Most people make the mistake of looking at the concept of Adult Education from a narrow perspective. To them it is nothing but a literacy program that is undertaken to eradicate illiteracy among adults in a country. However, if one delves deeper, he or she will be surprised to find that Adult Education, as a discipline has come a long way. It is no longer restricted to literacy alone. In a wider connotation, Adult Education refers to any form of learning process that engages mature men and women beyond the confines of a traditional learning environment. Also termed as continuing education, it includes everything from learning the three basic R’s (reading, writing, and arithmetic), to learning for personal accomplishment and goes to the extent of enabling a person to attain a higher degree. In order to have a better understanding of adult education, it becomes necessary for us to trace its beginning and know how it has evolved through the years.
Malcolm Knowles, who is also called the father of adult education, pioneered the field of adult learning in the U.S in the 20th century. He coined the term “andragogy” (study of how adults learn) to distinguish it from “pedagogy” (the study of how children learn). According to him adults are independent, self-directed, goal-oriented, and always pertinent to the matter in hand. Therefore, curriculum to teach adults cannot be of the same genre of the curriculum framed for children. Adults need to connect learning to their vast accumulated experience and knowledge. They appreciate and value only those educational programs that address adult issues, have clear-cut goals, portray adult relationships, and are applicable to their field of work and interest. Today, all nations formulate their adult education programs keeping these principles in mind.
To get a clear idea of what adult education is all about, it becomes imperative for us to know the different forms of adult education. Broadly speaking there are five forms of adult education:
Education that is undertaken to increase one’s vocational, technical, and professional expertise. Such kind of education aims at preparing an adult for his first job, or a new job or even updating an adult about the new developments in his or her field of work.
Types of education that relates to health, family relations, consumer buying, hygiene, planned parenthood, childcare, and so on.
Types of education that creates civil and political awareness amongst people that make them responsible citizens of the society and country as a whole.
Educational programs that aim at providing learning for one’s personal enrichment and not for academic or professional purpose.
Basic education, which creates the foundation for a person to undertake all other types of adult education.
In the U.S., each state, through its official website directs its people to classes, programs and institutes where people learn how to read prose, catalogues, documents and how to make simple computations. Adults who complete the basic adult education have the opportunity of taking the General Educational Development (GED) test, which is equivalent to high school diploma. Beyond this adult education is synonymous with continuing education. In India today, adult education is imparted in two ways. The first is the education meant for those adults who have never been to school. The second is continuing education that is meant for adults who have had some schooling before. The University Grant Commission has played a significant role in shaping the character of adult education in India, with the launching of National Adult Education program in 1978.Today, more than 93 universities are offering a variety of programs for the adult population of the country.
Change is constantly taking place in the society. The rapid advancement in science and technology in the 21st century has made life complex and people have to face innumerable challenges everyday. To respond to the needs of the time, adult education has undergone a great change. It is now being conducted in various ways. In colleges and universities adult education is imparted through evening classes, projects, distance education, correspondence courses, courses without credit, and so on. The courses are provided by satellite transmission to various locations along with printed, audio and visual learning material.
In community centers, adult education is imparted to illiterate adults by teaching them reading, writing, and arithmetic, child care, mental and physical hygiene and the like. This is usually the responsibility of the ministry of education and is conducted in the evenings in schools by volunteer teachers. Corporations, labor unions, organizations, and private institutions also sponsor adult education. In such programs special attention is given to vocational education, education equivalent to high school degree, education for emotional and physical development, applied science, along with traditional learning, business and professional subjects.
Access to abundant information, industrial shifts, enhancement in world communication, has made it essential for individuals and groups to update their knowledge and skills in order to have a better idea of their work and the environment they live in. Attending seminars, forums, workshops, and midnight classes guarantee improvement not only in one’s performance, but also helps him or her keep abreast with new information that enhances his skills and leads to promotions and better pay packet. Adult education serves as a useful tool for employers to guarantee highly skilled and knowledgeable employees. Many adults already doing jobs use adult education to climb the professional ladder or get a better pay package. Others take adult education courses for job switches to an entirely new field of employment without the fear of having to leave his current job. Yet, some others study for personal enrichment.
The advantage of adult education programs is that it can be undertaken by an individual at his or her convenient time and does not interrupt with his or her work schedule. Online courses are also provided by some of the renowned universities in the world throughout the year. Worksheets enable the students to assess their performances and go in for online tests to further their career prospects.
Remarkable improvement in the quality of performance and the capacity to learn in adults has made adult education very important today. Formal and regular education may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but there are ample opportunities today to widen one’s mental horizon, lead a respectable life, and earn a decent living. Education is no longer considered to be a means to an end, i.e. getting a competent job. It is now considered to be a lifelong process, which helps people to lead a better and fuller life. It is a process, which starts from the cradle and ends in the grave.
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—About our writer:
Arunima Bhowmick, born and brought up in Shillong, had been teaching in reputed educational institutions across India, for the past 18 years. Given her love for reading literature and the passion for writing, she explores new territories in content writing. Writing articles on personal experiences, social issues, features, and short stories are her forte. She loves being amidst nature, watching world movies, and cooking.
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