CAnderson, Assignment 5: Perspectives of Adult Education

Cheryl Anderson
Perspective of Adult Education
Interview Analysis
March 1, 2023
Dr. Bo Chang

Group Members	Roles	Commented on
Cheryl Anderson	Group leader	Group 3
	Project coordinator

Introduction: The Interviews

Adult education is a term that truly has a life of its own. Personally, I believe adult education to be the continued development of a human being throughout their adult life. All our experiences, trials, the people we meet…all shape who we are and who we become in the future. Every day is a new day to learn something. I wholeheartedly believe that the day you stop learning is the day you die. Adult Learning can literally be anything that causes growth and change.                                             

                                                  

After reviewing each interview several times, I have decided to comment on interview one. I think it is very interesting to see the different perspectives people have of adult education. Dr. Sharan Merriam remarks that the perspective of adult education depends on the lens you see it through. For example, she stated, “If you’re in business and industry, you’ll see it as HRD (Human Resource Development) or OD, Organizational Development, and if you’re in education you’ll see it as education developing the person in the skills they need for today’s world” (Merriam, 2019). Trying to give a precise definition of adult education would be like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. Each person has a different view, depending on what it means to them personally. 

Discussion

Taking on many dimensions, adult education encompasses Adult Basic Education, Vocational Education, Continuing education, Labor education, Migrant adult education, Parent education, Public School adult education, and even Veteran education, to name a few. With that said, I would like to discuss what I learned from the interview and the “lenses” adult education is seen through, using real people I personally interviewed. To gain insight as to what many adults think “adult education” is, I interviewed several in various occupations and levels of income. Most were educators, one was a NICU Nurse, and three others were support staff at my school. 

Choosing a variety of people of varying ages and experience helped me more clearly understand how the lens we look through is developed through the experiences we live. Mickey Anderson, Cafeteria Manager, age 59, has a wealth of experience. He has already retired from law enforcement, earned a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Management, and retired from the Army. In the Army, he taught adults in the culinary arts, teaching them skills to deliver a balanced, flavorful meal to the troops in his unit. He and his team were invited to many forts to cook for change of command ceremonies, been to Korea to run a kitchen, and spent a year in Poland supervising and preparing meals for several DFACS (Dining facilities). Currently, he manages the Midwest School cafeteria with his assistant, Krisi Paris. He oversees operations including ordering, inventory, meal planning, food preparation, and service. Being a cafeteria manager ensures operations are following all food, safety, and sanitation regulations. 

Mr. Anderson’s assistant, Krisi Paris, age 50, also has experience working with adults, training them at a cafe, run by a local entrepreneur. Her responsibilities included training kitchen staff in safety procedures and menu service. She has also held other jobs like this where she supervised adults and trained them in SERV safe, teaching regulations for food temperatures, cleanliness, and handling/serving of food.  

Moving on, the most experienced teacher, Mrs. Cynthia Hurley, age 61, is a specialist in Middle and High School Special Education. She has been teaching for 30 years and has taught professional development to other special education teachers. She teaches them new techniques and strategies to improve student success. She also teaches them about IEP’s and rules and regulations associated with serving special needs students. Her special education support staff, Jesse Marker, age 42, has no experience teaching adults, but 13 years’ experience supporting high school students in need of services for success.  She enters classrooms and supports students in understanding instruction and assignment guidelines. She can often break down lessons into smaller chunks to aid understanding. Mrs. Marker holds a high school diploma and some emergency medical training, serving as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician on the Salt Creek Emergency Services. Marcia Jones, age 46, also serves on the Salt Creek Emergency Services Ambulance with Jesse. Marcia is an Educational Support Person, supporting students in behavior expectations and restorative justice. 

