Importance Of Adult Education Research Articles

The welfare of Ghanaian women in trade: the role of English and French language literacy

PurposeThe study aims to assess the effect of English and French language literacy on the welfare of Ghanaian women in trade. Also, this study analyses the geographical variations of such effects from rural to urban areas.Design/methodology/approachUsing the latest living standards survey data, the standard two-stage least squares instrumental variable approach was used to estimate the causal effects.FindingsThe results show that Ghanaian women in trade who are both English and French literate or only English literate are able to improve their welfare significantly relative to their fellows who are illiterate in both English and French or only English, whilst those who are solely French literate do not experience any significant improvement in welfare from trade compared with their counterparts. From the heterogeneous analysis, the findings indicate that the effect is significantly concentrated amongst rural traders but insignificant amongst urban traders.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study inform government and policymakers to consider the effectiveness of the free senior high school (SHS) education policy in improving English and French language literacy and the welfare of women in Ghana. It also informs educational institutions on the importance of adult education in English and French, especially amongst women.Originality/valueThe study quantitatively estimates the effect of English and French language literacy on the welfare of Ghanaian women in trade by employing an instrumental variable approach to assess the causal effect. Uniquely, the study finds that language literacy is a significant tool in improving the welfare of rural women engaged in trade in Ghana.

Adult Education In Nigeria: Issues, Perspectives And Challenges

Adult education refers to any educational programme (s) organised for adults and youths regardless of its contents, place of study and also has to be flexible in order to satisfy the needs and aspirations of the beneficiaries and their communities. Adult education is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-education activities in order to gain knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values and is expected to address the socio-economic, cultural, political and environmental problems besieging humanity in their various societies. Unfortunately, the goals of adult education as stated by the federal government in the National Policy on Education, have not been properly achieved. Changes and developments in this contemporary world call for a total review and overhaul of adult education. Adult education faces challenges such as poor perception of adult education by the public, marginalization and lack of funding by the government of the day. This paper therefore looks at the concept of adult education, objectives of adult education, contemporary issues in Nigerian educational system, challenges and prospects. Based on the discourse it was recommended that adequate awareness should be given to the general public to enable them to know the importance of adult education; funds should be made readily available and recognition should be given to adult education; the nomenclature of “Adult Education” should be re-visited to a name that will be acceptable and known by all ages in the society. In conclusion, adult education should be re-positioned to meet the ever increase demand of the present time in order to contribute meaningfully to national development.

ADULT EDUCATION IN UKRAINE: FEATURES AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS

The article considered the issues of forming factors of development and prospects of adult education in Ukraine. The peculiarities and the importance of adult education in our modern conditions of social development are substantiated. In particular, adult education should be considered as the important component of continuing education. The complex of problems connected with its functioning and has a specificity, which is caused by peculiarities of the composition of those who study, as well as the originality of tasks. There is no country in the world that would not be obliged to develop its own technological, social and economic development, cultural development. Nor is there a country that does not link its own future to its further development through the process of continuous education or education through the life. The author also identified the main factors of the development and prospects of adult education in Ukraine, among them: human resources; availability of objective need of systematic adoption of modern information systems and technologies; market needs; satisfaction of higher needs of individual adult person in the development of his/her personality; social and economic development of the country. The main tasks of improvement and development of the adult education system in Ukraine are: improvement of normative and legal support and change of branch legislation; study of the labor market; optimization of the structure of the adult education system according to actual needs of the market in regions, branches and the country as a whole; improvement of educational and methodical, informational and material-technical support of the general system of adult education; expansion of the scope of international cooperation in the field of adult education; formation and application of innovative methods of teaching and learning.

The Intersection of Confucianism and Western Teaching in Taiwanese Adult Education

Adult education is a significant feature of the Taiwanese education landscape and is recognized as significantly contributing to national economic development. Given the importance of adult education in Taiwan, an investigation of teaching approaches and an understanding of interplay of teaching approaches with Taiwanese culture is worthwhile because such investigations provide a platform for reflection and subsequent evolution of teaching approaches. In the present article, the authors delve into the heritage of Taiwan to explore teaching practices from the standpoint of the teachings of Confucius and Western teaching approaches. Data were collected via survey of 39 randomly selected adult educators from premium universities in Tapai along with interviews. The results point to the persistent dominance of Confucian instructional methods despite some use of Western teaching approaches.

A Maternal Wall for Refugees? Gender and Labor Market Establishment in Sweden

Using longitudinal register data, we examined gender patterns in the long-term labor market establishment of refugees (n ≈ 11,700) and Swedish-born individuals (n ≈ 109,000). The main question was whether refugee women face greater difficulties than men and if gender differences can be attributed to care responsibilities. With multinomial logistic regression, cox regressions, and individual fixed effects models, refugees were observed at age 29–30 in 1997, then followed to age 50. Results show that both among refugees and Swedish-born, establishment was a protracted and insecure process for women. Over time, women caught up with men but in terms of stable employment, gender gaps prevailed throughout the fertile period and parenthood was negatively related to long-term establishment prospects. Future research should move beyond the focus on labor market entry to capture the mechanisms behind long term insecurities. The timing of parenthood and the importance of adult education are of particular interest.

