History of Adult and Community Education in the 1980's

 

Rachael Robertson: Commented on Shelbe Mann

Introduction

The social background in the decade of the 1980’s was both a time of growth and a time of opportunity. Early in the decade it was discovered that 15 percent of adult workforce was functionally illiterate (Mirga, 1983). This created a stirring from the presidential office and trickled to the state and local level, spurring many initiatives that would be felt for decades to come. These included congressional funding opportunities, increased local programs for adults, programs to fund workplace literacy programs, and adult student enrollment. Another complex factor to adult education was the increase of immigration, and the need to include English education as well. It is shown that 7.3 million immigrants came to the USA between 1981-1990 (Sticht, 2024). This created a demand not previously known in the world of adult education. Due to the need for adults to increase their learning opportunities, initiatives like the work-study program became important, as did the interest from adults. I will explore how these initiatives were implemented and affected adult and community education in the 1980’s. 

 

Highlights: 

In response to the “Nation at Risk” report, President Reagan in 1983 announced a new initiative to help those adults in the USA learn to read and write (Mirga, 1983). He highlighted seven parts of this plan which included awareness campaigns, the National Adult Literacy project, Adult Literacy councils, College work study programs, networking, Federal employee literacy training programs, and voluntary and private sector supports (Mirga, 1983) .It was important that this administration recognized the great need that existed in the lack of literacy for adults. However, the Reagan administration mostly favored reducing the federal involvement because they wanted the local levels to take control of addressing problems.  

In response to the Literacy crisis, the US Department of Education along with Congress and states decided to provide $421 million in grant funds for adult education (Cheryl, 2013). This funding continued for the next four fiscal years and would go on to serve millions of adult learners in many ways. These included English literacy programs aimed at serving the immigration population, and workforce literacy grants aimed at helping adult become ready for the workforce by gaining the skills and credentials needed for specific job opportunities. This was an important practical step, shifting funding to the local levels to help create traction for programs to begin.  

The Adult Education Act of 1988 was a reauthorization of the same act from 1966. It was created to help support and increase adult education programs, for both addressing the issues of illiteracy and skills development. This act also created federal funding opportunities for local schools, community colleges and community-based organizations. This was in alignment with the initiatives from the white house to make education a more localized feat. They focused on the goal of self-sufficiency for adults in hopes this would make adults more workforce ready. Adult education is truly a collaborative effort on all governmental levels. (Cheryl, 2013)  

 

Influential Factors: 

There were many educators that took the lead in creating new theories tackling the issues of adult education. One of these is the well-known American educator, Malcolm Knowles. He began his theories of adult education using the phrase “Andragogy” and creating four assumptions about adult learners (Pappas, 2013). In 1980, Knowles wrote the four assumptions as Self-concept, adult learner experience, readiness to learn, and orientation to learning. In 1984 he added the fifth assumption, which was motivation to learn. He thought that adults’ experience is especially important to the learning process, and the reality that adults are interested in learning about topics that affect their daily life. Knowles related these principles to the modern technology introduced more readily during the 1980’s. He thought that adults should be not only taught skills, but the reasoning behind the necessity to learn them. Adults being self-directed should be offered guidance and help when making mistakes as well, to help learn to become more self-sufficient in the learning process (Pappas, 2013).  

Another educator that helped pave the way is David Kolb and his 1984 Learning Cycle Model. He described it in four stages: Concrete experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation (McPheat, 2019). His idea was that knowing adults learning styles, realizing that things learned from diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences the teaching process can be tailored to help the adult learn in the most effective way possible. It helped to assist in the tailoring of lessons, when designing curriculum and assisting in personalizing education to individual adult learners. Embracing Kolb’s learning styles helped the advancement of instruction, especially during the 1980’s where it was vital to help adults learn to increase literacy skills in many ways. 

Additionally, the transformative learning theorist Jack Mezirow had a significant impact on adult education in the 1980’s. Transformative learning is described in adult education as being able to successfully change their perspective and way of thinking by using their experiences to create a much more impactful learning process. He also highlighted that critical reflection, disorienting dilemmas, a perspective transformation were all vital (Fleming, 2018). He taught that adult experience challenge existing beliefs and could help deepen understanding leading to transformation. He believed that adult education plays a significant role in transformative learning.  

 Implications: 

We can learn a lot from the history of adult education in the 1980’s. It is important to look at where we started and how far we have come. Literacy and basic education were lacking early in the decade, however, it is encouraging to see that the great importance of education was noticeable, and it became important for the federal government to take action. Millions of Americans lacked the basic education to provide for their families by making a good living and increase their learning. The initiatives from the White House seemed to be a starting point to bring awareness to the lack of literacy, and while they encouraged local and state governments to take charge, there was bipartisan support.  

While awareness of issues like adult literacy is half the battle, funding is quite a large feat as well. During this time millions of dollars in funding were dispersed to help create programs for adults to attain important skills. It became a reality for those who had wanted to take advantage of educational opportunities. In the spirit of self-sufficiency for the adult learner, the federal work study program became better funded and a way for adults to attend college while working and gaining valuable experience firsthand. While these components, awareness and funding, meet the basic needs of an adult education program, guidance from educators on how best to teach a population of adult learners was vital. 

Educators like Knowles, Kolb, and Mezirow gave impactful contributions. Teaching adults is a new realm and much different than the typical K-12 learning style or the young adult entering college. Adult learners typically have vast experiences, challenges, and goals that are different than younger learners. Each of these important educators added value to the reality that adult learners require a level of understating, buy-in, and their experiences must be considered to be successful. The 1980’s taught us that adult learners are vitally important to the workforce. Programs at the workforce level helped create better understanding for the work performed. From awareness, to funding, to implementing programs and utilizing theories, the 1980’s is a valuable time period to reference in the history of adult education.  

 

Table 1: Summary of the History of Adult/Community Education in the 1980’s

Areas:	Summary:
Social Background	1 in 8 Adults illiterate  Congressional Funding Opportunities  Workplace Literacy programs  Immigration
Highlights	Reagan administration  US Dept of Education Grant Funding  Adult Education Act 1988
Influential Factors	Knowles Four Assumptions  Kolb Learning Cycle Model  Mezirow Transformative Learning
Implications	Bi-partisan support for literacy  Importance of adult learner to workforce.  Awareness, funding and theories to bring change.

 
 

References

 

Cheryl Keenan Director. (2013). Federal Adult Education—A Legislative History. Retrieved from https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/Adult_Ed_History_Report.pdf

Fleming, T. (2018). Mezirow and the Theory of Transformative Learning.

McPheat, S. (2019, November 13). What Are KOLB’s Learning Styles And What Do They Mean? - Skillshub.com. Retrieved from Skills Hub website: https://www.skillshub.com/what-are-kolbs-learning-styles/

Mirga, T. (1983, September 14). Reagan Proposes Effort To Raise Literacy Level. Education Week. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/education/reagan-proposes-effort-to-raise-literacy-level/1983/09

Pappas, C. (2013, May 9). The Adult Learning Theory - Andragogy - of Malcolm Knowles. Retrieved from eLearning Industry website: https://elearningindustry.com/the-adult-learning-theory-andragogy-of-malcolm-knowles

Sticht, T. (2024). NCSALL: The Rise of the Adult Education and Literacy System in the United States: 1600-2000. Retrieved from Ncsall.net website: https://www.ncsall.net/index.php@id=576.html