Adapting to Change in Adult Education, Then and Now

ADAPTING TO CHANGE IN ADULT EDUCATION, THEN AND NOW

Melanie Fairfax

Fordham University

Adapting to Change in Adult Education, Then and Now

What motivates many adult learners is our shared passion and desire to continue to improve and enrich ourselves as life-long learners? Since the inception of adult and continuing education in the US, adult learners sought to learn independently, for self-improvement, skill acquisition and as life long learners out of necessity. Adult education is interwoven into the fabric of many political and social revolutions in the US. In this paper, I will explore how adult education has come about through various socioeconomic and political revolutions and continues to lead in adapting to an often changing social, political and economic environment.

“Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights.” (Pauline R. Kezer-Former Secretary of State-Connecticut) This quote seems to encompass adult and continuing education. Historically, adult education has been a source of continuity and change, a contrast of tradition and liberation which defines adult learners. Adult educators have the uncanny ability to move along with an ever morphing society which requires one to be flexible, skilled, constantly learning and growing. When the new European settlers came to the Americas, it was necessary for them to adapt to the new foreign terrain by learning survival techniques from Native Americans. “new arrivals displayed a substantial dependence on certain Indian knowledge and skills (Stubblefield & Kett, p.10) Their collaborative learning efforts insured knowledge and skill acquisitions allowed for the continued survivals of early settlers.

Just as the need for survival motivated educational efforts for early settlers, so has the changing social and political environment in the US. Early Puritan New England settlers sought to establish a place of which to nurture religious and civic order. An institution of adult education which would create an “old England in America”.(Rudolph, 1990, p. 4-6) The formation of Harvard College (1636) began the “traditional” American higher education as a means of assimilating the old culture (Oxford and Cambridge scholars) with the new culture(new settlers).

As the aristocrats of New England successfully cemented the social order to which America would become known for, social and political movements brought about a shift in priorities and the subsequent reforms which called for an educated “mass”. The Enlightenment, Women's Liberation Movement, Equal Rights Movement and other sociopolitical revolutions propelled the education of poor, underprivileged social and economic minorities into the forefront of the American consciousness. Adult equal education advocates such as Jane Addams (Addams, 1961) and Dr. Benjamin Rush (Stubblefield & Kett, 1998, p.53) strove for respect and equality for all citizens, as a basic human right and moral obligation as a philosophy of education. Again, the emphasis shifts to become more inclusive, leading to a renewed vigor to educate all.

Now, we are enmeshed in another socioeconomic and sociopolitical shift, not only in America, but globally. The demands of a slumping global economy, underpaid and undereducated workforce, alarming inner city High School drop out rates, globalization,

diversity in education and the workforce has summoned another shift which demands flexibility and foresight from adult educators. We, as adult educators and life long learners, have historically dealt with a constantly shifting and pressing needs of our communities. Even those whom were once fortunate enough to enjoy the advantages of a private education, property ownership and a disposable income are now struggling to makes ends meet, compounding the issues of finding gainful employment for our learners even further.

Many adult education, GED and workforce training programs, federally funded higher education and diversity promotions programs such as HEOP and PELL are on the verge of collapse or have been eliminated all together. Federal educational initiatives can only bring about so much change when education is only a marginal issue to many politicians that are attempting to resolve billion dollar deficits in their states. As the job market remains stagnate, unemployment bottomed out and leveled, and more employers insisting upon a highly skilled workforce, we must continue our efforts as educators to ensure we are fulfilling the needs of our students and society. We must continue to fight for those who can not and advocate for their survival, just as the early settlers did for their own. It is our duty and moral obligation.

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References

Addams, J. (1961). First days at Hull House. In Twenty years at Hull House (pp. 58-73). New York, NY: New American Library., pgs. 38-77

Anderson, N, de Vise, D., Obama Aims to Boost Pell Grant Funding by $40 Billion, Washington Post, October 8, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/07/AR2009100703920.html

Miller, G., ,High School Dropout Crisis Threatens U.S. Economic Growth and Competiveness, Witnesses Tell House Panel, May 12, 2009. Retrieved from http://edlabor.house.gov/newsroom/2009/05/high-school-dropout-crisis-thr.shtml

Rudolph, F. (1990). The American college and university: A history. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.) , pgs. 3-22

Stubblefield & Kett "Formative Influences in American Adult Education" from the book Adult Education in America, pgs. 2-16

Stubblefield & Kett "The Role of Education in the New Republic" from the book Adult Eudcation in America , pgs. 51-61