Staffing and Managing Human Resources of Higher Degree Programme of Adult Education for Inclusiveness in Universities in Nigeria

The status accorded to adult education among universities-based educators and researchers appears to be very low. This may be due to scanty knowledge about the discipline and wrong perception held by the bureaucrats, policy makers and administrators within and outside the university system. The Hamburg Declaration in 1997 underscores the importance of adult education when it describes it as a key to the twenty-first century. Realising the fact that adult education is needed in this 21st century, it follows that provision of higher degree programme should be well staffed and properly managed in order to produce learners that will contribute meaningfully to the development of the society. Therefore, this study entitled: “staffing and managing human resources of higher degree programme of adult education in universities in Nigeria” is embarked upon. The aim of the study is to improve human and institutional capacity for required manpower in adult education for national development. The objectives of the study include: to identify and discuss framework for staffing higher degree programme in adult education in Nigerian universities; to find out how human resources for production of higher degrees students are sourced and managed; to assess framework for ensuring inclusiveness in managing higher degree adult education programme in universities; to explore strategies that can be employed to make adult education popular and acceptable among educators and researchers in universities; to explore motivational factors for students' enrollment in adult education higher degree programme; and to examine learning delivery techniques of lecturers/faculty in higher degree programme of adult education. The work employed research design of the survey type. Seven federal and state universities offering adult education at higher degree level were sampled. Statistical instruments were employed to analyse the data collected. All the results were decided at point 05 level of confidence with appropriate degree of freedom. The study revealed that 86.3% of the respondents opined that lack of understanding of the concept of adult education prevented people from enrolling into the course in the university, while 13.7% felt otherwise. Majority of the respondents (89.8%) held that Universities in Nigeria do not discriminate against any sex (male or female) when admitting students for any education programme including adult education, while 10.2% did not. There is significant difference in the perception of staff and students on the framework that can be used for staffing higher degree programme in adult education in Nigerian universities (X2=2.882, df=3, p > .05). There was no significant difference in the perception of staff and students on how human resources are sourced and managed for production of higher degree students in adult education programme (X2=3.741, df=3, p > .05). There was a significant difference in the perception of staff and students on learning delivery techniques of lecturers/faculty in higher degree programme of adult education (X2=9.336, df=3, p < .05). It is recommended that efforts should be made by the stakeholders to popularise the discipline of adult education with a view to making people to understand its meaning and usefulness to the growth of the society. Adequate budgetary allocation should be made by the owner universities to adult education so as to attract qualified staff, regular payment of salaries and comprehensive welfare programme.

People who teach regularly: What do we know from PIAAC about their professionalization?

Professionalization in adult education is necessary, and several initiatives are underway to improve the professional situation as well as the competences and skills of adult educators. The relevance and importance of adult education is often stated. Large-scale assessments such as the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competences show how important adult education is for societies and economies. They give information on participation and participants. At first glance, the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competences lacks detailed information on adult education institutions and professions. A second glance allows explore what people do as part of their work. Those who state that they teach regularly or occasionally will be explored here in more detail. Findings from this study reveal several characteristics of people who teach, including age, gender, academic background and industries. In particular, our analysis suggests that more than 80% of those who teach did not have formal degrees in education sciences. Moreover, those who teach frequently have higher skills, older ages and they have better job positions than those who do not teach. The majority of those who teach are males. Lastly, the results indicate that seniority and prestige in all 14 countries examined in this study are highly relevant to people who teach.

ADULT EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN CANADA: OPPORTUNITIES, FUNDING, AND GENDER GAPS

Labor force participation rates for middle-aged and older Canadians have increased substantially over the past two decades, with increases for women outpacing men. Given the importance of adult education and training (AET) to stay competitive in later career, we used a mixed methods approach to examine gender differences. Our analysis of the 2012 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data indicated that, for ages 55-65, rates of AET participation are similar for both men and women. However, women are less likely than men to have AET funded by their employers. Findings suggest that women are more likely to need alternate funding sources for AET, such as other organizations or through self-funding. In addition, our review of literature, policy-related documents, and key informant interviews identified possible changes in policies and practices for the promotion of AET for middle-aged and older Canadians.

Finding Solutions to Challenges Facing Adult Education in Nigeria

Education in any nation and to individuals within it is very important because education remains a valuable tool for fighting ignorance, disease, squalor and poverty. It is a means to raising enlightened citizenry who will help in bringing about a prosperous nation. Adult education is therefore not to be neglected as it had been in the past as its focus is to get adult (who had never been to school before or those who could not further their education because of one challenge or the other) to learn and through learning, change their attitudes and behaviours with the hope that this process of change will affect not only individuals positively but also the nation. It is in this light of the importance of adult education, that this paper gives on overview of the various challenges facing adult education and to seek solutions to such. Such challenges include long years of neglect by the government, perception of people about adult education, teaching methods and facilitators, funding and the problems facing adult learners themselves. The list cannot be exhausted. Making frantic efforts to provide well equipped adult education centres, well trained facilitators, funding the programmes of adult education adequately and adult learner’s willingness to participate in programmes that would develop them and the communities in which they live will definitely bring progress to adult education. Keywords: Education, development, self-reliance, change, participate.

