Education of Adults

The education of girls, as well as the education of all adults, should be the responsibility of the government. Many people agree that schooling starts in kindergarten and continues through college and university for those who can afford it before they obtain a Ph.D. However, since schooling is a part of life, it never ends; therefore, one stays stationary in life if one is not open to learning new concepts. Adults who have completed their education and even earned doctorates still have a lot to learn, particularly about jobs that demand specialized skills in their different workplaces. For instance, teachers may have to learn new teaching techniques or technical resources that were not within their reach during their schooling time. Furthermore, someone with Masters of Science may need to learn administrative skills under the multi-career corporate environment. The project aims to explore the significant role that the adult education plays in extending the opportunities for adults to access education beyond the accepted age to further their knowledge and skills.

At the point when individuals think of education issues, its kids that come to their thoughts and coursework with different projects intended to create and cultivate understudies. Education revolves around the intellectual, personal and physical development of an individual counting how to dissect, take care of key issues, set up assessments and recommendations for anyone to access education at any age. Adult education plays a critical part in various vital functions of the society. It helps to combat poverty through workforce development in the view that concerns about poverty, crime, and the state economy can be resolved to giving much focus on adult education. According to Auerbach (2), adult education is a more pressing matter to end poverty and injustice since adult literacy contributes a vital part to the economy and as well as the security of the society. The dominant parts of adults who are poor are additionally liable to lack standard education, thus, unable to eradicate their poverty or an opportunity to enter workforce unless they receive the required education or training. The mandate of adult education is critical towards reducing poverty to enable individuals to become economically sufficient, bolster the workforce and participate in developing a responsible society. When an adult education programs are implemented the results are always quantifiable and definite due to increased employability in developing the workforce. Adult education develops professional skills through vocational training that contribute to the economy.

Understanding learning theories help in making adult educators more effective practitioners who meet their learners' needs that they serve. The concept maps play the significant role in adult education towards extending the opportunities for adults to access education beyond the accepted age. Mind maps enable adult educators to prepare effective strategies to be used in the learning process using critical analysis that strengthens the skills by engaging adult learners (Yelich Biniecki and Conceição 51). The mind map utilizes four theories namely; social learning, transformative, cognitivist and constructivist to connect the learning process. Putting into practice the four theories and critical analysis in adult educations such as cognitivist theory fosters internal mental processing and developments that build new knowledge. The cognitivist approach helps students to develop the capacity and skills of modern structure content and experience and to acquire the ability to express knowledge and information such as computer programming. The adult student then uses the learned concept maps to recall content, visualize and analyze by drawing connections that lead to solutions (Yelich Biniecki and Conceição 53).

Constructivist learning theory helps adult students to construct meaning from experiences. The concept maps based on the constructivist approach allow students to integrate new knowledge from experience through reality perspectives (Yelich Biniecki and Conceição 51). Transformative learning theory focuses on changing the adult students’ preconceptions and worldviews to critical reflections of assumptions. The adult instructor’s role is to foster critical reflections on students with the ultimate goal of thoughts that understand and challenge the previous assumptions (Yelich Biniecki and Conceição 55).

Social interactions with others foster cooperatively of fundamental analysis of problems and potential solutions model for change through social learning theory. The collaborative learning gives a learner an opportunity to become aware of the systems and situations they are in; the educator provides behavior model to foster attention (Yelich Biniecki and Conceição 58). Concept maps in adult education are used in project development, assessments, brainstorming, problem-solving, exchanging and sharing information. Moreover, concept maps form a diagnostic tool for pre-assessment and evaluation tool for learning activities.

Adult education changes people’s lives and their families, impacts social and economic issues positively. The contrary is that resources for adult education have increasingly become scarce with the adult educators demanded to do more with less. According to Taylor, advocacy must be at the heart of legislators and every stakeholder to help adults, families, and communities to change their lives through adult education (68). Adult education services can be improved through public policy outcomes directly affecting the partnerships, alliances, alignment, messaging and strengthens the capacity of the organizations to deliver. Advocacy helps to change attitudes, beliefs and creates awareness about adult education to achieve the political will and to enhance public participation. Support for adult education is essential in identifying, promoting and embracing the cause, shaping general opinions, and advancing the interests of the community.

Advocacy is essential in extending adult opportunities in accessing education through activities such as making collaborations and partnerships, educating the general public and engaging media, inviting the society towards raising the awareness of adult education. Lobbying and educating policymakers on issues affecting adult education positions the legislators towards the program success. The policymakers and legislators require an understanding of the need and demand for adult education services. Legislators make decisions based on the information provided, expectations of adult funding and support come from well-informed legislators (Taylor 69). For advocacy to be successful, it also requires to motivate the adult educators and students to passionately do more through placing support at heart.

In the field of adult education, the decisions about the programs, circular changes are made by the adult educators through negotiations among the multiple stakeholders’ interests and authorities. Stakeholders in adult education involve students, the local community, faculty, businesses that act as funders and continuously shift culturally to academic landscapes (Tisdell et al. 76). Faculty satisfaction of career choices depends on the workload, which correlates with the priorities, institutional support, perceived quality of life affect the opportunities accessed by adults towards education. Educators of adults can be satisfied with their professions and not necessarily their institutions; for instance permanent employment makes one generally confident than those without (Tisdell et al. 80). Faculty motivation plays an essential part in making education accessible and available for the adults. If the educators are motivated about their job, depends on their interests to teach, intellectual stimulation, job flexibility, how much they earn spiritual commitments and social commitments among others.

The support of which career gets influences satisfaction with the potential of getting connections and networks determines the success of adult education. Faculty satisfaction depends to job salaries, flexibility, future directions and interests, motivations, and support making adult education access successful.

