Purpose Of Adult Education Research Articles

CONCEPTUAL IDEAS AND GUIDELINES OF NORTH AMERICAN MODEL OF ADULT EDUCATION

The article deals with conceptual ideas and guidelines of North American model of adult education. It is substantiated that North American model of adult education is based on the philosophical principles of liberalism, progressivism, behaviorism, humanism, radicalism, and constructivism. Liberalism has ancient roots and is based on the position that since the person is the real source of progress in society, it is necessary to ensure his/her rights and freedoms, providing equal access to education regardless of social status and well-being. The basic principle of liberal education is singled out, which is to develop a personality that meets the purpose of liberal education in ancient times – provision of education for citizens who can become active participants of a democratic society. It is proven that non-formal adult education should be continuous, focus on the development of intellectual abilities, be accessible to all layers of the population, and its content must meet their needs. It is found out that the historical roots of the philosophy of progressivism are associated with progressive political movement in society and education. Its basis is the concept of interaction between education and society, empirical theory of democratization of education. It is determined that behavioral philosophy, founded by John Watson, appeared in the USA in the early 20th century. Based on the theory of Pavlov's conditioned reflexes, its supporters (J. Watson, B. Sninner and E. Thorndike) considered personality as a set of behavioral responses to stimuli of the environment. It is identified that the purpose of adult education is the modification of a person’s behavior. It is proven that unlike behaviorists, representatives of humanistic philosophy (J. Brown, A. Maslow, M. Knowles, K. Rogers, etc.) considered a man to be independent, active, open to change and self-actualization. It is stressed that the founders of the radical trend, based on theories of anarchism, marxism, and socialism, considered education in general and adult education, in particular, as an important mechanism to achieve radical changes in society. Meanwhile, the social role of non-formal adult education was updated, because it required critical thinking and personal participation in these changes.

The latent structure of educational offerings—tracing topics from folk high school catalogues through large-scale content analyses

Program analysis has been developing into a prolific research tradition illustrating the utility of adult education providers and program descriptions as heuristic objects for addressing larger questions of social scientific and humanistic inquiry. In this research tradition, attention has been directed to the way programs and educational offers of adult education providers reflect the changing labour market, educational systems and cultural zeitgeist. In this article, we interrogate the opportunities to deploy large-scale text analysis on the content of the national catalogues of Swedish folk high schools (1954–2007) to further enlarge the analytical depth and precision of how program analysis can address changing educational offerings. Based on an analysis of a comprehensive digital repository we identify the latent thematic structures of educational offers in Swedish folk high schools over time and discuss how these changing course descriptions reflect broader structural changes in its educational system as well as regarding the purpose of adult education.

Qualification, socialisation and/or subjectification – three international organisations’ prioritisation of the purposes of adult education and learning from the 1970s to the 2010s

ABSTRACT This article examines the purposes UNESCO, OECD and EU historically have attributed to adult education and learning. The aim is to explore changes in international adult education and learning policies from the 1970s until the present day and outline how different international organisations have pushed for specific conceptualisations of what ‘adult education and learning is good for’. The analysis draws on Biesta’s domains of educational purpose to demonstrate how the functions of adult education and learning have changed as the welfare state has transformed into a neoliberal competition state. Based on an analysis of key policy documents, the article shows how each of the organisations has sought to set an agenda in line with its founding visions. UNESCO pushing for an agenda centred on su bjectification and the aim of empowering the individual, but also including strong elements of both qualification and socialisation. OECD, on the other hand, having a more narrow understanding, seeing the purpose of adult education and learning as qualification for the labour market as part of a growth ideology. Finally, EU pushing both socialisation of European citizens and labour market qualifications. The analysis shows how, over the decades, adult education and learning policy has narrowed to focus on a primarily instrumental purpose, which creates new attributed meaning for both the purpose of socialisation and subjectification.

