ADULT EDUCATION
Adult Education: A Student and a Profession
I returned to university at the age of 45; I was scared, nervous, and I had no idea if I had the tenacity, dedication, or even the mental capacity to fulfill my dream of finally obtaining a bachelor’s degree. Adult education is different than education for adults, and Woelke writes that the goal of adult education is less about livelihood and more about liberation (16). I can say that for me, this idea of liberation sums up both my personal and my professional goals. When I first applied to the Athabasca University, I did not just want to transform myself, but I wanted to help transform the world.
Adult education was created, as Woelke writes, with “noble intentions:” specifically, to respond to “concerns of exploitation, isolation, and poverty” (16). Because of this interdisciplinary aspect of adult education, it intersects with almost all other fields of study: critical race theory, gender studies, global studies, community studies, languages; the reality is that adult education is interlinked with virtually all other fields. This is one of the main reasons I was drawn to study adult education as a portion of my Master’s degree: that I could incorporate so many of my interests and concerns into one program.
One key concept of adult education is that learning is a continual process; therefore, what happens in a structured learning environment, like a classroom, is just one small piece of a much larger picture. This concept is often overlooked in traditional university studies: professors stand in front of classrooms and lecture, and students are expected to memorize and then take gruelling exams. Woelke writes of this “top-down” approach of dispensing knowledge to “compliant, non-involved students” (13) and how this ultimately ends up creating uninterested workers that surrender to the powers of society. I can say that the first twenty years of my working career were spent working in exactly such an environment. Adult education works to resolve this template and create new approaches to learning: I want to be a part of that.
A second key concept of adult education is that adult learners come to their studies with substantial life experience and, therefore, their education should both draw from and build upon that experience (2). Understanding and respecting that adult students are bringing prior knowledge to the classroom is fundamental to building a strong relationship between the student and the teacher. When students can bring their life experience into the classroom, even when they may have little “formal” education, they can feel seen and heard, and this has the potential to keep the student in their studies, even when life at home may feel chaotic, with children, spouses, jobs, and commitments.
Adult education is a whole different world than traditional education: educating students over the age of 25 is much less about preparing the student for a future career, nor is it striving to enhance already existing skills (16), even though, of course, both of these things still could occur. The true objective of adult education is more about social change than livelihood: it is about recognizing education as a life-long journey instead of simply a means to find a job, even a career, or earn a higher salary.
Being both an adult student and a student of adult education myself, I can say that this article by Woelke particularly defines my personal experience of both obtaining my education while already a mature adult and making the choice to study adult education as a way to give back to my community through my future work.
Woelke, Leanne. “The Role of Adult Education.” The University of the Fraser Valley, 06 June 2017, drr2.lib.athabascau.ca/index.php?c=node&m=detail&n=59361.