Adult Education in 2000-2009

I commented on Sarah Smurr's (Group 2) and Charlene Jackson's (Group 3).

Adult Education in 2000-2009

Darcey Mitschelen

Ball State University

Introduction

U.S. Department of Education in a 2001 report from the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education wrote that “it is widely acknowledged that the fastest growing jobs in the 21st century will require some level of postsecondary education. Consequently, moving more people through postsecondary programs aligned with the economic needs of a community or region is vital to our nation’s future competitiveness, security and stability” (p.1). Know one could have predicted how true that statement would prove to be in the decade known as the 2000s.

The 2000s was a dark time in the United States. For the first time, several generations experienced an attack on the homeland, massive unemployment, and a deep long lastingcredit depression coupled with a stock market crash. A sense of vulnerability, lack of control, and, hopelessness were prevalent attitudes that had not been known since the 1940s. This paper will focus on adult education and the part it played in not just the healing of the nation, but the part it continues to play.

The following timeline outlines the key social, political, and cultural events that impacted the United States during the 2000s.

Date  Event

9/11/2001 “The Day the World Changed.” Al Quada suicide attacks with commercial airplanes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as well as third airplane that was diverted to a field by its passengers. (Young, 2010)

10/26/2001 President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act into law. (Young, 2010)

10/25/2002 President George W. Bush signed the Homeland Security Act into law. (Young, 2010)

2/1/2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates upon re-entry killing all aboard. (ABC News, 2009)

2/2004 Facebook entered the social networking world.

9/16/2004 Hurricane Ivan hits land at Golf Shores, AL (ABC News, 2009)

2/15/2005 Internet site YouTube went online

9/1/2005 Hurricane Katrina hits land in New Orleans, LA. (ABC News, 2009)

10/2005 Housing bubble begins to burst with rapidly declining housing prices. (Young, 2010)

1/2006 Auto manufacturer General Motors records losses in the billions and later files bankruptcy. (Young, 2010)

4/ 2007 Virginia Tech massacred claimed 32 lives (ABC News, 2009)

1/9/2009 Labor Department reported U.S. economy lost nearly 2 million jobs in the last quarter of 2008. (Young, 2010)

1/16/2009 Circuit City closes all stores and terminated 32,000 jobs as just a one of many such moves in the U.S. (Young, 2010)

1/20/2009 President Obama takes office as the 44th president and the 1st black president

Highlights

One of the most common reasons for adults seeking education is a life changing event (Conlan, Grabkoski, & Smith, 2006, p.3). The 2000s were certainly filled with life changing events. Unemployment in January 2000 was 7.1% and jumped to 10.4% in September 2003 and hit its highest of 17.1% in December 2009 (U.S. Department of Labor, 2009). Thousands of people found themselves competing for a limited numbers of jobs with no high school diploma and no way of elevating their marketability to prospective employers. With no income, and the rapid fall in housing prices mixed the crippling crash of the credit industry, people entered into crisis mode and reached out to adult education programs for help.

Adult education in the United States experienced a rapid increase during this decade signifying the awareness for the need for education. Along with the available training offered through the Department of Workforce Development/Labor and the Workforce Investment Act funding that provided free short-term training for adults who were enrolled in high school diploma preparation classes as approved by the state, countless adults were able to enter the 2010s with greater employability and a sense of possibility.

Influential Factors

The decade of the 2000s produced extensive research in andragogy and Malcom Knowles’s perspective on adult education. The volume of research added a deeper look into how adult learners were serviced, what their goals were, and how to maximize program dollars, all in an effort to obtain significant gains in diploma obtainment. Research results were wide and varied creating opportunities for adult educators to question their own approach and to redefine developing programs that were based on their own student populations. A few influential contributors included: Billington (2000) who found that the existence of or lack of key variables effected student success. Some of the key variables include class environment of respect, self-directed learning, and regular feedback from the instructor. St. Clair (2002) suggested that “andragogy does not work for everyone and that it does not define adult education.” And Kail and Cavanaugh (2004) concluded that lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important, but should not be thought of as just an extension of earlier learning. Instead, it should be understood that learning styles changes as people age (Henschke, 2009). These bodies of work along with countless others indicated that adult learners and the programs that where available to them are an ever developing topic.

For over 40 years, the federal government provided funds to states to expand basic education programs for individuals 16 and over who have not completed high school.During those years, the types of services and providers changed as well as the scope. In 1998, President George W. Bush signed into law the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) which made “the adult education program part of a new “one-stop” career center system that includes many federally funded employment and training programs” (Lasater & Elliot, 2005, p 1-1). Eligible individuals must lack basic educational skills that keep them from functioning within society; lack a high school diploma or equivalent; or unable to read, speak, or write in English. As a result of  WIA, one-stops were put in place across the United States and systems were established to service individuals meeting those requirements. This Act unknowingly prepared centers and staff for the vast number of unemployed that would be seeking help during the 2000s.In 2007, $850 million was provided to provide assistance for more than 1.7 million adults in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories (U.S. Department of Education, 2008). This collaboration between Education and Workforce Development provided the first steps in the creation of a much needed central focus on adult education and its learners.

