ADULT EDUCATION:Lifelong learning

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Human Resource Development (HRM-627)

Lesson 27

ADULT EDUCATION

Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. This is often done in the workplace or

through 'extension' or 'continuing education courses at secondary schools, or at a college or university. Other

learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers. The practice is also

often referred to as 'Training and Development'. It has also been referred to as andragogy (to distinguish it from

pedagogy). A difference is made between vocational education, mostly done in workplaces and mostly related to

upskilling, and non-formal adult education, that can include learning skills or learning for personal

development.

Educating adults differs from educating children in several ways. One of the most important differences is that

adults have accumulated knowledge and experience that can either add value to a learning experience or hinder

it.

Another important difference is that adults frequently must apply their knowledge in some practical fashion to

learn effectively; there must be a goal and a reasonable expectation that the new knowledge will help them

further that goal. One example, common in the 1990s, was the proliferation of computer training courses in

which adults (not children or adolescents), most of whom were office workers, could enroll. These courses

would teach basic use of the operating system or specific application software. Because the abstractions

governing the user's interactions with a PC were so new, many people who had been working white-collar jobs

for 10 years or more eventually took such training courses, either at their own whim (to gain computer skills

and thus earn higher pay) or at the behest of their managers.

In the United States, a more general example is that of the high-school dropout who returns to school to

complete general education requirements. Most upwardly-mobile positions require at the very least a high

school diploma or equivalent. A working adult is unlikely to have the freedom to simply quit their job and go

"back to school" full time. Public school systems and community colleges usually offer evening or weekend

classes for this reason. In Europe this is often referred to as "second-chance", and many schools offer tailor-

made courses and learning programmes for these returning learners.

Those adults who read at the very lowest level get help from volunteer literacy programs. These programs

provide one to one tutoring and small group sessions for adults at the 6th grade level or below. Public libraries,

nonprofit organizations and school systems administer these programs across the country. ProLiteracy

Worldwide is the national organization which provides training, tutor certification and accreditation for local

volunteer programs. States often have state organizations such as Literacy Florida!Inc. which provide field

services for volunteer literacy programs.

In the U.S.A., the equivalent of the high school diploma earned by an adult through these programs is to pass

the General Education Development (GED) test.

Another fast-growing sector of adult education is English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), also

referred to as English as a Second Language (ESL)or English Language Learners (ELL). These courses are key

in assisting immigrants with not only the acquisition of the English language, but the acclimation process to the

culture of the United States.

An adult high school or adult school is a high school facility designed for adult education. It is intended for

adults who have not completed high school to continue their education. Some adult high schools offer child

care, special integration programs for immigrants and refugees, career counseling and other programs and

services geared toward the special needs of adult students. Some adult high schools may also offer general

interest programs such as computer skills or other continuing education courses.

A few cities in the United States and Canada have dedicated adult high school facilities. In most other cities,

students age out of the system at 19 or 20 leaving them no other option than getting their GED. This is a

problem for students who still need many classes to gain the skills they need to pass a GED test. This problem

is compounded for the United State's growing foreign born population, who are not familiar with the American

school systems and are still learning English, especially if they come into the United States in their teens and are

expected to catch up with their American peers by the time they reach the age of 19 or 20.

Lifelong learning is the concept that "It's never too soon or too late for learning", a philosophy that has taken

root in a whole host of different organisations. Lifelong learning is attitudinal; that one can and should be open

to new ideas, decisions, skills or behaviors. Lifelong learning throws the axiom "You can't teach an old dog new

Human Resource Development (HRM-627)

tricks" out the door. Lifelong learning sees citizens provided with learning opportunities at all ages and in

numerous contexts: at work, at home and through leisure activities, not just through formal channels such as

school and higher education. Lifelong learning is the final outcome of Information Literacy.

Lifelong education is a form of pedagogy often accomplished through distance learning or e-learning,

continuing education, homeschooling or correspondence courses. It also includes postgraduate programs for

those who want to improve their qualification, bring their skills up to date or retrain for a new line of work.

Internal corporate training has similar goals, with the concept of lifelong learning used by organisations to

promote a more dynamic employee base, better able to react in an agile manner to a rapidly changing climate.

In later life, especially in retirement, continued learning takes diverse forms, crossing traditional academic

bounds and including recreational activities.

One of the reasons why lifelong education has become so important is the acceleration of scientific and

technological progress. Despite the increased duration of primary, secondary and university education (14-18

years depending on the country), the knowledge and skills acquired there are usually not sufficient for a

professional career spanning three or four decades. The European Union adopted a Communication in

October 2006 entitled "It's never too late to learn". This document suggests lifelong learning to be the core of

the ambitious Lisbon 2010-process, in which the whole of the European Union should become a learning area.

In India and elsewhere, the "University of the Third Age" (U3A) provides an example of the almost

spontaneous emergence of autonomous learning groups accessing the expertise of their own members in the

pursuit of knowledge and shared experience. No prior qualifications and no subsequent certificates feature in

this approach to learning for its own sake and, as participants testify, engagement in this type of learning in

later life can indeed 'prolong active life'. For those who can't physically attend these autonomous learning

groups, a virtual U3A, U3A Online, is open to isolated older people from any country. In Sweden the concept

of "study circles", an idea launched almost a century ago, still represents a large portion of the adult education

provision. The concept has since spread, and is a common practice in for instance Finland as well. A study

circle is one of the most democratic forms of learning environment created. There are no teachers, the group

decides themselves the content and scope as well as the method to use.

Sometimes lifelong learning aims to provide educational opportunities outside standard educational systems --

which can be cost-prohibitive, if available at all. On the other hand, formal administrative units devoted to this

discipline exist in a number of universities. For example, the 'Academy of Lifelong Learning' is an

administrative unit within the University-wide 'Professional and Continuing Studies' unit at the University of

Delaware Another example is the Jagiellonian University Extension (Wszechnica Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego),

which is one of the most comprehensive Polish centers for lifelong learning (open learning, organizational

learning, community learning).

In recent years 'Lifelong Learning' has been adopted in the UK as an umbrella term for post-compulsory

education that falls outside of the UK Higher Education system - Further Education, Community Education,

Work-based Learning and similar voluntary, public sector and commercial settings. See Lifelong Learning UK.

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