CONCEPTUAL IDEAS AND ORIENTATORS OF THE NOTHERN AMERICAN MODEL OF ADULT EDUCATION

The article deals with conceptual ideas and orientators of Northern American model of adult education. It is substantiated, that Nothern American model of adult education is based on the following philosophical directions: liberalism, progressivism, behaviorism, humanism, radicalism, constructivism. Liberalism has ancient roots and comes from the fact that since man is the real source of progress in society, it is necessary to ensure his rights and freedoms, providing equal access to education regardless of social status and well-being. The basic principle of liberal education is singled out, in particular, to develop a personality that is consonant with the purpose of a liberal education in ancient times - the education of citizens who can become active participants in a democratic society. It is proved that non-formal adult education should be continuous, focus on the development of intellectual abilities, be accessible to all sections of the population, and its content must meet their needs. It was found out that the historical roots of the philosophy of progressivism associated with progressive political movement in society and education. Its basis is the concept of interaction between education and society, empirical theory of education democratization of education. It was found out that behavioral direction, whose founder was John Watson, appeared in the USA in the early XX century. Based on the theory of Pavlov's conditioned reflexes, his supporters (J. Watson, B. Sninner E. Thorndike) examined personality as a set of behavioral responses to stimuli of the environment. It is identified that the purpose of adult education - behavior modification adult-oriented changes in humans. It was proved, that unlike behaviorists, representatives of humanistic direction (J. Brown, Johnson, Maslow, M. Knowles, K. Rogers, etc.) considered man independent, active, open to change and self-actualization person. It was stressed, that the founders of the radical trend, based on theories of anarchism, marxism, socialism, considering education in general and adult education, in particular, as an important mechanism to achieve radical changes in society. It updates the social role of non-formal adult education, because it requires critical thinking and personal participation in these changes. It was found out, that according to philosophy of constructivism person is unique in his/her vision of the world, beliefs, outlook because he/she is able to construct his/her personal understanding of reality. A teacher is not just a transmitter of knowledge,he/she serves as the consultant, moderator, facilitator. The analysis of scientific literature showed that adult education in the USA has evolved with the development of society, and has a long history and some traditions, mainly seen as informal adult education, aimed at self-improvement of adult to meet his/her educational needs; mechanism of civil society formation.

The Purposes of Adult Education: An Introduction (Third Edition)

The Purposes of Adult Education: An Introduction (Third Edition)

Purposes of Adult Education: An Introduction (3rd ed.) by Bruce Spencer and Elizabeth Lange

Book Review of:PURPOSES OF ADULT EDUCATION: AN INTRODUCTION (3rd ed.)Bruce Spencer and Elizabeth Lange. Thompson Educational Publishing, Toronto, 2014, 228 pages.

Transformative Learning

The author finds himself rereading an article he wrote several years ago, in which he questioned transformative learning. He recalls some of his reasons for writing the article, and considers his present position. He reflects on the understanding of consciousness that underlies much of the literature on transformative learning, and compares it with his own understanding. He ends by speculating on the purpose of adult education.

Book Review: The Jossey-Bass Reader on Contemporary Issues in Adult Education, by Merriam, S. B., & Grace A. P. (Eds.).

Merriam, S. B., & Grace A. P. (Eds.). (2011). The Jossey-Bass Reader on Contemporary Issues in Adult Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 483 pp. ISBN 978-0-470-97356-4 (hardcover). The Jossey-Bass Reader on Contemporary Issues in Adult Education, edited by S. B. Merriam and A. P. Grace, is a collection of previously published writings covering a broad spectrum of adult education issues with a decided emphasis on the role that adult education should play in instigating meaningful social reform. The selections are a combination of theoretical and research-based articles first published between 1925 and 2009. This book has broad appeal, as the editors explain in the preface: [It is] a stand-alone reader for those self-directed adult educators who want to sample some of the thinking about adult education, and a reader that surveys an array of historical and contemporary issues important to study and critique in undergraduate or graduate courses in adult education, (p. viii) The book explores multiple aspects of adult education today. Divided into five parts, each part contains an introduction written by the editors and five to seven chapters, with one reading selection per chapter. The chapters were selected with an emphasis on the potentially socially transformative aspects of adult education. These themes are echoed and amplified in the each section's introduction. The editors do an excellent job in each section's introduction by providing a solid organizational rationale for the section along with brief summaries of each work. At the end of each section, thought-provoking and engaging Questions for Reflections and Discussion require the reader to reflect on the concepts and themes across the section's chapters. Part 1, Defining a Field of Practice: The Foundations of Adult Education, focuses on the history of the field of adult education. The selections' authors explore what the editors posit as two competing viewpoints on the primary purpose of adult education: social education (defined as consciousness-raising, community-building endeavors) and more immediately practical vocational preparation. This section contains the oldest selections, including classic works on adult education's potential for social improvement by Eduard C. Lindeman, Alain Locke, and Paulo Freire. The second part, Positioning Adult Education in a Global Context, focuses on how the dichotomous purposes of adult education introduced in the first part are realized in developing countries. As the editors explain in Part 2's introduction, The authors call for a return to traditional forms of adult learning and education that emphasize social education for diverse learners. …

The Impact of Globalization on Adult Education in a Have-Not Province

This study examines the state of contemporary adult education in New Brunswick. New Brunswick is currently experiencing an increase in unemployment as well as the loss of traditional employment bases. Concurrently, there are greater numbers of adults who are finding themselves with no clear employment direction. One of the places they are ending up is in formal and non-formal adult education programs. Our belief is that the purpose of adult education in the province of New Brunswick has undergone a shift, moving away from an ethic of adult education for personal, social, and political change towards a neo-liberal skills agenda.

