Philo & History Foundations of Adult Education

The Call to Duty
An Historic Overview of How Education Responds to Changes in the Economy
Fordham University Graduate School of Education
Taj’ullah Sky Lark



An educated populace is vital to economic growth. Throughout the history of education in America, society has found it necessary to call upon education to address its economic challenges. During the twentieth century, the call for education to address technological advances, economic inequities, and to rescue free enterprise was dire.

The 20th century’s education was fueled by a new economy that desperately wanted the advancement of technology to keep a competitive edge globally and lead as the world’s super power. This would entail a more academic curriculum, which focused on the sciences, advanced mathematics, and linguistic competence. The educational institutions answered the call by the use if standardized testing, vocational training, becoming more academic, open to all, free, secularly controlled, publicly funded, and fiscally independent.

Although private interest would try to use the Cold War as an opportunity to promote their own visions of what defines progressive education, and who should control its curriculum, the purpose of education during this period in the history of education in the U.S. was to serve the agenda of national governments policies, and academics. Russia’s education curriculum clearly superseded the US with longer school weeks and several years of science, biology and advance mathematics, in addition to linguistics with English being a strategic focus. Fear of Soviet Union technical superiority with the launching of Sputnik sparked the development of the National Defense Act and the National Science Foundation which provide funding for the sciences, math, and education in foreign languages (Williams, W. 1959, pp. 268-76).

Education Reform of the 20th century would be a movement lead by an “intellectual elite” not only to address systemic problems and societal needs and government agendas, but economic needs as well, by preparing a ruling class to rule and a working class to work. The race for economic power was on and the establishment of an “intellectual elite” would emerge. Government, universities, and research centers would control the direction of education. This production of intellectual elite, educated through higher education, would supply the country with a continuum of academics and technicians that were hoped to ensure the U.S. superpower notoriety, with English, math, social studies, and computer science the answer for what was becoming a seemingly homogenized mediocrity within American education.

James Conant, former president of Harvard University and advocate of education reform believed that the U.S. should support the elite intellectuals and provide the average high school student a general education to prepare them for the workforce which supported the educational philosophy of social predestination. Standardized testing and student selection would be how education would address the need for producing economic leaders and who would be the laborers moving towards the fruition of the meritocratic society Conant envisioned (Conant 1970, pp. 49, 134; 428-32).

Vocational education has been perceived by many that in a class divided society, vocational curriculum is class biased, undemocratic, and a mere substitute for education, and that it fails to prepare students for the workplace, making them more employable, or providing higher wage opportunities. It was thought that school reform would remedy or at least forestall permanent class stratification with scholarships and accelerated classes for the intellectually gifted and vocational education for those who lacked academic aptitude, but separate schools for the “gifted” and the seemingly “dull” would in the long run only further contribute to the production of an economically-stratified society (Conant 1940, pp. 1-18).

Vocational schools would continue to take the responsibility of preparing the general populace not considered “college” material for the workplace within the 20th century, with two of its goals being to integrate the “disadvantage” into the workforce and to solve national unemployment problems. The community college system would eventually play a crucial role of education in the U.S. during the 1960’s thru the 1990’s and into the 21st century. Programs like workforce services would be instrumental to a new phase of vocational education as it gradually moves out of high schools.

There would be many publications on education reform like “Who Shall be Educated(Warner et Al 1972), “A Nation at Risk” report by the National Commission on Excellence in Education of 1983,“Unfinished Agenda” report by the National Commission on Secondary Vocational Education of 1984, “Action for Excellence” report by the Education Commission of the States Task Force on Education for Economic Growth of 1983, and several acts proposed and initiated during the administrations of presidents during this era like “Education for Economic Security Act” and the “Carl D. Perkins Vocational Act” of 1984, with seemingly some of the same issues transferring from one administration to the next, and the renaming of the previous act to suit the agenda of that new administration. The focus continues to be reforming education to meet the ever changing societal and economic needs.

Just as during the progressive era, similar social and economic issues in the 1980’s are being seen as being directly connected to the necessity for school reform. One critical factor seen as putting the economy at risk was the rising proportion of Latino and African American students in the nation’s schools who were seen as having poverty, cultural, and language problems causing them to be lacking academically and potentially inhibiting them to perform adequately in an information- processing economy that would enable the U.S. to be more competitive in the world market(Peters 1987 pp.37-38). The call to duty was the “No Child Left Behind Act”, signed into law on January 3, 2002 by President George Bush. The charge would call for higher standards and test based accountability in teacher training, elementary reading and math, and the freedom to transfer out of failing schools.

“A Nation at Risk” (1983) was instrumental in building the new consensus on excellence in education which is necessary among government, business, and educational leaders at state and national levels. This consensus identified four main themes consistent through two decades of school reform as defining “educational excellence”, diversity and equity issues, school choice, and restructuring. These reoccurring issues are seen as being core to the U.S. economy being at risk and are still in need of addressing, but is it necessarily the fault and sole responsibility of education to remedy? It is apparent that much of this country’s failing economy is due in large part to corporate policy, not solely educational failure as may be suggested by corporate liberal ideology. Another important analysis to consider is the United States inability to have dominion over world markets with military power, and corporate investment in non union states and foreign countries contributing to the economic plight of America then and now.

Much of the educational strides during the 20th century could possibly be seen now as a constraint, rather than furthering education in this country’s desire to continue to be the super power. Much of education’s attempts to answer the call to duty during the 20th century, have run their course for the particular time period that the need was sought, but have fail to be able to continue address the economics of a ever changing, more complex society. Much of education reform has been at the behest of corporate liberal ideology and “top down management”.

Priorities for education change as society changes leaving education in a state of constant review, revision, and reform. During the 19th century, the focus was socialization problems due to influx of immigration, during the Cold War, the fear was a perceived military threat from communist Russia, and the need to identify an “intellectual elite” in America, and the 20’th century insecurities with international economic competition.

The U.S. education system has once again been given the call to duty to address the fall of its economy and Community Colleges have always played a significant roll in education reform and are again being put to task to address this country’s economic issues via adult education. Community Colleges are the bridge between high school and four year institutions when it comes to Adult Education in their challenging role of accommodating all who want to learn, develop a skill, professional development, a trade, or preparedness for transition into 4 year institutions.

As we navigate through the 21st century with new dynamics of social, economic, environmental, private sector, and political venues, we all will face a more complex, multidimensional existence than ever before in this country. An effort is being made to transform the government roles in this process. Communities of visionaries and professionals have the challenging task of examining occupational relevance, environmental issues, social issues, multicultural dynamics, diversity and equity, rapidly changing technology, and the global market competition. Intense discourse will continue to be had which will include parents and educators at the round table on whether the nation’s students should possess instrumental skills-based education or traditional academic programs or a combination of both to satisfy the economic demands for workers possessing multiple marketable skills and prepare for a sustainable, equitable existence in a global community.




References
Conant, James B. (1970). My Several Lives: Memoirs of a Social Inventor. Harper & Row New York, NY (pp. 49, 134; 428-32)

Conant, James B. (1940). Education for Classless Society. Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press, pp.1-18.

Williams, William A. (1959). The Tragedy of American Diplomacy. New York: W.W. Norton pp. 268-76

Peters, William (1987). A Class Divided: Then and Now (Yale University Press, pp. 37-38