Social Justice and Adult Education

It should be understood that the importance of adult education is to illuminate the current context in which the adult functions. This adult frames directly linked with the construct of social justice. Adult education is examined under two frames: (a) Merriam and Brockett (1997) who define adult education as “…activities intentionally designed for the purpose of bringing about learning among those whose age, social roles, or self-perception define them as adults” and, (b) Horton’s philosophy developed under the Highlander Folk School. Understanding this correlation of adult education within a social-political phenomena, the nature of adult education may belong to a wide-ranging spectrum of teaching and learning in terms of: (a) media messaging and the rhetoric that may be inculcating adults, ultimately swaying public opinion; (b) adult messaging and totalitarian implications; (c) adult education and the state; (d) knowledge of history; (e) the history of adult education and how it has been instrumental in social justice; and (f) what adult education, inclusive of adult educators, must do to mitigate class hegemony.

The decline of social education and the rise of instrumentalism in North American adult education (1947–1970)

In 1947 the Truman Commission on Higher Education accentuated the importance of adult education in its report entitled Higher Education for American Democracy. In 1970 a new US Handbook of Adult Education signifying the move to a more professionalised field of study and practice was published. The intervening years encapsulate a time of profound cultural changes marked by scientific and technological advances intertwined with Cold War adjustments and a pervasive politics of fear. In this period North American adult education became immersed in the discourse of democracy endorsing capitalism as it advanced middle-class economic and cultural values. In an analysis of the positions of dominant players in North American adult education (1947–1970), this article explores what emerged as a growing divide between the field's historical location as social education and its new location as an emerging professionalised modern practice steeped in instrumentalism. It considers what the field's historically diffuse nature meant to those in a growing professoriate as they deliberated whether adult education was a movement or a profession. The article also examines the cultural location of North American adult education and its evolving formation in academe as the educational enterprise reacted to the mushrooming of science and technology, the commodification of knowledge, and the cultural and political fear of communism. It reviews suggestions that mainstream adult educators had for enhancing the field of study and practice into the future. After turning to history to consider the nature of adult education, it ends by taking up a key question: Is adult education in crisis in the present? Here it takes up the significance of social policymaking as it discusses characteristics of critically progressive education.

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Attitudes Toward Adult Education: An Empirically-Based Conceptualization

The purpose of this research was to explore the conceptual organization of attitudes toward adult education and to determine whether the conceptualization could be used to identify groups of adults based on these attitudes. The data base for the study consisted of information obtained from 275 individuals using the Adult Attitudes Toward Continuing Education Scale (AACES). Factor analysis of the data led to the identification of three dimensions of attitude toward adult education: Enjoyment of Learning, Importance of Adult Education, and Intrinsic Value of Adult Education. Through cluster analysis, five types of individuals were differentiated according to their relative scores on the three attitude factors. The typology provides evidence of the utility of the identified factors as a means to enhance understanding of the attitudes of different groups in the adult population.

Language and Literacy in West Africa

Adult education, of which literacy is a central component, is considered as a critical factor in personal and national development (UNESCO 1972:13–16). West African nations, like most other african states, have been aware of the importance of adult education in development in general and in literacy education in particular for several decades now. This awareness is reflected in the articulation of educational and social welfare objectives set up by various governments since the advent of political independence in the late 1950s. For example, the Convention People's Party of the late Dr. Nkwame Nkrumah, former President of Ghana, included in its election manifesto in 1951 a pledge to eradicate illiteracy in the country. A resolution to this effect was adopted by the National Assembly in August of that year (Oyedeji, Omolewa, and Asiedu 1982:12). A similar pledge was expressed, and it formed the core around which long-range educational objectives were articulated by the first conference of Ministers of Education of African States held at Addis Ababa in May 1961.

Continuing Education of Women in Japan

Japan in 1968 celebrated what is known as the Centenary, and many organizations, the mass communication media, newspapers, and broadcasting all presented special articles and pro grams to mark the occasion. The centenary of the Meiji Restoration celebrated the end of Samurai rule, the almost 300-year rule of the feudalistic clans. During the hundred years since the Restora tion, Japan has made great progress in her develop ment as a modern industrialized state, a develop ment which depends greatly on achievements in the field of education. In 1886, a four-year, universal, compulsory educational system was introduced; in 1907, it was extended to six years, and in 1947 to nine years. The spread of basic education through the schools has given the Japanese people one of the highest levels of literacy in the world, now virtually 100%. By contrast, adult education did not develop to the same level as formal education, though pro vision had been made for it nearly fifty years ago. The importance of adult education had been recog nized among progressive scholars and educationists, but it was not until after the end of World War II

Importance of Adult Education

I READ many articles concerning after–the–War problems, but all are vague and not wholly convincing. At one time we had here in Colorado a Populist Party. It was a party of protests and for a time prospered, but it withered away because it had no adequate programme. Some wit wrote: “A Populist is a man who doesn't know what he wants, but wants it damned bad.”