The Purposes of Adult Education: A Short Introduction

The Purposes of Adult Education: A Short Introduction

Historical and Contemporary Explorations of the Social Change and Spiritual Directions of Adult Education

This article addresses twin purposes of adult education: education for social change and education for spiritual growth. In reviewing the historical roots for both purposes, as well as emergent contemporary interests, the author makes the case that renewed attention is being, and ought to be, given to these purposes both by academics and by practitioners. The author argues that mining the field's history for its underlying inspirations and foci (read: purposes) may indeed be one way to address present struggles and to offer a way forward for adult education. Attention is given to key events in our present-day thinking and to the repository of adult education history, in order to explicate the long commitment of adult educators to spiritual and social change concerns.

Historical and Contemporary Explorations of the Social Change and Spiritual Directions of Adult Education

This article addresses twin purposes of adult education: education for social change and education for spiritual growth. In reviewing the historical roots for both purposes, as well as emergent contemporary interests, the author makes the case that renewed attention is being, and ought to be, given to these purposes both by academics and by practitioners. The author argues that mining the field's history for its underlying inspirations and foci (read: purposes) may indeed be one way to address present struggles and to offer a way forward for adult education. Attention is given to key events in our present-day thinking and to the repository of adult education history, in order to explicate the long commitment of adult educators to spiritual and social change concerns.

Adult Education in a World “On Speed”

abstract This paper assesses the implications of globalisation for the social and cultural processes of adult education. It argues that fundamental changes in the nature of space and time in postmodemity render problematic deeply held notions about the role and purpose of adult education. Throughout modernity, emancipatory adult educators strove to resist dominating social forces by contesting their control of the space and time of ordinary people. The advent of new technologies has drastically altered the ways in which domination is effected in postmodemity. Today's enterprises do not attempt to dominate place to ensure efficient production and consumption. Rather, technologies of speed permit them instantly to control the actions of labourers and consumers without regard for distance. Adult educators who continue to understand the world using the geographic categories of modernity will be ill prepared to deal with forms of domination consolidating in the global age.

From broadcasting to narrowcasting: television as a language of possibility for community development in a learning society

The field of adult education is currently experiencing more than its usual degree of internal fractionality about the fundamental nature and purpose of adult education. This paper challenges narrow formulations of adult education in the instrumentalist mode by focusing on the implications of mass media, particularly television, technology and globalization as central issues for adult educators now and in the twenty‐first century. This paper takes the position that learning as is a by‐product of encounters with everyday cultural phenomenon, such as television, is the ground against which other learning activities are figures. While this is the case for all consumers and users of mass media, the ‘hidden curriculum’ of television has special relevance for the learning and development of marginalized groups in society. Thus, television's ‘curriculum’ is of great significance to progressive adult educators whose social justice agenda allies their practice with marginalized peoples. The paper returns to an example of the largely declasse mode of adult education known as community development, arguing the utility of examining the issues of mass media in the context of this specific and situated form of learning because community offers a manageable micro‐setting for the analysis of learning in a natural societal setting. The learning of a specific community in rural Canada which faced economic devastation is examined to ascertain the influence of both broadcast television and locally created narrowcast television on the community's conception of capacity to envision, develop, create and manage their own alternative economic future. The sharp insights of residents about being objects and non‐objects of network television and the discernable difference of being self‐directed subjects of locally‐created community television offer compelling evidence as to how marginality and its pernicious suppression of agency are learned and reinforced through mass media. Their direct words deserve attention from critical adult educators.

