Education is one of the basic requirements for survival today. In the past people used to ignore the importance of education because there were diverse ways of survival. Despite the desire for many adults to acquire knowledge through learning, a challenge of balancing between school and life responsibilities takes the center stage. I believe between college, and life responsibilities is a big challenge for many adult learners especially those with families. The following paper is a synthesis of the problem as a barrier to adult learning. The adult education program in collaboration with adult students and instructors should join hands in developing strategies to solve the problem. The issue affects not only careers of individual adults but also contributes to the increasing rate of unemployment in the nation. Efforts by students and instructors to implement strategies that allow proper preparation and total participation in the learning process will eliminate instances that may lead to the absence in class.
The question ‘What and who is the college for?' lingers in minds of many young people. College education has a lot of significance in shaping the future life of a person through creating a better career path that makes people more responsible adults. However, many young people who take college education for granted come to regret later when they assume other responsibilities and realize they need extra skills and knowledge. Children in their teenage age require constant guidance and counseling from parents. The teenage age represents a period of life changes, and parents should pay more attention to their children at this stage.
One of the best methods of creating positive changes in children during this stage is making them understand the importance of education as a tool for shaping the future life. Karen Evans focused on the ability of the parents and the community to impact learning among teenager to make them responsible adults by stating, "The ability to influence life chances increase from the teenage years to the mid 20's" (29). The argument by the author plays an important role in relating the college education for teenagers with problems faced by adult learners. The lack of education at teenage age creates a negative influence on the individual's life. The person experiences a lot of challenges trying to acquire the same education during an adult age when he or she has many responsibilities.
The society has a role to play in accelerating the rate of school dropouts. In the modern society, the role of parenting is left on biological parents. Some parents did not have a chance to complete their education because of many reasons, and they do not see the importance of educating their children. The lack of commitment from parents and the society allow children to make independent decisions on education. Social and institutional factors prohibit independent behaviors of young people despite them having a clear sense of control.
Evans argued, “Many people understand the importance of education qualifications because it enhances chances in life” (30). The author tried to connect college education and lifestyle claiming educated people has better opportunities and chances to lead a comfortable adult life. However, understanding the importance of education qualifications at later ages becomes a challenge to the individual especially when they have other responsibilities like family life.
The decision to pursue an adult education process comes with many challenges among adult learners. One of the primary reasons for engaging in adult education is to gain literacy and diversity. A person at this stage understands the importance of education not only in the professional world but also for survival in the diversified environment. A diverse community provides numerous opportunities for career growth and nation development. It reaches a time when a person realizes opportunities they lost during the teenage age when they had a chance to shape their professional life. In support of the argument, Kasworm, Amy, and Jovita claimed that "Graduate programs and associations have acted as avenues for professional building in different careers.” (131). People who took college education seriously are now enjoying its sweet fruits through good paying careers, comfortable lifestyles, and they can educate their children without any challenge.
Arguments made by authors above may lead a person to blame parents, the community, and children for not taking education seriously. However, educators are the most influential parties when it comes to making the society understand the importance of learning and career development. Educators have fewer concerns about many problems facing adult learners who wasted their chances during teenage stages because they never understood the importance of college education. Bryson emphasized on the need for philosophy to demonstrate the failure of educators in encouraging the community to educate children. He argued that “I believe educators should establish a philosophy that shows clarity, fairness, relevance, and support for each adult education program” (Bryson 13). Bryson’s recommendation helps in making educators more responsible for the challenges affecting communities where they teach by discharging their duties fully. Moreover, Lokanadha blamed educators’ claiming, “Instructors are more reluctant in discharging their duties” (61). Educators should always help adult learners achieve their educational goals despite there being other responsibilities hindering them from studying effectively.
The complex challenge faced by adult learners of balancing education needs and other personal and life responsibilities has been experienced since the introduction of the adult education system. Modern scientists have gone deep into researching about the importance of education, both formal and adult education programs, in the society. Authors who analyzed some of these studies found out that research and development in education plays a critical role in preparing students for more career opportunities (Kasworm, Amy, and Jovita 131). Moreover, outcomes of these studies played a critical role in influencing the behavior of educators and adult learners towards implementing better strategies to avoid these challenges. The introduction of adult learning programs created chances for adults to upgrade their education to make them more relevant in the modern society.