Motivation is essential to understanding student’s satisfaction, commitment towards achieving learning goals and their engagement to adult education program. Motivational profiles of adult learners both autonomous and controlled motivation affect other adult learners. Learners with a high autonomous motivation at the start of adult education program achieve better scores and have higher self-efficiency together with later behavioral engagement due to in-depth learning strategies. Adult learners with controlled motivation have low levels of motivation and achieve bad results in their education programs (Rothes, Lemos, and Gonçalves 2). Most adult learners require intrinsic motivation to perform activities that are own rewarding, learning something because of interests. Extrinsic motivation only comes due to the results of the operations performed, such as high grades, money, honors or to avoid adverse outcomes such as criticism and punishment. Intrinsic is concluded to be a better source of motivation compared to extrinsic towards developing human competency, relatedness, and autonomy. Extrinsic self-determination has undermining effects since the reward becomes the primary focus as individuals lose interests on the actual activities (Rothes, Lemos, and Gonçalves, 5). It is essential to encourage students to show intrinsic motivations to study because of benefits or importance than feeling pressured towards achieving specific goals.

Motivational profiles allow students to examine and explore nature to occur motivational dimensions to encourage low-literate adults to participate in adult education programs. Adult education learners are motivated to attend due to literacy development, economic reasons, self-improvement, and family responsibilities (Rothes, Lemos, and Gonçalves 6). Mature learner’s motivation is essential since most of them enroll voluntarily and are part-time students with the obligation to balance between other responsibilities and education. The life-balancing pressure implies that the adult students are at risk of dropping out of the program and training to attend other more urgent obligations (Rothes, Lemos, and Gonçalves 7). Most of the adult learners are of external reward enrolling for the program with the expectancy of getting a job after completion. For a significant role of adult education towards extending access opportunities for adult learners to be a success, educators have to note the importance of motivating learners, advocate the completion of the programs to achieve academic success for low education levels. Students from the less formal education with more disadvantaged social contexts make adult education less personal, less meaningful and feel coerced by circumstances such as unstable professionalism and low income (Rothes, Lemos, and Gonçalves 19). Motivation is directly linked to educational outcomes of achievements and learning with well-being and satisfaction. Sustaining motivation is vital to the success of the adult education programs.

Full-time and part-time staffing of instructors in adult education institutions has a significant implication on learner's outcome particularly on the advanced level, of adults, almost completing their programs. The patterns of institutional staffing are positioned to modify operations of the comprehensive adult primary education (Patterson 337). Some of the determinants that affect the instructional staffing pattern to be either full-time or part-time include the management, capacity, program environment. The program environment components incorporate the needs, resources, structures that encompass the adult education programs. Adult education programs can encounter geographical constraints, policies with human resources on instructional staffing. For instance, large institutions require having human resource policies that determine the full-time and part-time staffing (Patterson 338). Program management responsibilities monitor resources, manage instructional staffing and hiring playing a prominent role in the advancement of adult education programs.

Administrators have preferences on whether instructional staff works part-time or full-time, manages recruitment, and offers leadership and staff development, which determine the staffing patterns. Part-time faculty may show little enthusiasm as compared to full-time staffs or since part-time arrive, teach, and leave. Part-time staffing on adult education implies that it provides little time to engage fully with learners, participate in professional development or interact with other professionals. Employing part-time can be less expensive and has flexible schedules, but it affects the adult learners’ outcome. Full-time employment provides opportunities for career growth, professional workforce, and well-paid staffs who positively affect the outcome of adult education programs. The heterotopia of deviation enables adult learners to escape precarious employment; a dream for a positive future, a utopia, but students create to, and the failure of students is due to their faults (Sandberg et al., 2016). Adult education help to shape equal citizens and to enhance the commitment to adult education, the challenges facing students and educators should be focused.

In conclusion, adult education plays a significant role in offering a second chance to adults to access learning opportunities that further their skills and knowledge. Adult education is essential in poverty eradication, creates opportunities for entry to the workforce and develops personal careers. For an adult education program to be effective, the students’ success depends on advocacy, use of concept maps, and activities that enhance job satisfaction. The motivation of student and adult teachers determine the completion of the program and the success of the learners after finishing the curriculum. This study calls for further research on how motivation, advocacy, and job satisfaction affect adult education programs and the student success.

Works Cited

Auerbach, Michael P. "Adult Education Programs." Research Starters: Education, 2017, pp.1-11.

Patterson, Margaret Becker. "Full-Time Instructional Staffing and Outcomes of Advanced Adult Learners."Adult Education Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 4, Nov. 2016, pp. 336-358. doi:10.1177/0741713616662906.

Rothes, Ana, Marina, Lemos, and Teresa Gonçalves. "Motivational Profiles of Adult Learners." Adult Education Quarterly, vol. 67, no. 1, 2017, pp. 3-29. doi:10.1177/0741713616669588.

Sandberg, Fredrik, et al. "Adult Education as a Heterotopia of Deviation: A Dwelling for the Abnormal Citizen." Adult Education Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 2, 2016, pp. 103-119.

Taylor, Jackie. "Placing Advocacy at the Heart of Adult Education." Journal of Research & Practice for Adult Literacy, Secondary & Basic Education, vol. 5, no. 1, 2016, pp. 68-73.

Tisdell, Elizabeth J., Robin Redmon Wright, and Edward W. Taylor. "Adult Education Faculty and Programs in North America." Adult Education Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 1, Feb. 2016, pp. 76-95.

Yelich Biniecki, Susan M., and Simone CO Conceição. "Using Concept Maps to Engage Adult Learners in Critical Analysis." Adult Learning, vol. 27, no. 2, 2016, pp. 51-59.