Adult Education in America Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Adult Education in America - Term Paper Example Adult education as a concept had undergone a systematic evolution in the history of education in the United States of America. The adult education programs are made available to the interested populations through varied avenues and are designed in consonance with the academic background and the language proficiency levels of the specific adult learners. Technology has made adult education more accessible in the current times. I am interested in the field of adult education, because it is in consonance with my personal philosophy and vision pertaining to education. Adult Education in America Since I have been actively engaged as a single parent and a full time executive, and that at present I am student pursuing a Masters in Education with a specialization in Family/Community, adult education is a concept that has always been close to my heart. It goes without saying that since I joined the 1st Class; I have emphatically come to the realization that my previous experience as a full ti me employee and a mother has aided me with ample insights as to the relevance and value of adult education in the contemporary societies. I have a deep seated conviction that in case of the adults dealing with family and professional responsibilities, adult education is sometimes not merely a viable option, but rather a chance to excel and move ahead in life. While I was pursuing my undergraduate level degree in social work, back in the early 80s, it was my innate passion and zeal to be able to help others. Now, my resolve as to pursuing a career oriented around working with families and communities, while aiding an empowering the individuals and groups through enhancing awareness pertaining to adult education has strengthened and bolstered with each passing day. Both in a present and past perspective, in the United States of America, adult education are the most potent and feasible tool to augment and upgrade the quality and potential of the local human resources. Enabling people t hrough the medium of adult education manifold enhances the possibilities as to what they know and what they can do with that knowledge, information and skills. The people who are not educated and skilled are increasingly finding it difficult not only to earn a decent living, but also to navigate their way through a system that increasingly requires them to engage in complex paper work and formalities pertaining to healthcare, social security, and everyday finance and retirement benefits. Besides, the United States of America being an immigration friendly country, with the changing demographics, things could get more stressful, if the programs oriented around adult education are not encouraged and pursued with ample zeal and commitment. Going by the fast changing technologies and the high frequency, with which people tend to change jobs, adult education is an issue that could be expected to accrue much importance, not only to enable the adults to seek access to and succeed in the nat ional work force, but also to empower them to serve as the worthy and well informed members of the society. Just because in the present context, so much stress is being laid on the education of children and teenagers, people often do tend to ignore the fact that most of the illustrious personalities in the Western history, be it Jesus, Socrates or Benjamin Franklin, happened to be the teachers of adults. It was way back in 1826, when the first lyceum at Millbury, Mass was organized by Josiah Holbrook, that envisaged the organization of the local adult study groups (Knowles, 1994). In 1911 America witnessed the setting up of The State Board of Vocational and Adult Education in Wisconsin (Knowles, 1994).