The problem of balancing learning and personal responsibilities affects many adult learners in the United States. Many must juggle between work, home, and family responsibilities while learning adult education programs. The adult education system tries to develop a program that ensures adults get a maximum education but the inability of many to engage in two or more activities at the same time challenge the learning program. Farenga and Ness shared their experience in adult education by arguing,
The adult education system understands these struggles and tries to offer a diverse schedule to accommodate most adult learners (584).
The statement by Ferenga and Ness reveals that the stakeholders in adult education understand the problem, but they lack necessary tools and strategies to help adult learners overcome these challenges.
Adult learners find it difficult to concentrate in class because they have other issues disturbing them such as family duties, employer’s duties, and personal responsibilities. A person must keep in mind different needs for them to study effectively. Lokanadha claimed, “The adult learner who attends the adult education centers attends the centers keeping in mind certain of their needs" (44). Many colleges and institutions offering adult education realized the presence of these challenges and tried to create a balance between school work and other duties. However, the strategies adopted did not have any positive impact on adult learners. Farenga and Ness discussed the issue arguing, “despite numerous efforts to streamline adult learning and accommodate every individual, problems still exist and are becoming worse as the number of people enrolling for adult education keeps increasing” (585). The high number of people is registering for adult classes, which challenge colleges and other institutions offering adult learning programs because they fail to coordinate the needs of every individual to meet their personal schedules and education needs.
The adult education system created new strategies such as the implementation of technology-based learning to increase learners’ participation to solve the problem. The alternative would create a positive learning environment because it allows learners to attend virtual classes. In support of the program, Anastasiades claimed, “The web, the internet, and associated learning technologies have produced a climate in which learning technology is seen as a means towards improving higher education teaching and learning” (13). People who introduced the computer-based learning never considered the nature of people they targeted. It should be remembered that many adult learners enrolling in school education programs did not study during their teenage age, and there is a higher probability that most of them are computer illiterate. The above consideration made the alternative less effective in solving the problem.
Despite her supporting the program, the author realized that "The main challenges of the blended learning process for learners include dealing with cognitive overload, remaining flexible, and sustaining the social interaction through the internet" (3). Moreover, the lack of proper guidelines on how educators should incorporate information technology and the lack of adequate resources to run the program cause challenges. Bryson, the author of Universal Instructional Design, argued: "The current adult education program does not provide a clear consensus on how and the extent to which the curriculum should incorporate information about adult learning." (11). The argument by theBryson reveals that although efforts are there to ensure adult learners get the best from the program, stakeholders in education are reluctant to make the environment more conducive for the implementation of information technology. A mandatory computer literacy lesson for all adult enrolling in adult learning programs would make the alternative more useful.
Adult education program stakeholders should consider the above problem and look for effective alternatives in the future. The main factors contributing to the following problem as seen in the discussion are the failure by parents and the community to encourage children to attend school, the reluctant of educators to address challenges facing adult learners, and the introduction of strategies that have little impact on addressing the issue. Moreover, engaging young learners in courses that have no importance forcing them to go back to class in the future contributes to the problem facing adult learners. The presence of effective strategies such as educators working with adult learners to create good schedules for learning would help resolve the problem.
Works Cited
Anastasiades, Panagiotes S. Blended Learning Environments for Adults: Evaluations and
Frameworks. Hershey PA: Information Science Reference, 2012. Internet resource.
Bryson, J. David. Engaging adult learners: Philosophy, Principles, and Practices. Barrie: James
David Bryson. 2013. Internet resource.
Evans, Karen. Learning, Work and Social Responsibility: Challenges for Lifelong Learning in a
Global Age. Dordrecht: Springer, 2009. Print.
Farenga, Stephen, J., and Ness, Daniel. Encyclopedia of education and human development.
London and New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. 2005. Print.
Kasworm, Carol E, Amy D. Rose, and Jovita, M. Ross-Gordon. Handbook of Adult and
Continuing Education. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2010. Print.Lokanadha, Reddy G. Role Performance of Adult Education Teachers: Problems and Prospects.
New Delhi: Discovery Pub. House, 1997. Print.
