Education: A powerful weapon that fights opression

Education: A Powerful Weapon When That Fights Oppression

Amber Pina

Graduate School of Education

Fordham University

Delving deeper into the historical foundation of adult education a topic that proofed to be prominent then and is still prominent now is that education has been used and is being used as a means to free individuals from oppression. It is evident in the historical foundation of adult education that education was the number one tool used to fight oppression.

Stubbledfield & Kett found the following:

“Promoters for educational ventures were varied, motivated by their own cultural, political, and economic aspirations, as well as by the specific and local contexts that influenced their target participants. “Before the 1820’s, reform more commonly was a sideline for men, and some women who had social position, or at least gainful employment…For women it was virtually the only way to have public influence. (Walters, 1978; p. 13) (P.56)

Education in the past has been use as a tool to inform minorities of their social, moral, and human rights. Education through out history has been use to provide adults with a chance to gain a deeper understanding of the common bond that that unite us.

Addams (1961) found the following:

Perhaps these first days laid the simple human foundations which are certainly essential for continuous living among the poor: first, genuine preference for residence in an industrial quarter to any part of the city, because it is interesting and makes the human appeal; and second, the conviction, in the words of Canon Barnett, that the things which make men alike are finer and better than the things that keep them apart, and that these basic likenesses, if they are properly accentuated, easily transcend the less essential differences of race, language, creed, and tradition. (p. 73)

It is evident that through out history women and minorities were the major victims of oppression. Women and minorities through out different times in the history of adult education were denied the proper education, making education only available to men or the elite. The notion that we are all the same and possess an equal amount of potential that allows us to achieve success in life seemed like a dream to both women and minorities.

Stubblefield & Kett found the following:

However to the poorer white males who obtain citizenship and the women and minorities who did not, the limitations of “individual empowerment” were apparent at the outset. It seemed an ideology appropriate for the fortunate and prospesporous. (p. 59)

This perception that “only the fortunate and elite succed” is still very much alive today here in the U.S. All it takes is one look at a low-income urban neighborhood for one to experience the jail bars and close doors that this perception creates. The only difference is that now this perception has evolved into a belief that stops millions of Americans from achieving their dreams.

The single mother epidemic has swiped the urban areas in the U. S. and serves as a main opponent in the oppression of women today. Women are entering motherhood at a younger age with less education, which in return has made them the number one candidate for low income jobs.

In a survey performed by elearners.com (http://www.elearners.com), a web resource for educational dynamics, the following was found:

“A full 27% of respondents believed that single moms should accept lower-paying jobs, in exchange for more time at home with their children. Besides creating professional and financial dead ends for single mom families, low quality jobs are less stable – adding unemployment anxiety to an already difficult situation.”

According to Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2007, released by the U.S. Census Bureau in November, 2009, there are approximately 13.7 million single parents in the United States today, and those parents are responsible for raising 21.8 million children (approximately 26% of children under 21 in the U.S. today) and approximately 84% of custodial parents are women.

Looking at this statistic it becomes evident that women are still suffering from oppression here in the U. S. Their economical circumstances, lack of educational and work skills makes it impossible for these women to educate themselves, keeping them confined to low-income areas which in return also oppresses their children’s education.

Although numerous educational and financial programs are offered to single parent women, these women still remain at the bottom of our economical scale. I believe that if the education of these women were to be approach form a more holistic stand point, where these women are educated as complete human beings and are trained in a specific skill; this type of education will provide these women with a chance to take a more active role in their lives and in society.

Omolewa (2007) found the following:

With the attainment of political independence, various countries in Africa continued with the indigenous practice of inculcating moral and ethical val- ues in the learners and making education respond to the communal and social needs of the society, the development of a more appropriate, problem- solving educational curriculum and the promotion of lifelong education. (p. 595)

An educational approach that builds upon these women’s life experiences and that allows them to immediately apply their educational knowledge to the challenges they are facing in their environment allows these women to behave with self-sufficiency and confidence. This type of education raises their confidence in their ability to meet their daily challenges; it provides them with an opportunity to expand their perception of themselves and the world around them.

Omolewa (2007) found the following:

There is therefore the need to revisit the issue of Africanising the curriculum with a view to ensuring the contextuali- sation of learning which occurs where the content of the curriculum, and the methods and materials associated with it, are related directly to the experi- ence and environment of the learner. (p. 595)

In conclusion the study of the historical foundation of adult education has lead me to understand the power of education as a means for fighting oppression. As a society we are all responsible for the well being of each other, when education is shared in a way that allows the individual to flourished personally, professionally and as a member of society that individual is liberated from oppression.

References

Addams, J. (1961). Twenty years at hull-house. New American Library, a division of Pinguin Group (USA) Inc., NY, NY.

Omolewa, M. (2007). Traditional African modes of education: their relevance in the modern world. International Review of Education (2007) 53:593–612.

Stubblefield & Kett. (ch. 4) "The Role of Education in the New Republic" from the book Adult Eudcation in America.

Web References

http://www.elearners.com

Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2007