Next, I would like to introduce some other educators I work with. Keri Malson, age 44, has taught adults through Sheridan College in Buffalo, WY, and students in grades 5-8 in Language Arts for 8 years. Keri holds several degrees including a Master of Education in Literacy, 6-12 Math Bachelor’s degree, and a Master’s of Middle School Language Arts. Mathew Korkow, age 37, is My school’s current administrator. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Education; 6-12 Social Studies and a Master’s in School Administration. He has been an administrator for 6 years, after having taught Social Studies for 3 years prior. My final educator is Tyler Brownlow, age 25. Tyler holds a bachelor’s degree of Secondary Education; 6-12 Social Studies. He has taught for 2 years now. Though not a direct educator, our school counselor, Bethany Stripling, age 42, holds a master’s degree in School Counseling. She teaches social skills classes in each grade level at our school and sets up many opportunities for students to explore varying careers by inviting professionals from the community and supporting students in job shadowing in their desired careers. 

As I round out my list of interviewees, Rachelle Clarkson, age 34, is a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) nurse, working at Denver Children’s Hospital for 4 years now. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing and specialized certification for working with premature and critically ill infants. Finally, Wanda Hatley, age 61, is my school’s Campus Supervisor. Wanda has had experience as a probation officer and tutor for adult prisoners trying to earn GEDs. She retired from Law Enforcement and works as a Campus Supervisor in retirement.  

“Perspectives of adult education”

So, what is adult education? Dr. Sharan Merriam states it depends on the lens you are looking through. Something I found intriguing was the higher the education level, the more diverse the meaning of adult education. Further, younger adults that I asked all had similar responses about Adult Education being night school, preparation for a GED, hobby classes, and attending college. My own administrator told me that Adult Education is “going to college to better ourselves for more career opportunities” (M. Korkow, personal communication, Feb. 16, 2023).  B. Stripling echoed the same thought. One of the Educational Support Personnel, J. Marker believed adult education to be “professional development, education for older people, such as Medicare and Medicaid information, learning what their next steps should be after retirement, certificates, but not really college” (J. Marker, personal communication, Feb 17, 2023). 

Continuing my quest for knowledge, I move to my cafeteria staff, and his assistant. Mr. Anderson sees adult education in a much broader context. He stated, “I believe it is going back to school and learning a new skill, not necessarily college, but maybe a canning class geared more towards older adults looking for new skills and hobbies” (M. Anderson, personal communication, Feb. 16, 2023). His assistant, Ms. Paris feels adult education is “learning new skills, updates on current skills like computer technology, stuff we need because we’re not getting it, life skills, and medical coding” (K. Paris, personal communication, Feb. 16, 2023), also having a broader context for her definition. 

Coming to educators whom I interviewed, Mrs. Hurley’s vision of Adult Education is lifelong learning that is necessary and enjoyable. She further elaborated that “Adult Education can help change your focus, keep you younger and help your brain to maintain its plasticity” (C. Hurley, personal communication, Feb. 16, 2023). In contrast, a young Middle School History teacher, age 25, described Adult Education as night classes for people who dropped out of high school or did not finish basic skills and are looking for an opportunity to earn more money through skills education. This would include those who choose to earn a GED and possibly anyone seeking a new hobby.  

While Tyler embraced the idea of adult education including hobby classes, K. Malson held the perspective that it could basically be anything. Her specific examples included, “workshops, professional development, certification programs in various skill sets, licenses for lots of stuff, not necessarily going to college” (K. Malson, personal communication, Feb. 17, 2023). Keeping with K. Malson’s definition, M. Jones not only felt the same, but further included adult education being a second chance. Many of those I interviewed saw adult education as a second chance to gain skills and continue learning. W. Hatley, Campus Supervisor, believes adult education to be a second chance to get a better education, GED, diploma, degree or perhaps learn some technical skills. My final interviewee, R. Clarkson, age 34, sees adult education as a “chance to better myself and keep learning new things. Taking classes to keep my certifications current or move to the next level of nursing, becoming a charge nurse and possibly teaching others” (R. Clarkson, personal communication, Feb. 19, 2023). 

Conclusion

While I interviewed many more not mentioned here, they all seemed to echo the same ideas. The older, more educated people saw adult education as an opportunity for lifelong learning and my younger interviewees saw it more as night school and GED preparation, or even trade school, and hobbies. The irony of it all is that they are all correct. As far as the lens each person sees adult education through, I believe experiences, parenting, and background lend to each person. The lens we all look through shapes our ideas of what adult education is and should be. 