A Case for Self-Transcendence as a Purpose of Adult Education

A Case for Self-Transcendence as a Purpose of Adult Education

New trends and practices in adult education in India

The most significant trend in adult education in modern India is that most of the work in this field is being done by official agencies. Before India became free most of the work was done by voluntary effort of public spirited men who were inspired by a zeal for adult education. While this trend is significant, it is also tragic. It has in fact been the greatest tragedy for the adult education movement, because it has prevented the movement from making the necessary impact on the development of the country. Basically the purpose of adult education is to help individuals and communities to meet the new demands created by the rapidly developing society. Its objective is to help them overcome the impediments which had withheld the prospect of a richer and fuller life. It is an harbinger of a new social order. It seeks to subvert the status quo where to quote our President, Dr. Radhakrishnan, "a few have prospered on the shame and subjection of the many". In place of the decaying social order, adult education attempts to build a society where equal opportunity for all to grow in freedom and plenty will be ensured. That being the objective of adult education, it need not require much argument to question the validity of the assumptions which have made adult education a statemanaged show. A movement which should inspire the masses to reconstruct the pattern of their lives can never be sponsored by an administrative machinery which India got in inheritance from our past Imperialist master. As against this trend towards officialization, there is a growing volume of public opinion which favours de-officialization of adult edu? cation. This opinion is led by the Indian Adult Education Association which believes that voluntary agencies are a sine quo non of a dynamic democratic society. Voluntary agencies enjoy certain advantages which are of positive help to adult education in so far as its ultimate purpose is concerned. For one thing voluntary agencies, because they are the projection of popular initiative and enthusiasm, can evoke a more sympathetic accord among people than official agencies. And because voluntary agencies have to thrive solely on the confidence people place in them, they reflect more keenly popular sentiment and adjust themselves to popular needs.

Book Reviews: The New Survey of London Life and Labour, In Defence of Sensuality, The Age of the Chartists: A Study of Discontent, 1832–1854, The New Education in the German Republic, The Purpose of Adult Education, Alcohol and Behaviour, Tyneside Papers, The Prestige Value of Public Employment in Chicago, A Community Labor Survey, Slavery and Forced Labour in Liberia

Book Reviews: The New Survey of London Life and Labour, In Defence of Sensuality, The Age of the Chartists: A Study of Discontent, 1832–1854, The New Education in the German Republic, The Purpose of Adult Education, Alcohol and Behaviour, Tyneside Papers, The Prestige Value of Public Employment in Chicago, A Community Labor Survey, Slavery and Forced Labour in Liberia

THE WAY OUT. ESSAYS ON THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF ADULT EDUCATION. Edited by Hon. Oliver Stanley. New York: Oxford University Press, 1923, 115 pp. $1.50

The Way Out. Essays on the Meaning and Purpose of Adult Education. Edited by Hon. Oliver Stanley. New York: Oxford University Press, 1923, 115 pp. $1.50 Get access F. H. H. F. H. H. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Social Forces, Volume 3, Issue 1, November 1924, Pages 184–185, https://doi.org/10.2307/3005525 Published: 01 November 1924

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:“Ethics andSome Modern World Problems,” by William McDougall, F.R.S.“The Irresistible Movement of Democracy,” by Job Simpson Penman.“The Way Out”: Essays on the Meaning and Purpose of Adult Education, by Members of the British Institute of Adult Education.“The Newspaper and Authority,” by Lucy Maynard amon.“Principles of Political Economy,” by Charles Gide.“Economics For Helen,” by Hilaire Belloc.“Monetary Reconstruction,” by R. G. Hawtrey.“Banxers and Credit,” by Hartley Withers.“Principles of Industrial Welfare.” By John Lee, C.B.E.“Economics of Fatigue and Unrest,” by P. Sargant Florence, W.D“Social Insurance Unified and Other Essays,” by Joseph L. Cohen, M.A.“The British Tiude Boardsystem: An Inquiry Into Its Operation,” Dorothy Sells, Ph.D.“The Locoal Government of The United Kingdom,” by John J. Clarke, M.A., F.S.S“Organization and Administration of the Finance Department,” by William Bateson, A.C.A., F.S.A.A“Loans and Borrowing Powers of Local Authorities,” by J. H. Burton.“Caste and Outcast,” by D. G. Mukeji.“Report of the Royal Commission on the Superior Civil Services in India.”“The Bombay City Police‐A Historical Sketch, 1672–1916,” by S. M. Edwardes, C.S.I., C.V.O.“As They Are: French Political Portraits,” by Translated from the French by Winifred Katzkin.“The Re‐making of Russia,” by Herr Wiedenfeld.“A Guide to Parliamentary and Official Papers,” by H. B. Lees‐Smith M.A.