Teaching and Serving Adults through Vocational-Technical Education.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper presents an overview of the need for adult education, surveys the theory behind adult education, discusses the reasons why adults do not participate in adult education, and outlines marketing strategies that may induce adults to participate in greater numbers. The first part of the paper cites the need for educational reform, noting that many workers are untrained for the jobs that society has to offer and that millions of illiterate students are graduating from high school. It is suggested that adult education is more important than ever for these students as well as for those bright students who obtain college degrees but find little opportunity for jobs. In the next section of the paper, adult education theory is reviewed, particularly the ideas of Malcolm Knowles, and eight principles of adult learning are listed. Following this review is an examination of the reasons why adults participate in adult education and the factors (situational, institutional, and dispositional) that prevent them from participating. Finally, it is suggested that adult education providers should do market research in order to determine the needs of their potential clients and set up programs that serve those needs. Various types of recruitment strategies are examined and listed both in order of effectiveness and in order of use. The paper concludes with some questions about adult education in West Virginia and reasons why adult education is very much needed to help people improve their lives. (KC)