Implications

As an educator myself, I believe I have the responsibility to my students to open their eyes to the plethora of opportunities that lay ahead of them. I teach in a Pre-K through Twelfth grade school. It is a small community where 72% of the kids live in poverty. Many of their parents have not graduated high school and several more collect welfares and do not require their children to attend school regularly. There is a lack of support for the school and our scores on state tests are not something to brag about. With that said, I personally teach sixth through twelfth grade Math and Sciences. I have amazing relationships with my students and do have a great influence on them. Implications for me include using this influence to open their lenses to opportunity.                                                                                      

Because we live in a small community, many of my students do not see past this small town and do not have the confidence to venture beyond it. My hope is to not only open their eyes but give them the confidence to rise to the challenge.  Students grow confidence, not because of praise, but because of accomplishing tasks and goals successfully. In addition, they see me as confident and competent, and I am always “real” with them. I do not pretend to know everything, I own my imperfections and if I make a mistake, I apologize or make it right for the child. Modeling these skills helps them see they are safe and can try new things without harsh criticism. Teachers have a very significant, lifelong impact on all their students. This impact involves not only the teaching of academic skills, but as importantly, the fostering of student self-esteem. Reinforcing self-esteem in the classroom is associated with increased motivation and learning. This in turn offers the opening to giving them a “lens” to view opportunity through. 

Being such an influence on my students, I will also share the lens I see education through. I want my students to know that college is not the only way to go. There are so many other opportunities for them to explore. The more I share my views of what education is, the more exposure my students will get to outside opportunities. In addition, I would like to offer parent nights at my school for their parents. If they see education can be so many things, and not just for kids graduating high school, perhaps they will pursue an interest from their past or find a new interest that can elevate their life situation. So, one last time, what is adult education? It completely depends on what lens you see it through. 

References

Edwards, R. G. (2013). From adult education to lifelong learning and back again. Philosophical Perspectives on Lifelong Learning, 305–310. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6193-6_4 

Foley, G. (1999). Learning in social action: A contribution to understanding informaleducation. Global Perspectives on Adult Education and training, 163. St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. 

Jacobs, R. L. (2006). Perspectives on Adult Education, Human Resource Development, and the emergence of Workforce Development. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, 20(1), 21–31. https://doi.org/10.1002/nha3.10240 

Kapoor, D., & Abdi, A. A. (2009). The Meaning of Adult Education. In Global Perspectives on Adult Education: African, Asian and Latin American perspectives (pp. 3–8). essay, Palgrave Macmillan. 

Merriam, S. (1977). Philosophical Perspectives on Adult Education: A critical review of the literature. Adult Education, 27(4), 195–208. https://doi.org/10.1177/074171367702700401 

Owusu-Agyeman, Y. (2019). An analysis of theoretical perspectives that define adult learners for effective and inclusive adult education policies. International Review of Education, 65(6), 929–953. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-019-09811-3 

Anderson, M. (2023, Feb. 16). Personal communication [interview]

Brownlow, T. (2023, Feb. 16). Personal communication [interview]

Clarkson, R. (2023, Feb. 19). Personal communication [interview]

Hatley, W. (2023, Feb. 16). Personal communication [interview]

Hurley, C. (2023, Feb. 16). Personal communication [interview]

Jones, M. (2023, Feb. 16). Personal communication [interview]

Korkow, M. (2023, Feb. 16). Personal communication [interview]

Malson, K. (2023, Feb. 17). Personal communication [interview]

Marker, J. (2023, Feb. 17). Personal communication [interview]

Paris, K. (2023, Feb. 16). Personal communication [interview]

Stripling, B. (2023, Feb. 16). Personal communication [interview]

Summary Table:

Introduction:  I introduced the ideas of adult education, including my own, based on what we have learned in this course and using interview 1.

Discussion: I discussed how each person has his/her own perspective of what adult education means, such as, night school, college, GED, continued personal development, after interviewing several different people at differing age levels.

Implications: I explained that it is my job, as a teacher, to open eyes to just what adult education opportunities are available and model the life-long learning myself.