Planning for Continuing Education in the 70's.

Overview & Synopsis

Continuing education is not only an extension of the K-12 continuum but also the foundation for ensuring that childhood education is fully effective since children spend most of their first eighteen years under parental influence. Lifelong learning is necessary as new facts are discovered, society's needs and individual needs change, and some kinds of education can be taught more effectively to adults than to children. The New York State Department of Education funds continuing education because locally available revenues are insufficient to meet adult educational needs. In the 70's, four technologies (management technology, cybernation, social engineering, and biological engineering) will produce vast changes, making demands upon continuous education as the greatest single resource for meeting the challenge. Education may be expected to become a social condition while the system of education will be more flexible and open with increased opportunity for adults. As a group, adult educators possess characteristics and virtues enabling them to adapt to change and accomplish goals in unfavorable climates. The role of continuing education director encompasses ever widening areas of knowledge and expertise. Among the goals envisioned are a regionalization of continuing education services and a Statewide planning system. (AG)