. They did not teach but develop the students’ conscious and brought changes into the society. These were the first andragogues, who were passing the knowledge of world to adults trying to guess the sense of life. Taking into account the above-mentioned names, many state it was Europe where adult education first started. Later adult education was realized through apprenticeship, when a person would learn art or trade by working for a skilled master for a certain number of years. Masters also often taught their apprentices how to read, write and even more. One may remember the popular fiction “The Physician” (1986) by N. Gordon – being an adult, main hero decides to be a pupil of an acknowledged doctor. Some of the first formalized adult education institutions were correspondence schools.
In Great Britain, France, Germany, correspondence education developed and quickly spread during the mid 19th century. For example, in 1840 the English educator Sir Isaac Pitman taught shorthand by mail (New World Encyclopedia, 2016). Later, members of lyceums held discussions as well as attended lectures and debates. There had been created traveling groups that went from town to town presenting lectures. At the end of World War II, many European governments set up programmes for ex-soldiers wanting to obtain professional skills. Language skills were considered a prestige that marked the elite who took the role of ambassadors for peaceful dialogue between nations. Consequently, education stopped being the privilege of the young or wealthy. There appeared community colleges, vocational colleges and returning student oriented programs. Now, at the official level, governments recognized the importance of adult education and funded programs for literacy, vocational skills and adults seeking to master new professions. Scattered groups responsible for adult education sprang up in Europe during the Industrial Revolution. Lectures and intellectual associations became popular in the early 20th century and from these developed social movements and the recognition that education was incredibly important to the benefit of society. Then, years of relative stability in social roles, brought a decline in the domain as much attention was paid to primary, secondary and higher education, which caused knowledge blockade for middle-aged population targeting at upgrading or obtaining new skills. P. Rasmussen (2014) even stated that adult learning became an element in the educational policies of Europe relatively late, but during the last decade lifelong learning has become much more important.
The studies on adult learning started to appear after World War II. There was a clear understanding of the fact that methodological techniques used before were out of date, to prove the necessity of adult education support, M. Knowles (1980) presented the scheme of changes describing the frequency of change one must experience during life in the 20th century, it showed that modern individual faced 4 times more social changes than people living before. It proved we should adjust our skills and knowledge. Today, many homeless and unemployed people are the result of professional inappropriateness, inability to correspond to the needs of modern society. That is why there should be a complex system of support for self development of such citizens.
In the 1980s, there started international cooperation in this field. In 1974, there was established the Cedefop centre with the mission to collect and exchange information on national systems of vocational training and prepare a harmonization of training levels (Rassmussen, 2014). Educational policy was generally seen in the context of the severe youth unemployment in most of Europe. Vocational preparation, guidance and basic skills were seen as key elements in policies to reduce youth unemployment. The European Social Fund was widely used for such measures; in 1984, 75% of its funds went to projects to generate skills and employment for young people (Pepin, 2006). Only in 1992 that Maastricht Treaty formally included education as an area of collaboration.
Despite the growing number of programmes targeting vocational training of students, lack of informational data made it a very slow and ineffective process until the 2000’s, when digital materials and Internet made it possible to search for necessary information in every corner of the world (Rassmussen, 2014). M. Knowles dates back the creation of English AE in 1926 when American Association for Adult Education was founded. Many organizations in the field of adult education have been functioning for more than 50 years, but became well-known in the era of “language barrier lost”, when international cooperation is possible. The European Bureau for Adult Education was founded in 1953 by representatives from a number of European countries. ESREA is a European scientific society. It was established in 1991 to provide a European-wide forum for all researchers engaged in research on adult education and learning and to promote and disseminate theoretical and empirical research in the field. There had been highlighted several important aspects of organizing an adult classroom: learning climate; diagnosis of needs; process planning; education of learning; orientation of educators; organization of the curriculum; design of learning experience.
In The North America(USA)
The evolution of adult education has changed drastically through the years. Gone by are the days where a man is considered lucky to receive an education up through the 8th grade. In years past, the majority of adult education was confined to apprentice programs where a young man was taught a trade from his father in an attempt to take over the family business - farming, carpentry, blacksmithing, etc.
Today, an estimated 21 million (about 1/8th of the adult population), men and women are taking some form of adult education. This educational array ranges from traditional courses, correspondence courses, (i.e. Sally Struthers), discussion groups, seminars, and reading programs, just to name a few.
The motives for the educational movement of adults is varied. Some return to school to complete education that was not accomplished when they were younger. Others, in hopes for a better job, and others yet in hopes to remain competitive enough to keep their own jobs. Adults today feel threatened in their jobs by younger, highly educated individuals entering the workforce in competition for fewer and fewer jobs.
The sources for adult education are varied. There is the traditional college or university, public schools, proprietary schools and the federal government. Eventually, ( and some programs are currently underway), the Internet, via your home computer, will allow you to earn a degree (i.e., an MBA program currently in the works at Indiana Wesleyan U.) or certificate without leaving the confines of your abode.
The progression of adult education in America is an interesting one. During the colonial period, apprentices were the primary form of adult education. In 1727 Ben Franklin founded one of the first adult education programs, and organizations in American History. This new organization was called the Junto. In the Junto, the course of study consisted of topics like politics, philosophy and a host of others that were felt to be of importance of the day. In 1731 Ben Franklin founded the first Public Library. At this new Library, the concept of borrowing books was introduced. Adults were admitted based on a system of fees and fines. The fees and fines allowed the Library to operate.
During the 1800's, another adult educational program was formed; the founder was a gentleman by the name of Josiah Holbrook. Mr. Holbrook's adult education program was one were men met and held debates, lectures and discussions. This form of education was called the Lyceum. The Lyceum grew in popularity to over three thousand Lyceums around the country until it dissolved in the late 1830's.
The 1900's saw a great boom in adult education. The Federal Government got involved in the educational process where starting in 1914 act(s) named the Smith (et al.) acts provided funding for training in the area(s) of farming, home economics and vocations.
The depression of the 1930's saw the formation of the WPA. This was were the government trained adults in an attempt to re-employ them. After WWII, the government formed the Veterans Administration where veterans were paid to go to school. This caused a tremendous growth spurt for American colleges and universities.
The manpower act of the 1960's provided funds for the unemployed in an attempt to train unemployed adults and make them marketable. This also opened the door for adult basic education programs, widely in use today.
Today, education in America is available to just about anyone. With the availability of grants, scholarships, and loans, just about any adult can attain a higher education. As mentioned earlier, with the Internet, not only adult men and women can receive an unlimited wealth of information in the comfort of their own desk chairs, but children as well have a tremendous educational tool right at their fingertips. Hopefully, opening the door to a much better educated generation of tomorrow's adults.
The Content Covered
Vocational/professional.
Education for family and society.
Personal enrichment.
Remedial Studies in core subjects area.
The teaching methodology used
Distance Learning.
Conferences.
Lecturer methods.
Independent Studies.
The challenges faced
Adult have many responsibilities that they must balance against demands of learning. Ranging from family responsibilities, financial responsibility and work.
Common problem in adult education in the US is the lack of professional development opportunities for adult educators.
Confidence - Usually embracing further education or just getting an education at old age require alot
Requirements- most adult learners wish to enroll to popular and most proficient courses/programmes so me of which most don't qualify.
kawasaki_254 answered the question on July 1, 2018 at 09:12