2000s also saw the change in how technology was used in adult education making it one of the most radical shifts in education in decades.During the 1990s, computers in classrooms were considered a luxury or even a toy. During the 2000s new technological advances influenced curriculum decisions, modes of instruction, and communication with educators, students, families, and communities (Barbour, Barbour, & Scully, 2014). The decade saw lower computer prices which meant greater access for adult education programs across the United States. Programs utilized computers for planning, preparation of materials, and downloaded educational curriculum. As the decade progressed, access to the Internet and the Web became readily available.  This made websites, on-line instruction such as PLATO, My Foundations Lab, and ITTS, where students can work from outside of the traditional classroom possible. The Internet also expanded opportunities for students to explore training, college, and careers. And in addition, itopened up a much wider view of the world as many have never been outside of their geographic or cultural areas.

Distance education (teacher providing the instruction) and distance learning (part or all of education relying on information available on the Internet) became part of the adult education discuss. Students, who were restricted from attending traditional classroom, now had alternative options through Internet access. Instruction, materials, methods, processes were just some of the areas that educators struggle with while building strong, successful programs during a period of increased interest in distant learning options.

With social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube, communication and accessibility to information took on a new form. Facebook gave educators and students instant contact to each while “how-tos”  on any and every topic imaginable were created and uploaded to YouTube supplying resources that were never available before. The utilization of social media gave both educators and learners new avenues for instruction. Educators found help with everything from Math to creating resumes to motivational video. Many adult education teachers soon found smart boards, Skype, and self-made videos added to their set of tools in response for student access to technology that is necessary in the 21st century.

Implications

The 2000s provided a decade of growth. Growth in how andragogy is viewed and utilized. Growth in federal funding for adult education and training. Growth in technology and the use of the Internet in the world of adult education. And growth in possibility.Table 1 below offers a brief summary of Adult Education in the 2000-2009 and emphasizes that despite the struggles during that decade, we are a people who seizes possibility.

Attacks on the U.S., the economic crash and depression, the national tragedies, and the rapidly developing technologies,brought to the forefront that is not only necessary, but it is vital to the future of our nation. The conversations must be on-going and the efforts continual in addressing education, training, and jobs for adults.

Table 1. Summary of the History of Adult/Community Education
Areas		Summary
Social Background	·	Attacks on the U.S. homeland
	·	Hurricanes hit US. Thousands die. Billions lost.
	·	Dow Jones drops to 6547. Credit crashes on its heels
	·	Housing market bursts
	·	Unemployment rises to 17.1%
	·	Internet becomes readily available
	·	Social Media enters the scene - Facebook, YouTube
Highlights	·	National events elevated need for adults to enter adult education programs
	·	Increased funding for adult education and training
Influential Factors	·	Vast research/work done on andragogy
	·	Workforce Investment Act funding creates opportunity for adult education students to receive training
	·	Technology creates on-line/distance learning opportunities for adult learners
	·	Social media such as Facebook and YouTube opens new avenues for communication and learning
Implications	·	Decade of growth in education and technology continues to be vital
	·	Constant re-evaluation of programming and training is essential to the nation's future

References

ABC News (2010). End of the decade. Retrieved September 14, 2014 from http://abcnews.go.com/US/Decade/

Barbour, C., Barbour N. H., & Scully, P. A. (2012). Forces affecting education in the twenty-first century. Retrieved September 14, 2014 from http://www.education.com/print/foreces-affect-edication-twenty-first-century/

Charters, A. (1992). Adult education: 21st century. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 1, pp. 3-9

Conlan, J., Grabowski, S., & Smith, K. (2006) Current trends in adult education. Retrieved September 14, 2014 from http://www.coe.ugs.edu/epltt/AdultEducation.htm/

Henschke, J.A. (2009). A productive decade of andragogy’s history and philosophy 2000-2009. In Assessing and Evaluating Adult Learning in Career And Technical Education, Zhejiang University Press, Hangzhou, China.

Lasater, B. & Elliott, B. (2005). Profiles of the adult education target population: information from the 2000 census. Prepared for the Division of Adult Education and Literacy. RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC.

Sticht, T.G.(2002). The rise of the adult education and literacy system in the United States: 1600-2010, Review of Adult Learning and Literacy, 3. Retrieved September 14, 2014 from http://www.ncsa.net/index.html/.

U.S. Department of Education. Adult Basic Education. Retrieved September 14, 2014 from hppts://www2ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/adultbe.html/

U.S. Department of Education, Report to the President on Executive Order 13445, (2008).  Bridges to Opportunity Federal Adult Education Programs for the 21st Century, Washington, D.C.

U.S. Department of Labor. Unemployment rates. Retrieved September 14, 2014 from http://data.bls.gov/search/query/results?cx=013738036195919377644%3A6ih0hfrgl50&q=unemployment+rate+2000-2009/

Young, Jim (2010, Events that shaped the US in the past decade (2000-2010. Retrieved September 14, 2014 from http://ibtimes/com/events-shaped-us-past-decade-2000-2010/