My Philosophy of Adult Education
WOW?! I thought only scholars had a philosophy. So, due to my feelings of having so much room to grow, I will call mine...Jim's thoughts on Adult Education.
Vision of the world? I am not sure that I can say that I have a vision of the world. I can say that I have a thought on the people of the world. This may be very simplistic in thought, but it is a start. For the most part, I think we have two types of people, in the world. One's who's focus is; “How can I help others?” and those who's is; “How can I help myself?'
Let me expound. The first group is the type of person who wants to make a better world for those around them and the second group is one's that want to make a better world for themselves. Group one are those people that are focused on those around them, whether that is immediate family and friends, or the world in which they are engaged. The second group are those who want to only educate themselves, sort of those who are only focused on 'What's in it for me'. Example, the person who robs stores to only get the item or money to better their lifestyle. I think that we all have both of these parts in us. Some of us have a higher degree of group one than group two and others have more of group two, than one.
I would like to focus more on Group One. These are the people that are looking out for the people or environment, in which the interact. This could be the person who wants to improve the environment, by learning to recycle or use recyclables. This could be the person who wants to learn more to help support their family. In my opinion, the adult educator assumes the role in group one. Helping those help themselves and in the long run, helping others.
During our readings, I am glad that I was able to read about the Highlander Research and Education center, as I feel that my thoughts on adult education mirror there's. In that my goal is to help others, where it is needed most: in the community where they live and breath. In order to do that, I think that we need to look beyond the class room setting. That setting can be a formal classroom or not. Much of our conversations have talked about the interaction between the learner and educator/instructor. I want to intermingle the interaction of adult education with the hands on of adult education. In the corporate world, we are so aware and driven around the 40 hour work week, many do not see the countless hours of time spent beyond the 40 hours face to face hours.
In the corporate world, these 40 hours are usually spent in direct contact, with the learner. In my opinion, what really shows or displays our philosophy, is the hours that we spend beyond the 40 hours and how we spend those hours. How do we spend our time, preparing for the learners. Do we just make sure we know the material, that we are teaching? Do we spend time looking up alternative solutions to the material? Do we look up alternative ways of delivering the material? Do we look up ways to give the information, to fit the learner's learning style? Do we invest our time in ways that help to understand a deeper meaning of the material? Do we spend time looking up information, that will help us understand our learner? Do we find resources that will help the learner overcome obstacles, even if that obstacle is outside of work? The questions could go on forever!
My belief of a learner is that the learner is not a learner, unless they are an active participant. My belief of what knowledge is when someone takes information and can process it, in an applicable way. Prior to being knowledge, it is only material.
My goal is to take material present it in away that helps a person take that material, formulate knowledge about it and turn that into a successful measurable goal, in the standards that the company measures to be success. But to achieve that, I believe that I need to have a direct impact to the learner, in what really matters to them and that could be in the material, or that could be relationships at work or outside of work. Doing all of this in as much as possible, a non-biased manner.
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4 comments:
Jim,
I would recommend that you have this proofread for spelling and grammar to ensure that you final draft does not have any spelling or grammatical errors before turning it in. If you would like to bring in a hard copy of your philosophy to class, I'd be happy to proofread it...although you might also want to have someone with a stronger background in English than I proofread it as well.
My question regarding your philosophy would be this, do you think it's possible for a person to be focused on benefitting the learners rather than benefiting self if they do not spend time outside of a 40-hr. work week thinking about and working on the things that will be done within their 40-hr. work week? I'm not sure that was clear... Let me rephrase, I think there are people who are fine with taking work home with them, and there are those that would prefer not to take work home with them, and instead would prefer to spend their time outside of work focused on family, personal interests and hobbies, etc. According to your philosophy, would a person who prefers not to take work home with them be lumped into the category of persons who are more interested in benefitting themselves than in helping others, regardless of what is done during their 40-hrs at work? If so, I would ask you to consider the need of an adult educator to have balance in their life. This is, I don't think it's healthy for anyone in any field of work to sacrifice time and attention that should be paid to other areas of their life. I think of the movie, "Freedom Writers." It is a very moving story, and the teacher profiled in this movie certainly made an impact on the lives of those that she taught, but she was so focused on her work that her marriage suffered. I think that many instructors can get caught up in their work and in wanting to help their learners in any way they can, that other areas of their life suffer, and they lose an essential balance in their life. My point in all this being, I believe that it is possible to be focused on helping others if a person uses their 40-hr. work week effectively and efficiently, while having the freedom to spend their time outside of the 40-hr. work week focused on other areas of their life. I hope this was clear. If not, let me know how I can clarify.
Bonnie
Thank you for the your insight. I had written it out and was adapting it when I was typing. I was not trying to eliminate work/life balance. In my work experience, it is difficult, if not almost impossible to get it all done in 40 hours. It is important to have a work/life balance. My focus in the paper is to look beyond the classroom.
Hi Jim,
you are clearly pondering this topic and considering what it means for you. I have a couple of suggestions as you work on upcoming drafts of your paper.
Your vision for the world can describe what kind of a world you would like to live in. For example, you talk about two kinds of people; your vision could describe what the world would be like if more people were of the first type. Then your purposes and other sections could support how adult education efforts could move us in that direction.
This first section can be much bigger than just education or the workplace. Feel free to think planetarily! Why are you here? You might go back to your obit and questions for additional ideas for this section of the paper.
The purposes section should outline what overall goals the field of adult education might have, or you as a member of the society might have. What should a well-educated US citizen know and be able to do? You can get much clearer on this and then connect it to a specific work context such as American Express.
I look forward to reading the next draft as you work to develop your ideas. Yes, you too can have a philosophy! Peggy
Jim’s Reply First Draft-
Ralph Bartlett
I see that you are challenged by the two group of learners, the “how can I help others” and the “how can I help myself”.
Which are you as a Learner? Which would you prefer to teach, as an Instructor, at work? But, more importantly, why?
Does this “motivation” factor of the learner, have any bearing on how successful that learner proves to be in the corporate world?
I found your 40 hours of contact with the learners provocative. It shows the commitment that you have to be a successful Instructor- making certain that your students are successful. However, how does your philosophy relate when, in the corporate world, you are dictated as to what and how materials are Instructed?
Whether it is procedural or regulatory, there could be times that your hands are tied, as to your method or manor of instruction. Can your philosophy deal with this? Can there be a “deeper meaning” when you are dictated, either by government or employer?
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